By masculine I mean that she dresses in a stereotypically masculine way and has a stereotypically masculine occupation. Not that she is brash and assertive, or that she was a wild and free tomboy in her youth.
If it's historical fiction I can get behind the disguised-as-a-man trope as long as she isn't forced back into a feminine role (or personally motivated to return to a feminine role) I know that's a tall order, off the top of my head the only characters like that I can think of are Deryn Sharp from Leviathan and the protagonist of an old Soviet movie called Hussar Ballad, (and the inspiration for Hussar Ballad was a trans man anyways.)
I want to read about an adult woman over the age of 18, maybe even a woman in her twenties or thirties, not a girl. Again, tall order, sorry. If this doesn't exist, I am curious whether anyone else wishes it did. Let me know I guess
by Medical-Radish-8103
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Everlasting by Alix E Harrow
have you read “the lady’s guide to celestial mechanics” by olivia waite? the fmc is an astronomer in regency england and she’s not super feminine or anything.
“A Brother’s Price” by Wen Spencer is a spec-fic romance novel, set in a world where women outnumber men by something like 10:1, creating different social norms. The public sphere is for women, men are the romanticized and vulnerable guardians of the private home. The protagonist is a farmer’s son, who rescues a roughish princess. He’s supposed to marry the neighbor-girls, she and her sisters are supposed to marry for political power, drama ensues!
As a warning the protagonist is 16, which is the age of “adulthood” in the book, and his primary love interest is in her 20’s. That was the case in a lot of spec-fic writing from the era, I’ve always coped with it by going “Ah, maybe the years are slightly longer on this planet, or maybe I misread that number.” But it’s NOT supposed to mimic healthy real-world relationships, it’s more of an experiment with gendered storytelling, and is going to be a hard-no for plenty of people.
Unmasked by the Marquess by Cat Sebastian is a historical romance right up your alley! The FMC is disguised as a man, trying to network a younger woman into a good marriage. She has zero desire to go back to being a traditionally feminine woman in society.
Hyacinth by Minerva Spencer