Mae Bennett’s debut novel is a Beauty and the Beast retelling highlighting a Plus Size representation and especially exciting for, well, anyone who loves suspenders. Barely Even Friends is a clever, steamy adult romance set in New York where a grumpy, rich recluse meets his match through a series of tropes like forced proximity and grumpy-sunshine. Offered the job of a lifetime as a lead contractor on the restoration of a sprawling estate, Bellamy is determined to finally make a name for herself in the male-dominated industry. But with the grumpy heir Oliver residing as a caretaker in his grandfather’s mansion, facing his own ultimatum from the grandfather, the two form a cautious truce. Courtney Kae, author of In the Event of Love, has praised this debut saying “a story like this is why we read romance” and as a fat/curvy protagonist’s love story, this fun romance also touches on body positivity. It is this importance of body diversity in romance books that Mae Bennett (Barely Even Friends, June 2024) writes on here.
The Plus Size Representation
Mae Bennett (Barely Even Friends) shares the importance of body diversity in romance books and on writing a fat female main character.
None of us are the same, so why should all the main characters look the same in the romance books we read? So much of writing and reading romance is about the ideals of falling in love. Forces are keeping these characters apart, maybe themselves, maybe the plot, but by the conclusion, they are going to end up living their best lives, together. It’s the promise of a romance book. Real life never ties up neatly in a tight little bow. So, we give ourselves an escape and fall for these characters. Most often part of this ‘ideal’ features main characters who fit what society says an ‘ideal’ body is.
As someone who has been plus-size her entire adult life, it was not something I even recognized I was missing in the books I was choosing to pick up. I accepted the casual fatphobia that is still so prevalent in media today. The plus-size person who’s there as comedic relief, or the villain who you know is extra evil because of how fat they are, the character who’s always described as eating, how only curvy character bodies are described, or jokes the character should lose weight or not eat that otherwise they’d gain weight. The examples are endless.
But plus-size people are deserving of their own happily ever afters, not despite their weight but for themselves. It’s important to see ourselves getting a Happily Ever After (whatever that looks like), as lovable, and complete, rather than less than or flawed. Not everyone’s experience with their body is the same, which is why variety of experience and characters are so important. Some who are insecure, some who have been bullied, and some who are beyond comfortable in their skin are all valid and we need more of them on our shelves.
One of my favorite things as I read (and now write) romance, are the authors writing body diversity. For me, picking up books that feature a fat main character hits an indescribable part of my brain, to see someone who resembles me on the page, being told they’re worthy of love, and not just any love, but THE love. Slowly healing the little girl who lives inside me who was told she wasn’t enough, that she would be prettier if she lost weight, she’d get the job if she fit into a certain size of clothing, who soaked up every book seeing only characters who didn’t look like her finding love.
Which was why it felt so important for me to feature a fat female main character in my debut novel. Bellamy isn’t me; she’s confident in who she is, wears formfitting clothes (loves a pair of suspenders) and, despite the causal fatphobia around her, wouldn’t change a hair on her body. I wrote the female main character I need, not because I’m not finding it, but because we deserve more. We deserve gorgeous covers that are representative of the people inside, we deserve incredible love stories, and we deserve to be seen and told we’re perfectly amazing just as we are. We not only deserve it, it should be normalized.
While it may seem like an obvious decision, writing your own experience into your book, into your main character, is not an easy choice. Sitting down to write this article was difficult. It’s vulnerable to share a part of yourself so much of the world says you should change, insecurities, and things I’ve pushed down. But then I think about the authors, books, and characters that did something to my heart when reading their books —Chloe Brown, Phoebe Walsh, or Psyche falling in love— and some tucked away part of me healed. I also thought about everyone I hope my book reaches and optimistically hope it helps them feel a little more seen and accepted in this world that constantly tells us we should change if we want our happily ever after.
Barely Even Friends isn’t the first fat romance out there, and it won’t be the last. But it’s incredible to have my book on shelves with books that made a difference in my and so many others’ lives.
I couldn’t write something about plus-size representation and not recommend some of my favorite authors and books featuring plus-size characters. Below are just some of the many incredible writers and romance books featuring plus-size main characters:
Katee Robert: Katee writes incredibly steamy, diverse romances, and has written multiple books featuring plus-size characters I’m not sure I could pick just one. Okay, twist my arm, Electric Idol is incredible. If you haven’t read any of Katee’s books yet you need to fix that immediately.
Olivia Dade: Olivia Dade writes gorgeous romances featuring fat main characters. Her upcoming release At First Spite is full of heart and wit. Her most recent release Ship Wrecked is a one-night stand gone wrong featuring two plus main characters that I am obsessed with (have you seen the Leni Kaufman alternative cover?).
Talia Hibbert: I am obsessed with Talia’s writing, and the Brown Sisters series is a masterpiece of banger after banger. Each book features a plus-size female main character, a lesson on how to execute tropes to perfection, and the steam is just *chef’s kiss*.
Alicia Thompson: Love in the Time of Serial Killers, is a masterclass in romance. Phoebe is curvy, snarky, jaded, and loves emo music. Did Alicia write my autobiography? Almost, but I don’t have an incredibly hot next-door neighbor who I suspect might be a serial killer. Read this book. You’re welcome.
Some more recs: Tastes Like Shakkar by Nisha Sharma; Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon; Sing Anyway by Anita Kelly; and After Hours on Milagro Street by Angelina M. Lopez.
Mae Bennett is a hopeless romantic who enjoys imagining and writing happily ever afters in her free time. A voracious reader and reviewer of romance books while her cat, King Louis, rules from his throne. She bookstagrams her love of romance novels as @twiceuponabook.
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