"I love a good romance novel—a slow burn, enemies to lovers, forbidden romance, grumpy sunshine, dark romance, sports romance—I love it all. When browsing bookshelves, I’m often drawn to author names I recognize, catchy titles, or adorable cover art. I especially love it when I see a woman who looks like me on the cover—plus-size or curvy—with a tall, dark, and handsome love interest nearby.
These books are about so much more than someone’s body type—you get to know the characters and their lives, follow their love stories, and if their body is brought up, it’s in a positive, sexy, confident way. While the love stories within these pages are exactly what you’d expect from a modern romance book, it’s still important for women and people of all body types to see themselves in buzzy books.
Years ago, if a character was plus-sized, their body was almost always a major plot point. In recent years, we’ve seen more body diversity and acceptance in mainstream media, and more diverse creators are putting their art into the world. With that, more connections are being made, and more people feel seen both as creators and consumers. With the rise of book influencers and reading becoming a major interest for many people, there have never been so many great, diverse books to choose from.
Whether you’re a plus-size woman yourself, or you just love a good romance, here are 15 romance books featuring plus-size main characters that you should absolutely add to your TBR.
Athena Greydon was engaged to Johnny Vine until his brother, Matthew Vine, convinces him to call off the engagement right before the wedding. Athena bought Johnny the infamous ‘Spite House” as a wedding gift, but with no wedding on the horizon, Athena was forced to move into the Spite House alone. The catch? This Spite House is literally attached to Johnny’s house and directly across from Matthew’s house. Will she be able to remain spiteful toward the man who ruined her life, or will she be shocked at how hard pettiness can be, especially when it turns out he’s not at all what she thought he’d be?
Chloe is chronically ill and is recently inspired to “get a life” after a near-death experience. She sets some goals for herself, but she knows she can’t do it alone. When she meets Redford ‘Red’ Morgan, a tough guy who might secretly be sensitive, Chloe learns more about “getting a life” than what she set out for originally. This book is part of a wonderful series called ‘The Brown Sisters,’ which also includes Take a Hint, Dani Brown, and Act Your Age, Eve Brown.
Hannah and Levi are best friends, bitter exes, and co-owners of a destination inn ‘Carrigan’s All Year.’ When a VIP bride books the inn for her big day and also hires Levi to cater the event, Hannah and Levi get a chance to spend time together and reconnect. Only, Hannah is not all that interested. Reluctantly, Hannah decides to give Levi a chance to win her back. Will they fall back in love after their five dates, or will they get stuck in the past?
Alejandra “Alex” Torres wants to turn her grandmother’s bar into a booming business, but Jerimiah Post is not going to let it happen. Jeremiah lives in one of the upstairs apartments, and when he learns what Alex wants to do with the bar, he believes she’s not in it for the right reasons. Although they’re often at odds, when a common enemy comes into the picture, Alex and Jeremiah team up to fight for what they both need. Throughout it all, they find love in a place they never expected to.
Sam Bell is committing to not committing, and Lily Fischer is committing to stepping outside of her comfort zone. While Lily is singing her first karaoke song of the night, Sam catches her eye, and they spend the night getting to know one another. While Sam is trying not to fall and Lily is trying to be bolder, their original intentions are put to the test.
Santiago “Saint” Vega once walked away from Lola Leon, and now he’s getting a second chance. Lola is currently caring for her abuelo and trying to save a local shelter for unhoused LGBTQ+ youths. As it turns out, Saint’s family is the reason both are at risk, and Lola is not afraid to fight for what she believes in. While fighting for change, Lola and Saint become closer than ever and find a way to bring back the love they once had and make it stronger than ever.
Crystal Chen is a successful curvy fitness influencer, and nothing can get in her way, except for maybe firefighter Scott Ritchie, who continues to steal her favorite squat rack at the gym. Crystal and Ritchie love to hate one another at the gym and are extremely surprised when they run into each other at their grandparents’ engagement party. From then on, they’re forced to spend more time together outside of the gym. Crystal begins to see that there’s a man underneath all of the quips and stolen squat racks—a man who might even be the man of her dreams.
Julian Vos is a grumpy heir to a Napa Valley vineyard who is on sabbatical from teaching to write his book. Hallie Welch is a local florist who is hired by Julian’s family to give the estate at the vineyard a makeover. Back in high school, Hallie and Julian shared an almost-kiss, and it stuck with Hallie ever since. After a drunken wine night with friends, Hallie begins to leave secret admirer letters for Julian at the edge of his estate. While Julian falls for his secret admirer, he also falls for Hallie, not realizing they’re one and the same.
Nina Rice is over Los Angeles, dating, friends, and her dreams. So far over it, she’s moved to the suburbs and is working from home, avoiding just about everything. Until buzzy actress Ari Fox enters her life and throws everything she thought she wanted for a loop. Ari encourages Nina to go for what she wants, which might now include a new relationship with a movie star. Nina navigates it all while also exploring a new love that might be just what she needed all along.
Elise has spent a long, long time trying to avoid Weston Aldrich. Weston is her brother’s best friend and also her new boss. Despite the heavy avoidance effort, Weston manages to insert himself everywhere in Elise’s work life. He even brings her along for a business trip, which, of course, leads to a lot of NSFW behavior. Even knowing it’s all a bad idea for Elise and Weston, they also can’t stop because, for them, it’s too good.
Everly Winters is convinced that it’s best and easiest to just be in the background instead of being the main character. She doesn’t act on her career goals, her crushes, or her dream of being on the reality TV show On the Plus Side. That is until someone secretly nominates Everly to be on the show, and despite her initial overwhelm, she actually likes it. Everly does amazing on On the Plus Side and even starts building a bond with the cameraman on set, Logan. Although she is loving the attention she’s getting from Logan, she doesn’t know if she wants to put it all out there for the world to see. Everly is put to the test when she needs to learn how to be her whole self on national TV and potentially fall in love in the spotlight.
D’Vaughn Miller is looking for something to help break her out of her shell. Kris Zavala is so close to becoming a successful influencer that reality TV seems like her logical next step. They both enter to be contestants on Instant I Do, a reality show in which you have six weeks to plan a wedding. If it’s all successful, you could win $100,000. They need to convince their families and the public that it’s all real, which shouldn’t be a problem since they’re actually falling for each other. Even though the show turns out to be a bigger challenge than they thought, they both are able to find their happily ever after.
Alfie Harding is a grumpy, retired ex-soccer player who now needs to write and sell his memoirs. This is where Mabel Willicker comes in—she’s a ghostwriter who is going to help Alfie put his life into words and get the memoir written. That is if they can stop bickering long enough to get anything written. When Alfie and Mabel are working together, they accidentally get mistaken for a romantic partnership and have to fake it for the press. Unsurprisingly, while fake dating, they discover they actually have chemistry and feelings for one another, and their fake love turns into something real.
Britta Colby is a writer who is assigned to write about her experience with a new fitness app, and she wants to give this assignment her all. Wes Lawson, CEO of the FiMi Fitness App that Britta is reviewing, steps in as her personal trainer. Britta learns to love working out with Wes, and Wes begins to love personal training again—even if he’s technically not supposed to be training her. Britta and Wes discover they like each other a little too much, and it would probably be best to end things, but they just can’t. Even though they’re not supposed to be training together or falling for one another, they seem to have found the fastest way to fall.
A recent fashion design graduate with no job prospects, Cindy moves in with her stepmother until she finds her next move. This all seems pretty normal, except her stepmother is a producer at one of the biggest dating shows—which just lost a contestant for the season. So, Cindy is brought on to be the last-minute replacement. As the only plus-size contestant on the show, Cindy goes viral overnight. She also finds herself actually falling for another contestant. Cindy learns to navigate the show, her dream shoe collection, and real life in the spotlight while falling for Prince Charming.