My favorite books featuring a disabled character as a love interest

Why am I passionate about this?

I think it is so important for everyone to be able to see others get their happily ever after. Illness and disability doesn't mean a person can't or shouldn't find love. Everyone should be able to find love. I love seeing characters find their happily ever after even if they aren't physically perfect. 


I wrote...

Wedding the Widow

By Jane B. Night,

Book cover of Wedding the Widow

What is my book about?

Wedding the Widow is a historical romance. Charlotte is widowed, pregnant, and unable to continue her journey westward on a wagon train. Augustus, whose previous girlfriend left him when he became an amputee, agrees to a marriage of convenience however it doesn't take long for both parties to realize there is a real potential for love.

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Simply Love

Jane B. Night Why did I love this book?

This book was my first experience with Mary Balogh and I instantly became a fan. She is now one of my favorite romance authors. This book broke my heart in the best of ways. Sydnam is injured from the war. He is missing an eye and an arm. Still, he managed to easily make me, and Anne, swoon over his artistic soul. Anne is a single mother with a background just as heartbreaking as Sydnam's but I never doubted for a moment they would end up happily ever after. I rooted for them all the way. 

By Mary Balogh,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Simply Love as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Anne Jewell is a teacher at Miss Martin's School for Girls, a genteel academy in Regency England. Now she must confront the disturbing tragedy that gave her a beautiful son but locked her heart away for many years ago. While on a summer holiday in Wales, Anne meets Sydnam Butler, a taciturn hero of the Peninsula Wars. Gentle yet courageous, he is unlike any man Anne has ever encountered. But he too carries scars of the past. When Anne returns to Miss Martin's, she makes a surprising discovery and has no choice but to test Sydnam's love. Their passion becomes…


Book cover of Annie's Song

Jane B. Night Why did I love this book?

This was the first romance I ever read that featured a deaf character. I loved how much research the author did on the subject and how much I learned. This book broke my heart as Annie was again and again mistreated and underestimated until Alex realized that the problem was her ears, not her mind. 

I really loved Alex's character. He marries Annie because she was raped by his brother and becomes pregnant. I loved his sense of duty and honor. I loved his attempts at trying to do right by Annie even when they were misinformed. 

My favorite takeaway from this book was that no one should decide for another person what they need and the able community needs to not make assumptions but to listen to what those with disabilities say about their needs.

By Catherine Anderson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Annie's Song as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Only her gift of love can heal ...Annie Trimble lives in a solitary world that no one enters or understands. As delicate and beautiful as the tender blossoms of the Oregon spring, she is shunned by a town that doesn't understand her. But cruelty cannot destroy the love Annie holds in her heart. When Alex Montgomery learns of the injustice sweet Annie has suffered, he vows to do whatever it takes to set it right-even if it means marrying her. He never dreams he will fall for her childlike innocence, her womanly charms, and the wondrous way she views her…


Book cover of Romancing the Duke

Jane B. Night Why did I love this book?

This was the first book in Tessa Dare's Castles Ever After. I love Tessa's modern characters set in a historical backdrop. Isolde is a woman that knows what she wants. She is forced to go up against Ransom, a stubborn Duke who is visually impaired, in a fight over a castle they both believe they own.  

Also, I would just love to say how much I love when Tessa Dare gives her characters an unusual pet. In this case, Isolde has an ermine. Animal antics add so much fun to her stories! 

This book made me laugh. It made me cry. It made my heartbreak and ultimately it gave me a beautiful love story I thoroughly enjoyed reading.

By Tessa Dare,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Romancing the Duke as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

As the daughter of a famed author, Isolde Ophelia Goodnight grew up on tales of brave knights and fair maidens. She never doubted romance would be in her future, too. The storybooks offered endless possibilities. And as she grew older, Izzy crossed them off. One by one by one. * Ugly duckling turned swan? * Abducted by handsome highwayman? * Rescued from drudgery by charming prince? No, no, and ...Heh. Now Izzy's given up yearning for romance. She'll settle for a roof over her head. What fairy tales are left over for an impoverished twenty-six year-old woman who's never even…


Book cover of A Curse So Dark and Lonely

Jane B. Night Why did I love this book?

I absolutely love a good Beauty and the Beast retelling and this one is probably my favorite. 

Harper is brought into a fantasy world for the purpose of breaking Prince Rhen's spell. While there she leads us on an exploration of loyalty and duty. Back home her mother is dying and Harper desperately wants to return to her but she can equally see how badly Rhen's people need her too. 

She isn't exactly what Rhen hoped for in the woman to break his curse. She is willful, disobedient, and has some physical limitations due to cerebral palsy. Yet she is still very much a kick-butt heroine I was rooting for the whole book!

By Brigid Kemmerer,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked A Curse So Dark and Lonely as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

A New York Times bestseller! "Has everything you'd want in a retelling of a classic fairy tale." - Jodi Picoult In a lush, contemporary fantasy retelling of Beauty and the Beast, Brigid Kemmerer gives readers another compulsively readable romance perfect for fans of Marissa Meyer. Fall in love, break the curse. It once seemed so easy to Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall. Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he knew he could be saved if a girl fell for him. But that was before he learned that at the…


Book cover of Love Finds a Home

Jane B. Night Why did I love this book?

Ok, confession time, I don't remember which book in the series Drew first appears in but if I recall this is the book that really focuses on him and Belinda. 

I don't read a lot of Inspirational fiction but I absolutely love the Love Comes Softly series. It was the first romance series I ever read. I read the series initially as a teenager but I have gone back and re-read a few of the books as an adult. 

This book has Drew who is missing an arm as a romantic interest for Belinda. The series also features Clark who is the romantic interest in book one and the patriarch of the family in the rest of the series who loses his leg in one of the later books. I adored his story and how him and Marty deal with accepting his injury. However, since Marty and Clark are already married and in love, I didn't feel like I could put him on this list.

I liked Drew almost immediately even though he is very much used as a contrast for Clark when it comes to how he deals with his life post-injury. If you enjoy inspirational romance this series is a great one to enjoy!

By Janette Oke,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Love Finds a Home as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Book 8 of the bestselling Love Comes Softly series. Leaving her little prairie town, Belinda Davis never dreamed that the excitement of living in Boston would leave her restless and empty inside. Wealth, literature, travel, and romance touched her life with choices and decisions that brought dissatisfaction rather than joy. She discovered that only when God had first place in her life was her peace restored. Belinda once again faces decisions about her life that are no less difficult than before. A very unexpected responsibility makes the choice even harder.


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The Woodland Stranger: A Fairy Tale with Benefits

By Jane Buehler,

Book cover of The Woodland Stranger: A Fairy Tale with Benefits

Jane Buehler Author Of The Ocean Girl

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Storyteller Introvert Romantic Norm avoider Backyard birdwatcher

Jane's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

Burne’s been hiding out in the forest since deserting the King’s Guard. Each time he tries to return to the village, he begins to panic. And then one day, he encounters a handsome stranger picking flowers and hides behind a tree instead of talking.

He wants to be braver—and he’s about to get another chance. Because the stranger is Gray, a fairy and master of illusions who’s now following Burne home. And Gray’s got more on his mind than talking. Would a fairy that beautiful ever want someone like him? Stranger things have happened.

The Woodland Stranger: A Fairy Tale with Benefits

By Jane Buehler,

What is this book about?

Whoever said, Don't talk to strangers?


Burne hid behind a tree. He wanted to talk to the handsome man picking flowers at the edge of the forest, but he'd only flub it if he tried-he'd stumble over his words and blush bright red. And now the man is gone.


He tries to continue on to the village, but the same thing happens as always: his hands start shaking and panic wells up inside him. What if he runs into the bullies who tormented him in the King's Guard last spring? Ever since he deserted, he has hidden out in the…


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