Gone are the days of bodice rippers, when supermodels like Fabio were all the rage on the covers of romance novels. The genre has broadened its horizons in recent years, including a much wider and deeper range of protagonists than in previous eras. While there are definitely some groups that still fly under the radar, the odds of picking up a romance novel that reflects the diversity of the wider world around readers are getting much better. That includes highlighting protagonists with disabilities and neurodivergence.
When Rebeca Yarros’s Fouth Wing hit the stands, it wasn’t just a TikTok darling for its dragons (although the dragons absolutely factored in). The romantasy also sparked a lot of chatter for having a protagonist who, readers theorized, had Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS). But Fourth Wing is far from the only representation for disabled protagonists (and not even the only one featuring EDS). Check out these fantastic romance and romance-adjacent titles to get a real peek at solid disability representation, without tired tropes (or love interests who look like Fabio).
Conditions of a Heart by Bethany Mangle
Hitting bookstore shelves just after Valentine’s Day 2024, Bethany Mangle’s newest YA romance is as much a story about the protagonist learning to love herself as it is about a rekindling of her connection with her ex. Brynn Kwan wants to be “just like other girls,” and to be treated that way, she hides her EDS diagnosis from everyone. In middle school, she lost her best friend, who said she was selfish for making everything about her disability. So at her new school, she’s kept it secret from her friends, from the ex she dated through the pandemic, and from everyone on the school staff. But when an incident with one of the rich white boys leads to Brynn being blamed for physically attacking him (when he’s the one who sent her to the ER with a black eye), she’s suspended for a week and not allowed to participate in any of the senior year social activities that made school worth attending. Questioning her entire plan for her future—why shouldn’t she just drop out, since her dreams of becoming a doctor are stymied by her disability?—she reevaluates what it is that she wants out of life.
Meanwhile, her ex won’t just vanish. Her ex, who, when the world decided the pandemic was over, told Brynn how relieved he was that none of them had gotten sick, because he couldn’t imagine living like that. Her ex, who follows her to the ER, and who she’s stuck working with on a group project about their future. Her ex, with whom she’s still desperately in love, but who she believes would never really love her back, not if he knew the truth
Mangle writes Brynn authentically, thorns and all, with anger that flies in the face of the common media tropes. Yes, Brynn is frustrated with her body (she imagines different offending limbs and joints responding to her complaints in voices of their own). But she’s more frustrated with the lack of accessibility the world gives people who need it. Having lived through a pandemic where the world saw just how easy it was to offer accessible options, Brynn’s rightfully angry that as soon as non-disabled people didn’t need accommodation anymore, it all vanished.
While Mangle takes on a number of heavy issues that affect Brynn (inequality isn’t just limited to her disability, but there are factors of a wealth gap and being a racial minority that impact her story as well), the narrative itself has plenty of light-hearted moments, and there’s an undercurrent of humor that counters the injustices. And while Brynn makes several questionable decisions in trying to live as a pretend version of herself, her journey to accepting who she is—and the possibilities she has in front of her—leaves readers feeling hopeful, not just for Brynn, but for other futures, too.
Can’t Escape Love by Alyssa Cole
Regina Hobbs is a genius, a tech mogul of a highly popular website, and a self-proclaimed geek. She uses a wheelchair to get around—an illness years earlier led to months in a rehabilitation center where she had to relearn to talk, among other things, and while she’s able to use a walker under her physical therapist’s guidance, her wheels grant her independence. She’s also having insomnia, when the novella opens, and there’s only one thing she can think of that will help her sleep: the deep, soothing voice of a puzzle-solving streamer she used to listen to on replay. But Gustave Nguyen, the streamer in question, deleted his archives, so Reggie reaches out to him to see if they can strike up a deal. What neither of them expects is that they’ll have amazing chemistry in person. Gus may not help Reggie get more sleep after all…
Reggie began as a secondary character in Cole’s “Reluctant Royals” series before she got her own story, so seeing from inside her world (rather than from the perspective of a sister who never felt as smart—or as loved by their parents) gives readers a chance to really get behind how Reggie’s life works. The novella doesn’t revolve around her mobility, and she notes her own privilege coming from a wealthy family, in that she could afford help and accommodations before her website took off. But as a Black woman working in a space for geeks and nerds, frequently writing about anime, she’s got plenty of people willing to think the worst of her, including previous romantic interests who wanted to “fix” her. Puzzle-solving Gus is neurodivergent, and he’s not always sure how to take Reggie’s interest. He also falls hard for her, so when Reggie doesn’t seem to be on the same page, Gus isn’t sure how to handle things. He’d rather just have her tell him how she feels in a straightforward way than play games, and it takes awhile for Reggie to understand how to give him what he needs in a relationship.
This short book, published in 2019, packs a lot in—including an invented anime that deserves its own manga spin-off series, and an escape room that brings the protagonists together! It’s also a great hook into the rest of Cole’s series, which features a romantic lead learning she has ADHD, as well as a host of royal (and not quite royal) hijinks. It’s a brilliant series, and this one is a standout among a suite of excellent titles.
Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
Sometimes disabilities are invisible—and Chloe Brown’s chronic pain isn’t something most people in her life notice. Her sisters (stars of their own novels in Hibbert’s fantastic Brown Sisters trilogy) understand, but Chloe doesn’t really expect other people to. She does, however, feel tired of her boring life, and she’s decided she’s going to make a list, make a change, and start living on her own terms. To accomplish those things, she enlists motorcycle-riding handyman Red Morgan, who she may have spied on just the teeniest bit. After an incident of Chloe climbing a tree to rescue a cat (despite her disabilities), Red determines he’ll help her, if only to keep her from creating sheer chaos for everyone else along the way.
Like Reggie, Chloe’s been burned in previous relationships—an ex-fiance essentially thought her illness, fibromyalgia, was made up. Friends abandoned her after Chloe canceled plans. She’s understandably cautious about letting people get close. Red’s also got past relationships that messed with his head, and Chloe’s much wealthier upbringing has him on edge. (A former, wealthy girlfriend always treated him as lesser, among other abuses.) But as they go through Chloe’s list together, they find ways to open up to each other (and the adorable rescued cat) as they head toward a happily ever after.
Hibbert is a superstar at combining romance and comedy, ridiculous scenarios with heartfelt characters readers can’t help but love. Get a Life, Chloe Brown might have been her first traditionally published romance, but it’s a strong debut, and Chloe is absolutely a protagonist worth spending time with.
All the Feels by Olivia Dade
The second novel in Dade’s Spoiler Alert series, All the Feels (2021), stars a hot, famous actor who has a reputation for being a loose canon, and the small, overworked ER nurse who, while on vacation, gets roped into being his minder. Gods of the Gates, the TV series on which Alex is one of the stars, can’t afford its actors to be embroiled in scandals, so when Alex punches someone in a bar (no one ever asks him why!), he’s put on probation. Either he shapes up, or he’ll get fired. One of the terms is that Lauren, a relative of one of the producers, is going to be watching him. All the time. Alex is naturally charming, but his effusive personality won’t break through Lauren’s professional demeanor—at least, not at first. But given that it’s a romance, of course sparks eventually!
While some recent romance novels have featured characters learning that they have ADHD (Cole’s A Duke by Default and Jen Comfort’s The Astronaut and the Star), All the Feels starts with Alex already being aware that he has ADHD. It’s part of his naturally gregarious personality, and also why sometimes he can’t help just being ridiculous in conversation—he just says whatever’s on his mind. This comes through brilliantly in Dade’s chapters from his point of view; the narration feels like being in his brain in a way that enhances the story. The exploration of his neurodivergence is present as an undercurrent throughout the book, and it’s a great counter to Lauren’s careful, sarcastic, grounded (and exhausted) personality. The romance, with plenty of fanfiction and trope references, is campy and chaotic in the best ways, without ever losing sight of the characters as people who have real vulnerabilities and struggles.
Stars in Their Eyes by Jessica Walton and Aska
This YA graphic novel is all about the con experience—and what it’s like to meet someone who becomes so important in such a short time. Maisie and her mom have traveled to a fan convention together to see one of Maisie’s favorite action stars, a woman who, like Maisie, has lower-leg amputation. When Maisie meets Ollie, a volunteer, they immediately hit it off; Ollie, who is nonbinary, is into the same kinds of geek things that Maisie enjoys. (Maisie’s mom is more than happy to help matchmake the pair!) As Maisie and Ollie spend time together, the disappointment that Maisie might not be able to see her idol after all is somewhat dulled. Instead, she’s more preoccupied with her growing feelings for Ollie, and what it might mean to have such a strong connection with someone when you might not see them again for a long time.
The relationship between Maisie and her mom in this graphic novel hits a ton of right notes: the mother sometimes oversteps, especially with her nosy matchmaking tendencies, but it all comes from a place of love. What the story shows about Maisie’s prosthetic, and how people respond to her because of it, is raw and realistic, but couched in an otherwise incredibly supportive environment. At the con, Maisie is with her people—geeks and nerds who like the same things she does—and so there’s no need to feel set apart. Ollie is a charming love interest, as well, and their immediate kinship feels realistic, not as love at first sight, but as possibility at first sight. Pick this one up if you can’t wait for more Heartstopper (or you’re just missing the convention scene).
A Letter to the Luminous Deep by Sylvie Cathrall
Due out in April 2024, epistolary fantasy novel A Letter. to the Luminous Deep has, at its core, a very mysterious romance between two letter writers whose siblings are trying to discover the truth behind their disappearance. One protagonist is known only as E. (she hates her name), the resident of an undersea house who copes with a fantasy equivalent of OCD, who only just gets up the courage to write to a scholar she admires, Henery Clel, about a strange creature she saw swimming outside her window. Henery is entranced by her letter. He’s always been an admirer of the Deep House, where E. resides, and he finds in her a kindred spirit beyond the frustrating realm of academia. Readers learn about their friendship, and romance, through their letters, as well as through the letters and e-mail equivalent messages written by their siblings, who are both still mourning after the two disappeared.
While this is more of a fantasy than a traditional romance, and the way it unravels is not for readers who need a quick, straightforward narrative, part of the delight in the tale is unraveling things piece by piece. The world opens up a little more in each letter, as readers learn about this ocean planet with cultures based on prizing scholarship above all other virtues. Just as the world expands, the characters become deeper and more well-drawn with each letter. Sometimes their drafts are included, giving us greater insight into who they are, not just how they present themselves to others. E.’s compulsive behaviors, for which she does see a therapist (though not quite in those terms), shape her existence, but never make her a character that the narrative pities. She is who she is: brilliant and insecure, but passionate and loving to those she cares about. For readers who love second world, underwater fantasies, or epistolary novels, this is a lovely combination of both.
One for All by Lillie Lainoff
This 2022 gender-bent Three Musketeers story takes place after the era of the Alexander Dumas adventures, when Tania, daughter of a former Musketeer, becomes an agent who stands between the Crown and chaos. When Tania’s father is murdered, she’s sure she’s being sent to finishing school, where her best hope for a future is to attract a kind husband among the nobility. Instead, she discovers that the school reputed for turning out the most graceful ladies is just a front: the students who live there are being secretly trained as female Musketeers. Tania, who has Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome—a chronic illness only named in the 1990s, but that has been known by more colloquial names throughout history—is afraid of being laughed at by her peers. She’s had too many people pity her, or mock her, to believe that she’ll be thought of as an equal. But she trains hard, learning ways to cope with her ever-present dizziness, and teaching her body to mind her will, even when her balance does not.
While this YA novel is more historical adventure than true romance, there are romances present in the text. Tania’s own first experience with reciprocated attraction is such a shock to her, she who never dreamed she’d experience love, that she’s almost not sure what to make of it! But more central to the novel are the growing relationships between the Musketeers, as well as the struggle to fight for a cause when that cause may also be broken. Lainoff acknowledges the issues with the French monarchy while also creating a Paris that’s fun to explore. Tania is never weak—not even when she thinks of herself that way—and her bravery and passion soar from the page. Surrounded by people who know when to offer accommodations and when to let her stand on her own, Tania is depicted as a person who has come from a community that had no idea how to support her into a community that sees her value. In showing that making accommodations for a disability is simple enough to do, if people would only think about how to make them, Autnor Lillie Lainoff offers an example of how things could be, if only more people thought in terms of one for all, and all for one.
Alana Joli Abbott is a reviewer and game writer, whose multiple-choice novels, including Choice of the Pirate and Blackstone Academy for Magical Beginners, are published by Choice of Games. She is the author of three novels, several short stories, and many role-playing game supplements. She also edits fantasy anthologies for Outland Entertainment, including Bridge to Elsewhere and Never Too Old to Save the World. You can find her online at VirgilandBeatrice.com.