Role Reversal Romance

Worked well enough in Notting Hill with Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant.

Rina Evans said:

a lot of alphas I've seen I think are assholes anyway.

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I feel like this in a lot of romances I read. I know alphas are supposed to be all manly and sexy, but I can never help thinking I'd hate those men if I met them in real life.

If you want to read an author who I think does an awesome job at nice-guy, quieter heroes, check out Julia Quinn's Smythe-Smith Quartet series (three of the four books are out so far, I believe). It's historical romance, but it might give you some confidence in pursuing that kind of character.

I'm actually a big fan of beta male heroes but I don't see any reason that this guy would necessarily be a beta. Simply turning down this one woman who he doesn't trust doesn't seem like enough to put him in that category. If he was well-liked and respected in town and had a "manly" job you could still sell him as an Alpha.
That said maybe there are fewer publishers looking for beta or regular guy heroes but there are some. I think you should write the story you want to tell.