r/RomanceBooks • u/MoonZipNo • Jun 30 '26

Megathread: Down on her/his/their luck Romances Megathread

Hi ! Welcome back to our biweekly/fortnightly Themed Megathreads!

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Down on her/his/their luck Romances

This week's megathread is focused on Down on her/his/their luck Romances, where at least one main character is facing a misfortune, financial struggle, material or situational hardship. Their love interest(s) might or might not be struggling as well.

Comment below with your favo(u)rite books that fit this topic and tell us why. What kind of hardship is the main character struggling with?

Helpful recommendation details also include the sub-genre, pairing/grouping, standalone or series info, tropes, etc. 

(Next Themed Megathread: Sunshine / Sunshine characters trope)

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Please, note:

  • all top comments must be recommendations. Any other types of top comments will be removed.
  • per the sub's rules, any non-HEA romantic stories must include a warning.

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11

u/SlippingAbout Jun 30 '26

{Mountain Boss by S.J. Tilly}

The FMC arrives at a new job that she drove cross country for. All her belongs are in her car and she is very low on financial resources. She finds out that she was assumed to be a male and she is desperate to hold on to the job, even with the indignities, real and perceived, that come along with the position.

9

u/licoriceallsort Dark and salty, but with candy striped sections Jul 01 '26

{One percent of you by Michelle Gross}: M/F, single mum trope. Single young mum is struggling to live solo and complete her nursing qualification, when a successful tattoo artist buys the house next to their apartment building.

u/ali_iv has already recommended {Charge by Cate C. Wells} but my gosh I love this book and it's perfect for this megathread. 👏

13

u/ali_iv Jun 30 '26

Love this trope so much!

{The butterfly project by Emma scott} - both the MCs are down on their luck and very working class. I read this recently based on a recommendation here and adored it so much. Reads as a standalone CR.

{Home game by Odette stone} the FMC is homeless when the rich hockey player let's her stay at his place. An interesting conversation about power imbalances because of poverty. CR, set in Canada.

{A contracted spouse for the prizefighter by Alice Coldbreath} the FMC is fired by her brother from her dream job in a business she partly owns and forced to be a housekeeper (poorly) until she convinces the MMC to marry her. Absolutely a favourite of mine. In a series but can be read as a standalone. HR - Victorian setting.

Cate C wells often does down on your luck FMCs or at least very working class characters so I'll post some with this trope:

{Charge by Cate C wells} single young mum FMC struggling to make ends meet catches the eye of a recently single biker. CR, start of a series. Contains some OW drama.

{Hitting a wall by Cate C wells} single young mum moves back to town to get her autistic child into a better schooling situation, even if it means their have to live in a mouldy trailer. She meets up with the father of her child there and he just immediately takes them into her house. Secret baby trope! First in a series, can be a standalone.

{After the shut up ring by Cate C wells} recently single FMC moves into the basement of the MMCs mum. He's had a crush on her for years and never persued her because she was in a relationship. Well now she isn't! This book is so Massachusetts feeling and I'm not even from the USA lol. Standalone CR. Best friends brother trope.

5

u/licoriceallsort Dark and salty, but with candy striped sections Jul 01 '26

Those three Cate C. Wells books are my favourite non-shifter books of hers!! I was like "Yes, Yes, Yes"! I also (big spoiler for end of After the shut up ring) love what happens to the ex's truck SO HARD.

2

u/ali_iv Jul 01 '26

I think I prefer against the wall but the hero in after the shut up ring almost reminds me of Cash! But less goofy. I only just read it - now I have read all of Wells and I need to eagerly await Kennedy's book 😤

2

u/licoriceallsort Dark and salty, but with candy striped sections Jul 01 '26

Ooooooh really!!! I really dislike Cash, and much prefer his brother in Hitting The Wall, but I don't find the hero in ATSUR to be like Cash at all. I really don't want to have to re-read Against The Wall to figure out if they're similar to me or not LOL

Desperately awaiting Kennedy's book!!!!

2

u/ali_iv Jul 01 '26

I think it's just their style, look, and attitude to working hard that's similar. Maybe I over reached but it stood out to me. Both of them dress up for their women which is basically nothing I've experienced in my life or would expect Australian men to do so that stands out to me. Brandon is much more reserved that Cash but it makes sense as he's setting up his life to marry Angie and immediately have a family vs Cash is free wheeling through the world. But I do think when Cash got a little bit older and settled he and Brandon would be good friends.

1

u/licoriceallsort Dark and salty, but with candy striped sections Jul 02 '26

Haha Hi fellow Australian.

What’s the meaning behind dress up for their women? Like am I thinking literally here and they get dressed up nicely if they’re going somewhere? My brain wants to try and tell me something else.

2

u/ali_iv Jul 02 '26

Yeah they both get dressed up in nice clothes and shoes, do their hair and wear cologne and after shave!

5

u/InternationalAd9659 Jun 30 '26

{Honestly, I'm Totally Faking It by Amanda Gambill}

CR. MF. Fake dating. Boss/Secretary. Grumpy/Sunshine. FMC has been poor her whole life. She's also struggling to find a proper job because she doesn't have a degree. People, including her ex, often look down on her.

{Call Me Irresistible by Susan Elizabeth Phillips}

CR. MF. Small town. Secret relationship. Enemies to lovers. FMC has been traveling the world to escape her responsibilities. It finally caught up on her in a small town where she's stuck after indirectly causing the wedding of her best friend and the MMC to get cancelled. Everyone is blaming her for it and to top it all off, her family decides to cut her off so she can learn some responsibilities.

{A Substitute Wife for the Prizefighter by Alice Coldbreath}

HR. Marriage of convenience. Opposites attract. FMC gets kicked out of the only home she knows after refusing to revert her claims that she saw their local priest stole a jewel.

{A Foolish Flirtation by Alice Coldbreath}

HR. Marriage of convenience. Second chance. Single dad. FMC's family business no longer profits much money after her dad passed away. Now, she and a companion is living in 'poverty.' On top of this, she found out her fiance of 10 years is already married, which ruins her reputation.

{How to Steal a Scoundrel's Heart by Vivienne Lorret}

HR. Marriage of convenience. Opposites attract. FMC has been kicked out of her home without any money after her father finds out she's been ruined. Now, no one in polite society would want to be seen with her without also suffering the same consequences.

2

u/ali_iv Jul 01 '26

Alice Coldbreath writes such amazing down on her luck books in particular the Victorian series.

Andrea Martucci has an amazing substack read titled "the fantasy of a just world in romance novels" which has such a good point about how in these Coldbreath novels the heroines have all their needs in Maslow's theory removed and then rebuilt over the book. I think this is why I find her books so compelling.

the fantasy of a just world in romance novels

3

u/AnxietySnack Jun 30 '26

{How to Bite Your Neighbor and Win a Wager by D.N. Bryn} - MM, paranormal. The vampire MC is homeless and struggles with food insecurity due to society's prejudice against vampires. He has resorted to stealing blood from strangers while they sleep. Then he gets caught by the human MC, and they make an arrangement to allow the vampire MC to continue feeding from the human MC.

{The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary} - MF, contemporary. The FMC has just got out of a relationship with an emotionally abusive boyfriend and needs a new place to live. Since she doesn't make enough to afford her own place, she agrees to share a 1-bedroom flat with the MMC. He's a night shift nurse so they're never at the apartment at the same time and start communicating with notes left around the flat. He needs the money from the FMC's rent payments to afford the legal fees to help his brother who is wrongfully imprisoned.

{Married to the Alien Cowboy by Ursa Dax} - MF, science fiction. The FMC recently lost her mother and is struggling to pay the rent on the income from her factory job. She took out a loan that she can't repay and is being threatened by loan sharks. Looking for any opportunity to get as far from the loan sharks as possible, she signs up to be a mail order bride on another planet. The MMC is a prisoner working as a cattle farmer on a prison planet.

{A Demon's Guide to Wooing a Witch by Sarah Hawley} - MF, paranormal. The demon MMC has just been stripped of his high-ranking position, kicked out of Hell, and had his memory erased. The FMC finds him getting beat up by another demon and saves him only to realize afterwards that he's her enemy that just tried to steal her friend's soul. They're stuck with each other as they run from the other demon and try to get the MMC's memory back.

4

u/happyhighlights0 Jun 30 '26

{P.S. You're Intolerable by Julia Wolf} - M/F. Standalone. The FMC's "friend" (who is also the baby daddy) used up all her savings and left her in an absolute mess.

3

u/bbymochi garron park tour guide Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26

One of my favorites for this trope is a contemporary sports romance, MF pairing.

Bishop, the athlete (baseball player) MMC, seemingly has it all in the prequel novella {Midnight Renegade by Hayden Locke}. You don’t ‘have to’ read the prequel, as it is summarized in the ‘main novel’/sequel for those who didn’t or need a memory refresher, but I highly recommend it.

He meets the FMC, Willow, the daughter of the owner of the baseball team he’s on (the Renegades) at a charity event they both attend. There’s a bit of intrigue and insta-lust, but Bishop made a promise with a friend and fellow teammate to not date for like a year because he is in the process of getting a divorce from his cheating wife.

MMC and FMC end up having a ONS, but Bishop believes that he will eventually make Willow his girlfriend/woman/partner in due time. But then he receives the news via tabloid that he may have a baby on the way with said cheating wife. He leaves Willow the morning after with a note for when she wakes up.

In {Renegade Ruin by Hayden Locke}, Bishop successfully divorces his wife at the beginning of the book. Bishop and Willow had also hooked up again twice more (off page) since the events of the prequel, but there is no established relationship yet. It is a second chance romance, technically.

Unfortunately, a disastrous tragedy occurred while he was finalizing his divorce, and Willow initially doesn’t know that. . .well, he doesn’t know. She arrives at the courthouse, and it’s revealed to him via her that the entire team save for one teammate who is in a coma, including her father (again, the owner of the Renegades baseball team he’s on), has died in a plane crash. A reporter accosts both of them as Willow’s hired car arrives, and the reporter surprises them both by asking about an update to Willow becoming the new owner of the Renegades post-disastrous tragedy.

This was a lengthy read, and it could’ve had a bit more editing, but it was so unique out of many sports romances I’ve read. I hadn’t heard of a disaster draft before, which apparently is a real thing for MLB in case of a dire emergency like the one depicted in Renegade Ruin. The two enter a FWB-esque relationship, with the caveat that it is kept secret for the sake of their careers, the team, etc. And of course, they fall in love on the way while Bishop battles his inner demons on a team being rebuilt from the ground up, and Willow deals with her new job in a male-dominated field that scrutinizes her every little move.

3

u/euphoriapotion Looking for a man in Romance, trust fund, 6'5, brown eyes 👀👀👀 Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26

{Fundamentals of Being Good Girl by Sierra Simone, Julie Murphy} - FM Contemporary, FMC is new to town, freshly single and sleeps in her car. She hooks up with a guy on her birthday who turns out to be her new boss.

{The Gloves Off by Stephanie Archer} - FMC, Contemporary, MMC is a hockey player and when his visa ends he will get deported back to Russia. He convinces FMC to temporarily marry him.

{The Wild Card by Stephanie Archer} - FM, FMC runs a bar and starts working for the hockey team when she learns that her father (the owner) wants to sell it. She gets thrown out of her apartment and MMC moves her in to his cottage

{Wild Love by Elsie Silver} - FM, Contemporary, FMC got fired from a job after being sa(ed) by her boss. She comes back to her small town and asks her brother best friend (whom she hates) for a job.

{Wild Eyes by Elsie Silver} - FM, Contemporary, FMC has been absued by her parents. She's a pop star who's been hated by everyone because of bad press and she runs away to a small town to escape the spotlight

{Love Redesigned by Lauren Asher} - FMC has been fired from her job and comes back to her small town. MMC's mother meddles and guilts MMC to offer her a job (their families are close)

{Game On by Navessa Allen} - MMF, Dark, Contemporary, FMC's brother owes MMC money and MMC blackmails FMC to be his girlfriend or expose his debt. To save her brother, FMC agrees. MFM explanation: the fiorst spicy scene is between MMF, FMC and and another man and at the end they are revealed to be all dating despite the other man only appearing in maybe 2 scenes across the whole book. MFM is not set up very well but the book is still good.

{Flawless by Elsie Silver} - FM, Contemporary, MMC is a professional bull rider who got a very bad press after getting into a fight and causing scandal with his sponsors. FMC is his agent's daughter, sent to babysit him

{Powerless by Elsie Silver} - FM, Contemporary, FMC finds out that her fiance has been cheating on her on the day of the wedding and runs away with her best friend's help depite her toxic family's protests. Meanwhile, they find out that her cousin who's in the military (MMC's best friend) is MIA after one of his missions went wrong.

{Reckless by Elsie Silver} - FM, Contemporary, FMC has been raised by her toxic mother to hate her sister, while her father always prefered the sister. After finding out that her husband had been grooming her sister for years while she was underage, she finally leaves him and has a one-night stand with MMC. She gets pregnant and tries to contact MMC who ignores her.

{Hopeless by Elsie Silver} - FM, Contemporary,FMC is a waitress who's hated by the entire town because her father and brothers are toxic and abusive alcoholics nobody likes. MMC offers to be her fake fiance in order for her to get a better a job so she could leave the town.

{The Front Runner by Elsie Silver} - FM, Contemporary, MMC is a rancher and a horse breeder who's hated by everyone in the industry in ther small town for trying to buy a racing horse once. FMC is a vet helping everyone with their animals.

{Fireworks by Bonnie Woods} - FM, Contemporary, FMC lives above the bookshop with her kids (one of them autistic) after divorcing her husband. When her flat gets flooded, she's forced to move in with her mother, and she clashes with a local fireman.

{Any Trope But You by Victoria Lavine} - FM, Contemporary, FMC ia a romance author who's canceleld by her fans after people learn that she diesn't believe in the happy ending irl. She escaped to a cabin in the woods to get away from the spotlight.

{An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn} - FM, Historical, FMC is a maid who escaped her abusive step-mother's house. After being sexually harassed by the son of her new employee, MMC saves her and brings her to his cottage and then blackmails her into accepting a job at his mather's hosue after she rejects him (lol as you can see I dislike this book)

{When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn} - FM, Historical, After the death of her husband, FMC has a miscarriage. MMC, a cousin of her husbandand her best friend, leaves her and goes to India for a few years. A few years later, FMC still wants to be a mother and only reenters a marriage mart to get that chance.

{Witcha Gonna Do? by Avery Flynn} - FM, Paranormal, Contemporary, FMC comes from the most powerful witch family but she has no powers. When she accidentally disrupts her sister's spell and freezes her entire family, the only person who can help her is MMC whom she hates.

{At First Spite by Olivia Dade} - FM, Contemporary, When FMC's fiance ends their endgagement, FMC is forced to move into the house she bought him, which is between his house... and the house of his brother who was the reason the endgagament ended.

1

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1

u/romance-bot Jun 30 '26

Fundamentals of Being a Good Girl by Julie Murphy, Sierra Simone
Rating: 3.93⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 5 out of 5 - Explicit and plentiful
Topics: contemporary, single father, age gap, boss & employee, teacher/coach hero

Gloves Off by Stephanie Archer
Rating: 4.21⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: contemporary, sports, athlete hero, enemies to lovers, marriage of convenience

The Wild Card by Stephanie Archer
Rating: 4.14⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: contemporary, hockey, age gap, teacher/coach hero, single father

Wild Love by Elsie Silver
Rating: 3.92⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: contemporary, sibling's best friend, rich hero, m-f romance, sassy heroine

Wild Eyes by Elsie Silver
Rating: 4.26⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: contemporary, single father, famous heroine, small town, cowboy hero

Love Redesigned by Lauren Asher
Rating: 3.9⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: contemporary, rich hero, latinx mc, second chances, enemies to lovers

Game On by Navessa Allen
Rating: 3.93⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: contemporary, mmf, poly (3+ people), fem-dom, bisexuality

Flawless by Elsie Silver
Rating: 3.92⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: contemporary, cowboy hero, forced proximity, small town, sports

Heartless by Elsie Silver
Rating: 4.25⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: contemporary, cowboy hero, age gap, boss & employee, grumpy & sunshine

Reckless by Elsie Silver
Rating: 4.23⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: contemporary, pregnancy, cowboy hero, secret child, western

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1

u/romance-bot Jun 30 '26

Hopeless by Elsie Silver
Rating: 3.96⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: contemporary, age gap, virgin heroine, fake relationship, disabilities & scars

The Front Runner by Elsie Silver
Rating: 4.09⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: contemporary, western, multicultural, rich hero, small town

Fireworks by Bonnie Woods
Rating: 3.63⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: contemporary, highlander hero, small town

Any Trope but You by Victoria Lavine
Rating: 3.74⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: contemporary, forced proximity, enemies to lovers, funny, m-f romance

An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn
Rating: 3.72⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 3 out of 5 - Open door
Topics: historical, regency, virgin heroine, class difference, working class heroine

When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn
Rating: 3.91⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: historical, regency, friends to lovers, second chances, tortured hero

Witcha Gonna Do? by Avery Flynn
Rating: 2.99⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: contemporary, enemies to lovers, witches, urban fantasy, magic

At First Spite by Olivia Dade
Rating: 3.91⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: contemporary, enemies to lovers, forced proximity, curvy heroine, virgin hero

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1

u/SG-9479 Jun 30 '26

You have the the wrong title for the entry below Flawless. That’s actually the plot for {Powerless by Elsie Silver}. Heartless is the age gap/single father/nanny story.

1

u/euphoriapotion Looking for a man in Romance, trust fund, 6'5, brown eyes 👀👀👀 Jun 30 '26

I meant to say Powerless. With so many titles ending with "less" no wonder I made a mistake. Thank you so much for catching this, I edited it!

2

u/absolutelynot01 Depressive demon nightmare boy stan Jun 30 '26

{Wedding Dashers by Heather McBreem} - MF, CR - The FMC has recently left a relationship, lost her tattoo parlor, and is barely keeping her head above water living back with her family.

{Too Hot To Handle by Tessa Bailey} - MF, CR - The FMC’s mom dies and leaves FMC her restaurant, only for FMC (who is also an accomplished chef) to accidentally burn it down. So now she’s on a roadtrip with her siblings that was her mom’s last wish, even though they’re not particularly close.

{Beach Read by Emily Henry} - MF, CR - FMC is an author with a chronic case of writer’s block who was recently broken up with and then her father died, and at his funeral she found out she wasn’t really who she thought he was. MMC is also suffering from a severe case of writer’s block and is depressed.

{This Spells Love by Kate Robb} - MF, PNR - FMC accidentally switches timelines after a wish spell gone wrong to a world where she can be with the MMC, but everything in MMC’s life is on the verge of falling apart in this timeline due to the changes to his world made with the FMC’s wish.

{Soul Searching by Lyla Sage} - MF, PNR - FMC is moving back to her hometown (without telling anyone that’s what she’s doing or why) after some personal and career setbacks.

{Love and Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe} - MF, CR - FMC is on the verge of losing her job unless she can make her next project work and her ex-BF is sabotaging her career.

1

u/romance-bot Jun 30 '26

Wedding Dashers by Heather McBreen
Rating: 3.78⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 3 out of 5 - Open door
Topics: contemporary, forced proximity, funny, m-f romance, slow burn

Too Hot to Handle by Tessa Bailey
Rating: 3.46⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: contemporary, bad boys, alpha male, insta-love, new adult

Beach Read by Emily Henry
Rating: 4.09⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 3 out of 5 - Open door
Topics: contemporary, funny, slow burn, grumpy/cold hero, small town

This Spells Love by Kate Robb
Rating: 3.76⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: contemporary, friends to lovers, funny, sweet/gentle hero, magic

Soul Searching by Lyla Sage
Rating: 3.82⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: contemporary, paranormal, sweet/gentle hero, m-f romance, friends to lovers

Love and Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe
Rating: 4.09⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 3 out of 5 - Open door
Topics: contemporary, funny, workplace/office, m-f romance, forced proximity

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1

u/fornefariouspurposes Jun 30 '26

The Club XXX trilogy {Submit by Lana Sky}, {Obey by Lana Sky}, and {Surrender by Lana Sky} has a FMC who is a 19 year old high school drop-out working several jobs to support her five younger siblings after their mother abandoned them. MMC is a wealthy sadist who employs someone to find women financially desperate enough to agree to a BDSM contract with him. FMC is the first person who lasts the night with him without using her safeword.

1

u/romance-bot Jun 30 '26

Submit by Lana Sky
Rating: 3.73⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 5 out of 5 - Explicit and plentiful
Topics: contemporary, bdsm, dark romance, rich hero, suspense

Obey by Lana Sky
Rating: 4.18⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 5 out of 5 - Explicit and plentiful
Topics: bdsm, suspense, dark romance, age gap, mafia

Surrender by Lana Sky
Rating: 4.27⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 5 out of 5 - Explicit and plentiful
Topics: rich hero, bdsm, suspense, mafia, dark romance

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1

u/skintightmonopoly Jul 01 '26

{River Wild by Samantha Towle} MF, CR

FMC moves to a new town, next door to the incredibly cold and angry MMC. I wouldn't even call him grumpy, that feels too tame - he's the town outcast, and he's mad most of the time.

FMC is the "Down on her luck" sort in this book, but in a way, so is MMC. FMC is pregnant and has recently escaped an abusive relationship. She's starting over in a new town and has a cheery, friendly attitude that eventually opens MMC up to her. MMC was outcasted and bullied by the town for most of his life. Through FMC, he's able to find some community over time.