Main Character Who Doesn't Need To Change To Be Beautiful? A Different Beauty?

[Cas]

I recently picked up a book and I was so happy to read that the main character was not like most in romance. She had a limp, she was self described as "overweight". I guess basically, I was happy to see a romance deal with a body type I can relate to, not your skinny or "average" girl, or just curvy in her boobs and butt, but maybe a chubby girl! Woo!
Of course, within the first 10 pages she transformed into a perfect, flaw free, woman. So I let out a sigh and discarded my dreams, and the book.

I'm not complaining that most of the time our main characters are attractive, or thin, average, etc... I love beautiful people, no matter what size, shape, whatever you define beauty as, I'm totally happy with it most days in my fantasy life. But I guess I just want to read about someone I could emotionally tie to in being a different kind of woman? Person? I don't know. If they hadn't been so into describing her flaws, I wouldn't have been so horrified when to become some undead goddess - she HAD to become a supermodel! It's just depressing.

So point is, any books you can think of in the romance genre that involve women who don't actually go through a magic transition from their "ugliness" (which was so insulting, more than disappointing) but manage to actually be themselves and kick ass. Shocking!
I can't think of any where they don't change physically at some point. Hoping someone has a suggestion?

[Corrina]

Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie.

[H.A.]

There is a lack of those, definitely. Lots of YA, lots of beautiful young things but not many that you can sit down and say, 'yeah, that's me'.

[Sandra]

I actually just read which has a female protagonist who is described as rather average looking. What's great is that she kind of gets over the fact that she isn't pretty and uses it to her advantage and gets some wicked scars that add to her character. It's classified as YA but it reads more adult fantasy to me.

[Ariel]

Wishes by Jude Devereaux has Amani character who is beautiful on the inside and other people use magic to make her more physically attractive for their sake. The love interest liked her just how she was tho and in the end she returns to her normal self.

[Viktoria]

Earthly Delights by Kerry Greenwood

This mystery/romance series is about a plump baker (Corrina Chapman) who tackles the conundrums of her neighborhood. There is no Cinderella transformation. She is who she is and won't apologize for enjoying her fresh bread with butter.

I am overweight and I used to be a professional baker so I love Corrina!

Note: The book takes place in Australia and if you enjoy the accent try the audio books. :)

[Cas]

I hadn't checked this in awhile, love your suggestions!

["Nico"]

I like Mary Balogh's Survivor Series- the heroes all have disabilities, and I believe the heroine in one of them has a limp. Another heroine is heavier than is in vogue, and deals a little with ethnic based racism (her mother was... Roma? one of the travelling ethnicities) because of her mixed heritage, though not a ton. I'm looking forward to the one where the Heroine has PTSD (she's one of the survivors, her husband was tortured in front of her during the war?)

[HeatherMarie]

To Seduce a Sinner- Elizabeth Hoyt (Historical)
The hero gets stood up at the alter. The long smitten heroine seizes the opportunity and proposes to him and he’s like ‘meh, sure whatever’. I think she is described as plain and they slowly fall in love after they are married.

Sweet Disorder- Rose Lerner (Historical)
The heroine is described as voluptuous. It is a historical romance but it is about normal people not nobility.

Unbound- Cara McKenna (Contemporary)
This might not fit exactly into what you were looking for because the heroine does go through a major transformation- she loses 100 lbs- but her friends kind of reject her for this and I’ve never read a romance novel where they make references to stretch marks and that things are not as perky as they once were after weight loss. She takes a trip to Scotland and meets the hero. I think there might be some light femdom aspects to the relationship.

Painted Faces- L.H. Cosway (Contemporary)
The heroine is described as chubby and she bakes cupcakes. Points to the author for using karaoke as a tool of seduction. The hero has an interesting job.

The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend- Kody Keplinger (Young Adult/ or New Adult- I’m not 100% confident I know exactly what that is)

Eleanor and Park- Rainbow Rowell (Contemporary- 1980s)
High school students. The audio book is really good.

Unlocked- Courtney Milan (Historical)
Heroine socially awkward. Hero mountaineer.

Thanks for starting the thread!

[Bree]

Greta and The Goblin King. The girl on the cover does not resemble the girl in the book. Greta, in the book, is tall, muscular, and doesn't have a pixie nose. Her face is tougher. I like Greta because she is self-reliant, tough, tender hearted, and sensible.
The Goblin King is also not your beautiful male model. He is monster-ish lookin, mixed with hunky-ness. Love his personality.
(Great discussion topic)

[Chocolatesoup]

A Girl's Guide to Vampires is the first in the Dark Ones series, it's PNR and little bit silly but throughout the series the heroines come in various shapes and sizes and in one book the heroine planned to lose some weight before seeing the h again but I think gained 20 lbs instead :-).

In Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake the heroine is a plump plain jane until the end.

[Chocolatesoup]

Oh and Perfection, Too Much Temptation, Night Play, and Pleasure for Pleasure all feature larger heroines who are loved and desired for who they are.

[3crazees]

You might try the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger. They're set in a Victorian London steam punk world where pale skin and tiny waists are the standard. The heroine, Alexia is half Italian (darker skin tone) has a beaky nose, and is full figured. Her mother and sisters(perfectly petite) make many snide remarks about her figure and at first she agrees with them and tries to deal with her "flaws". One of my favorite parts of the series is the way her love interest, who likes a "lass with a some meat on her bones", brings her to see herself as he does. Without spoilers, the way that she grows and begins to see her own beauty and emphasize her features rather than hide them, was personally one if the best and underrated aspects of the love story. These are in my top 5 favorite series that I reread often and Alexia is one of the more relatable heroines I've come across, especially in the paranormal genre.

[Kay]

Ugh, I know EXACTLY which book you're talking about. I was all, 'YAY, not a supermodel.' Then WHOOSH. Vampire magic.

I second Nine Rules. I believe Tessa Dare's A Week to Be Wicked features a wallflower.

I think Courtney Milan and Julia Quinn feature a lot of wallflowers in their series too.

Radiance by Grace Draven is pretty good. Neither the hero nor heroine are technically 'ugly', but it takes place in a fantasy world, and there's an arranged marriage between two different species/races, so the two find each other absolutely hideous.

[Ashleigh]

I haven't read this (doubt I ever will as Its not my preferred style) but I thought I'd share it here as it seemed possibly appropriate and you know ... It's based in Wales.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on...

Here's a quote from the article

“Our book is more open to everyone as a learning curve for accepting people as they are.

“We’ve done a book about embracing life – after all, we don’t all like the same thing!

“If our book helps somebody out there to discover their own sexuality or gets people talking about issues, then it’s job done"