Happy Tuesday my bookish friends! I've seen a lot of amazing #TropeTuesday posts on here and I'd been wanting to do one for a long time!❣️
It goes without saying that enemies to lovers, fake dating, marriage of convenience are some of my top faves, but I also really love books that have cross dressing protagonists - it's one of my favorite underrated tropes tbh! Idk where it started? Probably after the Amanda Bynes movie - She's The Man(it's so hilarious 🤣)? Or maybe it was Mulan(one of my favorite Disney movies)? I've loved these kind of stories and I'm always on the lookout for more! 😆
I think what appeals to me is the setting - where the heroine is able to find a degree of freedom that she usually can't (especially when it's a historical romance or a fantasy book) and how she's able to showcase her talents without prejudice. In my perfect world, gender wouldn't matter, but sadly that's not a reality yet.
I also love the confusion that ensues when the love interest begins to fall for them and then questions their sexuality 🤣 and then the ultimate reveal at a pivotal point! I also love it when the books treat gender and sexuality as something fluid - but those are rarer than this trope 🕵🏻♀️
You can scroll to see some of my favorites with this trope - where the heroine pretends to be a man for certain reasons! It's mostly a mix of fantasy books and historical romance ones, along with a few retellings!
✨ Sea Change by Darlene Marshall - An underrated pirate romance 😂 Charley is a talented physician and is masquerading as a man(as women weren't allowed to be doctors then) when she gets kidnapped by an American privateer who needs her to treat his brother's wounds.
✨ Duke of Pleasure by Elizabeth Hoyt - A heroine who grew up on the streets and has been hiding her gender since childhood + a duke with a task who needs her help.
She's an informant by day and a vigilante at night 😎
✨ Paladin by Sally Slater - Lady Samantha - Sam doesn't want marriage and decides to disguise herself as a boy to become a Paladin and hunt demons. As she trains hard and meets an amazing group of friends, they also work together to uncover a conspiracy.
Also has a really cute friends-to-lovers romance!
✨ The Pathfinder's Way by T.A.White - One of my favorite fantasy romance books with a kick-ass heroine!
Shea is a pathfinder who guides people when they venture out of their villages in the Lowlands. Fallon, a warlord is interested in her and her talents but she gives him the slip many times and disguises herself as a scout in his own army!
✨ Duchess By Night by Eloisa James - Harriet, a widowed duchess decides to do something scandalous for a change by disguising herself as a boy and attending one of Lord Strange's wild parties! And Jem finds himself interested in this effeminate 'boy' who needs guidance on how to be a man!
✨ Unmasking Miss Appleby by Emily Larkin - A heroine who picks the ability to shapeshift as a gift from a fairy godmother on her 25th birthday and she transforms herself into a man(with all the relevant parts😉)
She ends up working as a secretary for the Earl of Cosgrove and begins to fall for him.
✨ Unmasked By The Marquess by Cat Sebastian - A non-binary MC + bisexual love interest!
Robert Selby is actually Charity, a housemaid who has been passing herself off as a man for six years and needs to find a good marriage for her sister. She decides to ask Alistair, the Marquess of Pembroke for help.
✨ The Masqueraders by Georgette Heyer - Cross dressing + hilarious shenanigans!
A classic Georgette Heyer story with a brother-sister pair who end up switching genders as they head to London after the Jacobite rebellion.
Each sibling has their own love interest too!
✨ The Magnolia Sword by Sherry Thomas - An amazing YA retelling of Mulan
from Sherry Thomas!
Love her historical romance books
and this one was amazing as well!
✨ Enthroned by K.M. Shea - Time travel + Arthur retelling!
Britt Arthurs ends up traveling back in time and has to pose as King Arthur, when the real one runs away! Lol!
Have you read any of these? Or do you have any other recommendations for me?✨
(P.S. I've also got another separate list with heroes who cross dress🤣)
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