Hot, often muscled heroes who are sweet, a little clueless, and deeply respectful—golden retriever energy with big hearts. These show up repeatedly in ‘himbo hero’ recommendation lists and thinkpieces.
Hannah Grace · 2022
Nate is a golden-retriever hockey captain—talented, jacked, emotionally available, and utterly besotted with the prickly figure skater heroine.
Tarah Dewitt · 2022
Noah is a tattooed stand-up comic with big himbo energy: soft with the kid, hopelessly in love, slightly chaotic but never cruel.
Elle Kennedy · 2015
Garrett is cocky and popular but fundamentally a sweet dumb jock who will do literally anything for the girl he adores.
Loretta Chase · 2005
Rupert Carsington is a classic historical himbo: brawny, reckless, not academically gifted, but fiercely loyal and smitten.
Cat Sebastian · 2017
Courtenay is the charming, somewhat disaster-prone rake whose big-hearted devotion fits the ‘historical himbo’ mold.
Eve Dangerfield · 2017
Dean is explicitly described as a golden-retriever sub hero—sweet, eager to please, and emotionally earnest beneath the muscles.
J.L. Merrow · 2011
Al is a working-class, physically imposing artist who seems dim to others but is tender, straightforward, and utterly devoted.
Katherine Center · 2022
Jack Stapleton is a golden-boy actor—gentle, a bit oblivious, very pretty—paired with a hyper-competent female bodyguard.
Melanie Moreland · 2020
Stefano is a big-hearted mechanic who steps in to help a struggling single mom and her son—sweet, protective, not particularly suave.
Tessa Bailey · 2019
Marcus is frequently shouted out in himbo discussions: a muscled firefighter whose overwhelming trait is heart-eyes and caretaking.