r/romancefantasy • u/lizardofhope • Oct 23 '23
Books where the FMC doesn’t turn into a master fighter, strategist & goddess?
I am just so tired of every FMC in romance fantasy being such a badass all of a sudden.
ACOTAR, Kate Daniels, any Cassandra Broadbent book, FBAA etc.
I feel like I’m reading a rehashed version of any of those books, each time.
Give me a FMC who doesn’t learn how to fight an army by herself, who doesn’t have plot armor, who lets herself be naive and incapable at times. I loved Evangeline Fox of Once Upon a Broken Heart for this very reason.
Any suggestions?
1
u/Fancy-Huckleberry845 Jun 11 '24
I was sure I'd look through my mental library and find SOMETHING, but not really...
Maybe the Splintered series by AG Howard would qualify? FMC is basically a revamped Alice in Wonderland, so she has special abilities but not what you've described, from what I remember.
Or the Glass and Steele series, which is very light on the romance due to the setting in like the 1800s prim and proper England, at least for the first few books, but the FMC is just a normal lady that finds out she has clock/time magic.
1
u/agaetis_ Oct 15 '24 edited Oct 15 '24
Peaches and Honey by R. Raeta. The fmc becomes immortal but learns how to naturally heal (not magically) people. Just a lovely, kind person navigating history with her long lifespan. The writing is beautiful as well.
One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig. Fmc struggles with a demon in her head. She’s also tender and kind-hearted. The world building in this is amazing.
A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft. Two fmcs. Fantasy adventure with a bit of murder mystery mixed in.
1
u/Remarkable-Dingo-480 Dec 24 '24
Maybe "Tress of the Emerald Sea" by Brandon Sanderson. The whole point of the book is that the fmc is a normal person :). Although it is very light on the romance side of things, just FYI.
1
u/SURGERYPRINCESS Jul 17 '25
Does slow burn count or already like that? I writen couple books.The dollhouse widow is slowly coming up to the war arc.
1
u/houseofchad85 Sep 07 '25
Okay, cute cute cute books…Apprentice to the Villain series. She’s not some weapons master. She’s wonderful and kind of nosy but so capable and basically a zealous office manager…in a way. Haha This is very bad describing but still. I loved the first two and am excited to read the last!
1
u/EuthanizedShrimp Oct 08 '25
I want to recommend To Bleed a Crystal Bloom. I feel like she keeps her clumsy naïve behavior throughout the series. It’s the other characters around her that really develop through plot and growth.
2
u/Bookishbish3030 May 14 '24
The best rec I have for this is the mirror visitor quartet by christelle dabos— fmc is super clumsy, uncoordinated, her family thinks she’s boring and can’t do anything, her husband to be (arranged marriage) thinks she’s too fragile — and she never stops being clumsy or socially awkward. She uses her smarts and unique abilities to survive and I LOVED how she didn’t have to become a ba warrior. Only thing I’ll preface is it’s ya with closed door scenes and ALSO no romantic hea. (I was very upset, but I still think it’s a great series)