Have you ever noticed how butch characters are portrayed in sapphic books? I’m not talking about their personalities or how they interact with other characters; I’m talking about their physical descriptions. Most of the time, especially in butch/femme romances, the butch character will be tall and athletic and have smaller breasts compared to her love interest.
If you haven’t noticed before, pay attention to the physical descriptions the next time you read a book with a butch character.
For this category of the Sapphic Book Bingo, read a sapphic book with a butch main character who is shorter than her love interest. If you struggle to find a book with a butch character who’s shorter, I’m fine with a butch character who’s the same height as her love interest, as long as she isn’t taller.
15 sapphic books with a butch character who is shorter than her love interest
Below, you’ll find 15 recommended books featuring a butch character who is shorter (or at least not taller) than her love interest.
Something in the Wine by Jae
All her life, Annie Prideaux has suffered through her brother’s constant practical jokes. But Jake’s last joke is one too many, she decides when he sets her up on a blind date with his friend Drew—neglecting to tell his straight sister one tiny detail: her date is not a man, but a lesbian.
Annie and Drew decide it’s time to turn the tables on Jake by pretending to fall in love with each other.
At first glance, they have nothing in common. Disillusioned with love, Annie focuses on books, her cat, and her work as an accountant while Drew, more confident and outgoing, owns a dog and spends most of her time working in her beloved vineyard.
Only their common goal to take revenge on Jake unites them. But what starts as a table-turning game soon turns Annie’s and Drew’s lives upside down as the lines between pretending and reality begin to blur.
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Defending Jessica by Benna Bos
Few people accused of murder are as unlikable as Veronica Turner’s client. So to give her the best defense, Veronica is going to need help from her favorite true crime podcast. But when she meets the newest sound tech for “Murder by the Bay” she is instantly enthralled. She wants nothing more than to get close to the stunning, shy woman.
Kaia Kent is too focused on her new job to pay much attention to the pushy attorney defending their latest podcast subject. But Veronica just keeps coming around, and every time she does, Kaia finds herself slipping a little further away from dislike and toward serious attraction.
With an innocent woman to defend, a murderer on the loose, and opposites that are smashed together in a whirlwind of fear, intrigue, and passion, defending Jessica will prove to be anything but easy.
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Music from Stone by Brenda Murphy
Celebrated concert pianist Nüwa Zhou had it all. Until she didn’t. Forced out of the closet while testifying at the kidnapping and murder trial of her obsessive former assistant turned stalker, she retires from the high-pressure world of performing to recover at her parents’ estate.
Stone mason, and frustrated sculptor Julia Johnson, spends her days stone building walls and patios while dreaming of quitting her day job.
After a chance encounter with Julia leads to more, Nüwa imagines a life with Julia. When her stalker returns, determined to kidnap Nüwa and end anyone who stands in his way, Nüwa will do whatever it takes to keep Julia safe, but will it be enough?
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Mailboat by Cade Haddock Strong
Wen Apollo dreams of seeing the world beyond the small riverside town where she grew up. But operating the local mailboat keeps her tethered to Coopersville. Islands dot the river, and their residents rely on her to deliver everything from food and medicine to pet food and plumbing supplies.
On a raw spring day, Wen goes to Owl Island—the summer home of the illustrious Gage family—to deliver a package. It’s addressed to the family’s oldest daughter, Estelle, a woman Wen has long admired from afar.
Estelle Gage fled to the islands seeking solitude and an escape. With the deadline for her latest novel fast approaching, her sole focus is to write. But when the handsome mailboat captain shows up on her doorstep, writing is no longer the only thing on her mind.
A steady stream of packages continues to bring Wen back to Owl Island—and to Estelle. But as summer looms, so does the impending arrival of Estelle’s family. The return of the Gages will most certainly spell the end to Estelle and Wen’s idyllic time cloistered together on the island. What will that mean for their budding relationship?
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Wicked Fem by Edie Marr
Pix is a chubby, scruffy butch, Lois is a beautiful polished fem. Pix has never had a relationship with someone as adventurous as Lois before, although she’s always wanted to.
And Lois has never had a relationship with a woman.
A heart-stopping, star-crossed romance set in Brighton, the UK’s queer city by the sea, that swoops from cocktail bars to bus-stop encounters to fateful meetings in supermarket aisles – as love is found and lost and found again.
Slowly, watching my face, she lifts her hands up and I notice those perfect red ovals of her fingernails. She does something behind her head and her hair falls out of the beehive ’do and bounces down around her face like a big dark cloud — and the effect of this is to reanimate my already lifeless corpse and then instantly kill me dead again, because she just got more beautiful and it really defies all the laws of the universe that something like that could have happened.
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The Unicorn, The Mystery by Janet Mason
In The Unicorn, The Mystery, we meet a unicorn who tells us the story of the seven tapestries, called “The Hunt of the Unicorn” from the 1500s on display in “the unicorn room” in The Cloister in Manhattan, now part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The tapestries tell the story of what is still called an “unsolved mystery.” The story is set in an abbey in France not far from the barn in the countryside where the tapestries were discovered. Pursued by a band of hunters, the unicorn is led along by observing birds, smelling and eating the abbey flowers and fruits (including imbibing in fermented pomegranates), pursuing chaste maidens (there is one in the tapestry) and at times speaks to other animals such as the majestic stag.
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The Found Jar by Jaycie Morrison
Horror fiction writer Emily Harris just wants to be left alone with her work. But plagued by writer’s block, she reluctantly agrees to join her friends at their luxurious beach house for the summer. Maybe a change of scenery will inspire her.
Local housekeeper Beck Reynolds keeps her life simple—saving for a boat and avoiding the town bullies while she attends art classes. Meeting successful but prickly Emily leaves her feeling awestruck, and she wants to make a good impression, even though Emily seems determined to run her off. But Beck’s not the one who is just visiting.
Emily knows all about loss, and guilt, and rejection. Opening her heart has always gotten her hurt, and she’s absolutely not letting anyone in, even someone good, or good-looking, like Beck.
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The Road To Wings by Julie Tizard
What does it take to earn air force wings? Your heart, your soul, even your very life? Lieutenant Casey Tompkins is starting the most difficult flight training program in the world. She has to face thunderstorms, the death of friends, and male instructors who want to wash her out.
Captain Kathryn Hardesty is the toughest and best instructor pilot on the base and the chief of flight safety. She’s demanding because she knows the price of failure is tragedy and a smoking hole. She looks out for all the students, especially the female ones.
Casey has to learn to fly a supersonic jet, not get killed in the process, and face a growing forbidden attraction. Can she muster the intelligence, courage, and unbreakable determination to become an air force pilot? Does she have what it takes to earn wings, find love, and not crash and burn?
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Wicked Girls by Kinsey Leigh & Cara Malone
You’re a witch, Teagan!
That’s what my new roommate tells me – not exactly what I was expecting from my first week of college.
My first thought is she’s off her rocker, but when she brings me to a huge, gothic building in the middle of town that I somehow never noticed before and welcomes me to Lilith Academy – a school for witches – it starts to feel real.
And so do my powers.
The little tingles I always wrote off as my imagination turn into surges of energy I struggle to control – especially when my roomie and two of the other girls from class are nearby.
They make my newfound magic go wild. If I don’t find a way to tame it and pass my first-year exams I’ll lose my power… but I can’t stay away from these deliciously wicked girls.
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Bright Lights of Summer by Lynn Ames
It’s March, 1941. Captain America appears in a comic book for the very first time. New York City receives 18.1 inches of snow, its 3rd largest snowfall in history. In Holland, the Nazi occupiers forbid Jews to own businesses. In Poland, Heinrich Himmler inspects Auschwitz. World War II is raging in Europe, but America has yet to enter the fray.
And in Phoenix, Arizona, a 16-year-old scrap of a girl named Theodora “Dizzy” Hosler, takes the field to try out for the World Champion P.B.S.W. Ramblers softball team.
Set against the backdrop of perhaps the most dramatic time in US history, comes the story of Diz and Frannie, two women fueled by an unquenchable passion for the game of softball and feelings for each other that go far beyond the bounds of friendship. Will their love for the game bring them closer together or tear them apart?
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Seconds Out by Ruby Scott
Abs (Abby) is a fit, smart, twenty-something, ex-boxing champion with a big heart. Hayley is a divorcee with a wayward teenage daughter, an alcoholic ex-husband and a demanding job with crazy shifts. When Abs meets Gracie she is reminded of the pressures of her own childhood. Compelled to offer Gracie the same helping hand which she benefited from as a teenager, Abs invites Gracie to train at Sapphy’s, the all womens gym where she works. That is until Hayley, Gracie’s mom finds out. Hayley is adamant that her daughter will have nothing to do with boxing or Abs. After sparks fly, Hayley is left questioning what she really wants.
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Walk Between Worlds by Samara Breger
Sergeant Major Scratch Keyes of the King’s Guard is having a bad day.
On what should be the biggest night of her life, everything suddenly goes horribly wrong. First, her king denies her the promotion she rightfully earned, as well as the knighthood that goes along with it. And then, when Scratch is wallowing somewhere near the fetid rock bottom, she and her best friend, the flamboyant and carefree Sergeant James Ursus, are arrested for orchestrating the abduction of Princess Frances and sentenced to death. On the whole, things could be better.
Luckily, help comes in the form of the mysterious Shae siblings—Vel and Umbrella—who inform the doomed pair that the issue of the missing Princess is far more complicated than it appears. After a daring escape, the four embark on an ill-advised rescue mission through a forest filled with beasts, bandits, and mysterious fair folk, bringing nothing with them but a kitchen knife and the vague outline of a plan. Their destination is the Between, a sacred and shadowy fae-guarded place that promises to deliver Scratch and James to the princess—if they manage to survive.
But Scratch didn’t rise above her humble childhood in the Royal City slums by accepting things at face value. It’s clear that the enigmatic Shaes are hiding something, but what do they know? Who are they working with? And why, in the name of all the divine constellations in the scrambled sky, can’t Scratch stop staring at Brella?
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Heroes by Serena J. Bishop
Coming of age. Coming into power.
Aurora and Leela have succeeded in their quest to balance work and family. Aurora has risen in the ranks at her company and has become a well-known environmental advocate. Leela’s business has grown and is the president of the farmers’ market. They have done this all while raising their conceived-by-magic eleven-year-old daughter, Kari. However, the time has come for them to tell Kari about her mystical origins, as Kari’s mind and body start to evolve in powerful ways.
As the family focuses on ways to test Kari’s new abilities, Aurora is placed in the public spotlight due to an ongoing public battle with Houston Energy. The corporate monstrosity dislikes Aurora, but no one despises her—or Leela—more than the social media group, God and Country, or G and C. Rather than get swept up in the hate, they focus on Kari’s emerging supernatural talents.
But that changes when the attacks migrate from the internet and move closer to home.
Will G and C’s taunts and threats cause Aurora and Leela to fall back in the shadows? Do they have what it takes to take the fight to G and C? Or, is Kari the key to saving them all?
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Almost Perfect by Tagan Shepard
Olivia Duran has made being a TV fangirl her life. Creating fan art sure beats her job as a parking lot attendant, and immersing herself in fictional worlds where girl gets girl helps her cope with her less-than-happy reality. If anyone deserves a little escapism, it’s Olivia.
Queer entertainment influencer Riley St. James has a huge following and an even bigger secret that could tank her career. Somewhere along the way her love for TV turned into a job that pays the bills. She’s never told anyone she sometimes has to fake it.
When Riley and Olivia attend QueerCon, Olivia gifts her favorite actress one of her drawings and goes from unknown to overnight sensation, while devoted fans flock to Riley, who only has eyes for Olivia. Navigating the world of long-distance dating, career crisis, and family obligations, Olivia and Riley begin to wonder: Can their real-life love ever be as perfect as those they see on-screen?
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Only Human by Audrey Wilson
Have you ever had a crush? Have you ever had a crush so astronomically huge you were willing to tell the person anything to make them fall in love with you? If you’re Annalise Dresden, then the answer is yes. Yes you have. And you’re in way over your head.
Before Frankie, Leece was like any other girl in her mid-twenties – a pre-med student with unreached potential, too much debt, a drinking problem, and no memory of her life before her nineteenth birthday. Alright, maybe she wasn’t like any other girl, but still. Her life was somewhat normal. But Frankie changed everything. Frankie, the simple girl with the first crush eyes, working at a Big Lots in Northwest Indiana after dropping out of college. Frankie, who somehow changed Leece’s whole life with a single look.
Even though the two women can’t be more opposite, Leece feels a connection to Frankie unlike any she’s felt before, compelling her to tell Frankie lie after lie to try to win her over. But when Frankie suspects Leece might not be exactly who she says she is, their relationship grows rocky. Plagued by visions of her sketchy past, Leece must figure out who she really is before she loses everything she loves, including Frankie.
Coming soon from Flashpoint Publications
Listen to an excerpt (author reading)
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Leave a comment and let us know what book you’ll be reading for the “butch character who is shorter” category!
I intend to read Almost Perfect – Tagan Shepherd – I fortuitously won a signed copy of this book recently 😊
Thank you for making clear that fictional butches are often described as appearing physically like — cis men! The lightbulb went off in my head when I read your blog. Wow. I now want to avoid that stereotype in my writing!
Loved your book “Something in the Wine” and have a couple of the others on my TBR shelf. I’ll sure read descriptions with a different mind’s eye from now on. Thanks Jae ;-)
Chase Stinsen in Robyn Nyx’s adventure duo definitely fits the ‘butch who is shorter’ category! Vic x
I want to know why the butch characters all have male or androgynous names? Myself as a butch and my butch friends mostly all have female names. Jae I love how your characters are not all slim and athletic!
That’s exactly why Michelle from Departure from the Script goes by Michelle. She even teases Amanda, who assumed she would have a more androgynous nickname. :-)
Wrong Number, Right Woman. Short butch with curves. Great character!
I was thinking both Tal and Ekatya in the Alsean series are both shorter than Salomon and Llhyn.
Second Out by Ruby Scott. It sounds very interesting and I am ready to see how Hayley faces life.
I read Something In The Wine by Jae a few years ago. I enjoy it very much. Some tricks people play on you can benefit you in the end and you can thank them.
Mechanics of Love by Meka James