I’m working on the new book-in-progress, “Everything I Know About Love, I Learned from Romance Novels,” and I wanted to humbly ask for your help and your perspective. I’m working on a chapter about the traits most commonly found in romance heroes and heroines (I’m also attempting to use the word “heroes” to describe both, but I think I may have to undo those in editing because hero seems to communicate to most people a masculine, not feminine, role).
What would you say the most common and essential traits are among romance heroes and heroines? Faithfulness? Honor? Strength? Creativity? Instant orgasms? What makes up the ideal romance hero or heroine – by the end of the book, anyway?
This is a very general question, but I’m also looking for specifics: based on the traits you value, which characters are your enduring favorites, and why? Is there a character or plot that was or is totally your “type?”
I am hoping to incorporate romance reader comments in the book, so if you would like to be included in the “quotable” area, please let me know that (a) I may quote you and (b) what name I should use. And if you forget, don’t worry. I can contact you later if I would like to include your perspective. If you want to leave a comment but don’t want to be included in the book, just say so in the comment. Totally cool.
This probably won’t be the only time I ask for your expert opinions, as I want this book to be as representative of the possible lessons found in the romance genre from both the writer and reader perspective, but in advance, thank you thank you thank you for your help.
I have to admit, I love the alpha male. I love when a man is possessive, a bit jealous, and I LOVE when a hero has the bullocks to step up to the plate and make a dedicated pursuit of the heroine he wants, can handle a sticky situation and keep their head in a crisis (and not just the ‘the damsel’s in distress moments’ but those moments when feelings have to be admitted or when somebody has to be taken out). I hated Dain in Lord of the Scoundrels because he could not get over his feelings of repulsion towards his own child, and and would notnstep up to provide for him. I also cannot stand when the hero is mean and asshat-ish to the very end to the female, and at the end reveals his undying love. Nope. I have to feel the tension, the mutual desire and love (or at least attraction) along the story. I also have a weak spot for the romances where a hero has loved a heroine for years before owning up to it. (Like Lance in A Heart’s Victory)
But, if you are going to have an alpha male, you MUST, absolutely must, have a heroine willing to stick him in his place when he’s being over the top or or asshole-ish. I love when a heroine will make a smart-ass comment when needed, to show the hero or the villian or even a secondary character what’s what. Ella Varner in Smooth Talking Stranger exemplified this for me. And the heroine, above all, has to have a modicum of intelligence. I love Daphne, from Mr. Impossible, because she has a brain. Or Jessica, from Spell of the Highlander.
But what makes a heroine stand out for me the most is when she has courage. She’ll fight back against the villian, fight her fear. I love Elena, in Bitten, because she’s willing to fight for Clay. When she slits a man’s wrists and leaves him to bleed out to get information about Clay’s whereabouts, I have never felt more respect for a heroine. She was willing to do anything for her man, because he needed her. Because she was tough enough to handle it. Or Lillian in Lisa Kleypas’s It Happened One Autumn, when she escapes her captor, or Haven, in Blue-Eyed Devil, who walked miles, only in her socks and an overbig T-shirt, to escape her abusive husband. These heroines I can respect, and these heroines I want to read more of. They have what it takes to go the distance.
And, if you found anything salvageable in the above, feel free to quote me.
If anything I write turns out to be usable, absolutely feel free to quote me and to edit as necessary. If you don’t want to use my handle, let me know and I’ll email you my name.
In some ways it’s probably easier to mention some things that *don’t* work for me. I HATE “with the fire of a thousand suns” the hero/ine who has loved the other person for years, or for ever (or at least since puberty), especially if they haven’t spent much time together before the opening of the book. I find it creepy at best, more usually stalkerish, and sometimes downright pathological. Rising Tides is the exception: I cringe every single time Grace or Ethan thinks about how long s/he has been in love with the other, but it doesn’t ruin the book for me because they do know and interact with one another, value what friendship they have, and have somewhat acceptable reasons for being afraid to start a relationship.
On the other hand, I also don’t like books that take place over a terribly short period of time. If the hero/ine falls in love within a few days or weeks of meeting the other person, I find myself in danger of spraining my eyeballs from rolling them so vigorously.
One of the reasons I love the In Death books is that Eve and Roarke’s relationship develops slowly. Yes, they hop into bed very quickly, but it takes a long time for them truly to trust and to love one another. That’s something that matters to me: I want to know that a relationship is growing over time – even if the author only gives occasional time references to indicate that a few weeks or a month have gone by – and that it is not springing into being like Athena from Zeus’s head. I need to be able to believe that the relationship has a true foundation on which it is being built.
Something else that is important to me (in contemporaries, anyway) is that the hero/ine has a healthy attitude toward sex. I’m not saying that both characters need to have had double-digit sex partners and indulged in every fetish known to man, but I can’t stand the books where a woman in her late twenties is still a virgin or has never had an orgasm, or where a man gets all chest-thumpy because he realizes he’s her first or has given her her first, or where oral sex or the lightest of bondage is treated as OhMyGod!scandalous. (If I were to read a book wherein one or both of them were still virgin because of moral conviction, though – i.e., “Sex without love is fucking, and I’m not interested in just a fuck…but once I’m with someone I love I am going to be all over that!” – I would probably stand up and applaud.)
Something I do look for is that the hero/ine challenges the other person in some fundamental way. It can be because s/he makes the other want to be a better person, or forces them to reevaluate their assumptions, or even just causes them to change their social behavior.
One of the things that makes Mr. Darcy so appealing to me is his simple recognition that he had been rude, and that that rudeness is not okay. To stick with Austen, I like Persuasion in part because both character have to reevaluate their past behavior and question why they made the choices they did.
In Bet Me, Cal challenges Min to accept herself and to see herself as desirable, while she forces him to take a closer look at how he’s always acted with women.
It’s definitely important to me that both characters have something to learn from the other or from their situation. I need to believe that the relationship will be one of equals. That doesn’t mean that there needs to be an exact balancing of the scales, but simply that there’s a convincing back-and-forth to their dynamic. (That’s one of the reasons I’m not as fond of Emma: Mr. Knightley always seems like he’s waiting for Emma to catch on or catch up.)
I won’t elaborate on my other required traits, because they seem like they’ve already been covered in greater depth by others here. To summarize, though, I want both characters to be intelligent; to have a sense of humor, whether through actually being funny or simply through being willing to laugh; and to have a strong sense of self.
….And just to clarify…when I say “a few weeks or a month” have gone by, I mean in between scenes, not from beginning to end of the book.
If I read your question correctly, you are not asking what “my” ideal traits for a hero/ine are, but rather, what seems to be the “Standard Package” of heroic traits in romance novels. You asked for “most common” and “essential.”
I’d have to say that above all other things, the most common trait I have observed in both the male and female “leads” in romance novels would be a strong sense of self. More often than not they are a little (or a lot) different than everyone else around them, and what makes them different is a strong part of what also ends up making them heroic.
There are other qualities as well that I would personally deem essential, but the above was the first thing that came to mind – and many many examples of novels/characters embodying this trait jump out at me, I’m sure they do for you as well.
I ever I say/type something you’d like to quote, have at it.
Melonie Johnson
My protagonists have to be smart. They don’t necessarily have to be brilliant, but they have to have some idea of what is going on around them. Morality, at least conventional morality, is optional, although some system of ethics is desirable, if only for consistency.
My favorite hero is Gil from Girl Genius (which is not entirely a romance, but certainly has a strong romance subplot). He’s smart. He makes some big mistakes, and is not always on the heroine’s side – there is a very real possibility that she could destroy all of Europe, and he’s not going to let his love distract him from that. But he does care about Agatha, and he is going to figure out what is going and then act accordingly. And he never lets his divided loyalties to his father and Agatha destroy either relationship.
And Agatha herself is smart and strong. Agatha does not require anyone’s help. She often gets it, and she appreciates it, but she would do what needs to be done regardless. Agatha has plenty of reasons to be angry with Gil’s father, but she does not let that get between her and Gil. She even hopes to reconcile with Gil’s father.
Early in the story, Gil is showing off his airship. It starts falling. Agatha starts ripping pieces off in midair and criticizing his design. They’re both entirely involved in improving it, forgetting about falling to their deaths. They understand the world the same way, and Gil takes criticism really well. They’re reasonable people. And they clearly make each other happy. What more could you want?
You can quote me as Kate.
I would say that the most essential trait for a romance hero/heroine for me is that by the end of the book (though preferably sometime before the last few pages) they have recognized and accepted a commitment that is irrevocable and solid. A commitment that includes endless support through any crisis, any problem, any disagreement. When I finish a book I want to believe that the couple will always end of standing strong together no matter what obstace, large or small is thrown in thier way.
WELL SAID Genevieve!!
[quote…I LOVE when a hero has the bullocks…]
So, I guess that makes you a fan of Western romance?
Personally, I find the Tao of Steve covers most Romance novels: Be desireless. Be excellent. Be gone.
1. Convince me that the Romantic Leads admire each other as more than the possible source of their next orgasm.
2. Convince me that they’re worthy of being loved and capable of loving in return.
3. Convince me that they’re better off together than they are apart.
If an author manages to pull all that off by the end, I’ll accept writing an honest letter, or bribing an asshole to marry your sister, as a heroic act. It’s all context.
I would say for me it is very dependent on my mood. I like a lot of traits in my heroes and heroines, and some stand out when I am in the mood for it. Sometimes, I am in the mood of tortured heroes and heroines with dilemmas and secrets (actually I love this ‘tortured’ type!It is great for melodrama and tears!Hehehe). Some other times I love quirky, a-bit off centre heroines (spell that, just HEROINES). Quirky heroes just somehow don’t cut it for me. But I love heroes with sense of humour, like a lot of Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ heroes. Her football heroes are just plain crazy hilarious and I absolutely adore them.
I also love dominant heroes. NOT sadistic but dominant. They know who they are and what they want. One thing about heroines that I just absolutely cannot stand are pansy heroines, those with no backbones who cried at every slightest thing, who flail in misery while facing every adversary and who just cannot, I repeat, cannot, even once, stand up for herself (yes, even a minor teeny-weeny rebellion counts). So, I like a heroine who is at least reasonable. Dependant, I understand, but cowardice and stupidity, well, they might just as well go and kill themselves off. I read romance for ideals, not reality 🙂
This is probably nothing to do with traits, but I want chemistry. I don’t mind slow-building chemistry but I’ve read too many romance characters that somehow just don’t suit. There is just no heat, no love, no understanding, no respect, no nothing. Like both hero and heroine who have certain personalities and managed just co-exist. Like ‘Hey, we’re somehow in the same page!Wow!’.
I would say faithfulness is a must for both hero and heroines. For certain circumstances, say if at the start of the story it is a marriage of convenience and they somehow grow to love each other, yes, I can tolerate unfaithfulness. And I will only tolerate it if the hero (unfaithful), grovels sufficiently (you will know when they do) and the writer managed to package the whole story brilliantly, that in the end there is a growth in both characters due to that episode of unfaithfulness. For example, Laurie Bright wrote Perfect Marriage so wonderfully, it is now in my absolute keeper library. One of my pet peeve is how some heroes who sleep with legions of women become insensibly crazy when they find/suspect that their wife cheats/not a virgin. I mean, come on, you are not a virgin yourself, grow up. It is just a piece of membrane. I know, I know, period romance (historical, regency etc) demands ‘perfection’ aka hymenally-intact (is there such word, hymenally?), but get over it. It will never grow back once lost. While I am in the I-will-keep-that-for-now-until-I-find-someone-to-love-and-do-the-forever-after team, I go stir crazy when the heroes keep blathering on and on about the heroines unfaithfulness, immodesty, sluttines, bla-bla-bla for the rest of 200 pages. 5 to 10 pages, yes I understand somehow, more than that, well, I’ll just toodle to the ending pages shall I?
I also adore the non-mainstream heroines. While I love hot, handsome, titled, rich, playboy, relatively young, virile, tall, did I mention hot, heroes, I just love love love heroines who don’t fit the general mold. From chubby heroines (Mina of Jennifer Crusie’s Bet Me. anyone?) to skinny flat-chested ones (Rachel Gibson’s Jane from See Jane Score) to plain ones. I love them all. I feel connected to them (hey I am attractive in my own way *snickers*). I mean, the man is a god already, give me some human for heroine okay? Not everyone can be super smart, super-model-like heroine. Give us normal girls some break okay?
Hmm, one last thing I look for in heroes is perfection. Hahahaha, I am human okay. While I love imperfect heroines, I want perfect heroes. No wussy, short man for me please. While he can be sensitive, I don’t one no doormat. Alpha, sensitive, respectful, ultra-hot, manly hero for me please. After all, this is romance. I get to choose my heroes 🙂
For me, the perfect romantic hero is a creature of fantasy – the unattainable blend of the characteristics and traits I value (and wish for) most in the opposite sex, tempered with some sort of flaw (or flaws).
I have to say, I’m not really a fan of the Byronic Hero (Heathcliff’s a right wanker, as far as I’m concerned) but, having said that, I’m definitely a fan of strong, Alpha men – provided they are pared with strong, intelligent women who are able to stand up to them. In my opinion, there is nothing worse in a romance than a mismatch in the emotional strength of the characters.
As far as the classic heroes go, whenever Darcy and Rochester appear on the page (or screen), my little heart goes pitter pat. More recently, however, Adam Hauptman (from Patricia Briggs’s Mercy Thompson series) and Richelle Mead’s Dimitri (Vampire Academy) have been stealing the show.
a) fine
b) Annabel
And I really should have checked my spelling before posting the above … ‘paired’.
It’s a tough question. I don’t think there’s any trait that no author could write badly, or that no author could write well. For my personal likes:
1: Fortitude. This is different from the angry, shouty “strength” you see in a lot of classic romance heroes (and lately in equally tedious heroines). It’s the “No. You move.” attitude that doesn’t shout, but has certain things that just won’t be tolerated.
2: Self-reliance. Though characters probably will have issues, damage and baggage and I’m fine with that, I need to believe they functioned before they met the love of their life. I don’t want to feel that someone just hung around in a void until they saw their partner, or that they’re willing to completely discard the good things about their old life because only love matters now!
3: Sensible. Not boringly sensible, but able to recognise when they’re jumping to conclusions or being irrational. It makes for better plotting, since you can’t pad out the book for a hundred pages with a problem they could solve with one minute of sitting down and telling each other what they know.
4: Little things. Big heroic sacrifices and steam-out-the-ears orgasms are okay, but what makes a romance actually romantic for me is little details that show the characters are coming to know and trust each other—perhaps without realising they’re doing so. Banter, in-jokes, recognising the subtle signs that someone else is stressed or unhappy, feeling free to be silly or spontaneous around the other, that sort of thing. A lot of my most romantic moments are the ones where one character gets across that they simply know the other.
Well Sarah I think it would be better if your hero and heroine moved from the orthodox culture of heroes to a more realistic view. However, I do think that love stories should end in Love and stress the importance of strength and faithfulness.
I love very strong heroines like Eve Dallas in the In Death series. The most important traits to me in heroes, both male and female, are humor, passion, brutal honesty, loyalty and strength.
I already had a go at this and probably made a muddle of it. But I remembered my all time go-to love them couples that embody it all MARY AND WOLF MACKENZIE. Both have rock solid morality , he changes for her and then saves her life.
Cait
My favourite hero in the world is Ossin, from Robin Mckinley’s Deerskin.
He is himself, and his self is perfect. He’s not loud and annoying, he’s definitely not cursed with Angry Boner. He cares without being a stalker. (Oh what a shocker!) I love how he is a round and complete character who shows his feelings with his actions and not Loud Statements of Baseless Fact Punctuated With Many Exclamation Marks.
Deerskin/Lissla Lissar is a great heroine because she tries to take care of herself and those in her life as best she can.
Their story is so touching and grabs me so strongly because as I read it (over and over and over again) I see imperfect people doing their best during a very interesting time in their life. Not that I wouldn’t mind reading a sequel, even if it was just about the next litter of puppies and running the country for a while.
When I read, I want to feel like I’m following along interesting people during interesting times. I like protagonists who are smart enough, caring enough, and vulnerable enough to be open and honest with each other. I do hate stupid meaningless conflict, but I like it when if feels like people take time to get to know each other and realize what they love about the other person. I need to know why and what causes two people to be drawn to each other.
My captcha is hope59. I’ve got more hope than that to keep looking for good stories. I’m ok with digging. 🙂
1) if you like, please do quote
2) Andrea, or An.
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this in the past, because I find the traits of heroes and heroines fascinating.
I would have to say that the two authors who I constantly go back to because their heroes and heroines always make me think, “THAT is what a hero/ine should be like” are Karen Marie Moning and Susan Elizabeth Phillips. In particular, Drustan MacKeltar from “Kiss of the Highlander” by KMM and probably all of the Bonner men from “Nobody’s Baby but Mine” and “Dream a Little Dream” by SEP.
The reason these heroes are so great to me is that I see real men in them. They aren’t just the fantasy of what I would like a man to be (although they are that to an extent). They recognize their faults, even the emotional faults, and own to them without any real struggle—even if they don’t always own up to them to anyone but themselves. That recognition of their issues makes them just a little more real. Maybe the best way to describe that is that these heroes have emotional maturity. They take responsibility for themselves and for their families and for their heroines.
I also find that heroes and heroines who have FUN together are my favorites. Whether they have fun because they give each other crap all the time (obviously, they have to do that without and mean-spiritedness), or because they can laugh and play games in bed, or just because they allow their goofy side out when they are with their hero/ine, couples in romance novels who have fun are just delightful. Not enough couples do—and not that I don’t like the couples who don’t concentrate on having fun together, but I’m more likely to go back and re-read a book multiple times when the protagonists can laugh together, even if they don’t always love each other.
For my heroines, I definitely appreciate the slightly geeky woman or the self-deprecating woman. Someone who is just a little too smart for her own good or who has screwed up in some way in the past and knows how to tease herself after the fact. Again, both KMM and SEP do this wonderfully. All of KMM’s heroines are a little introverted and far too smart sometimes. I want to be as smart as they are! And SEP does both the nerdy heroine and the self-deprecating heroine wonderfully in “Nobody’s Baby But Mine” and “Ain’t She Sweet?” perfectly. All of her heroines are smart, a little sassy (or a lot), and don’t take crap from other people. Good heroines are ones who are grounded to reality in some way, even if they don’t always seem like it. They are women who I think, “I wish she was my friend.”
Quote me? Sure.
Name? Rachel Beithon
Common and essential traits (in no particular order) Adult, personal integrity/honor, be a good friend, intelligent, sense of humor.
I find all of that sexy. Wrap it up in a tall, dark & handsome wrapper for him – I don’t need superstud. Romance heroes have been getting taller and taller over the years. Pretty soon they will be seven feet tall with foot long dicks. I like my heroes a tad more realistic. Six feet tall is fine, well hung is appreciated. Some of these guys are getting too big to be accommodated by the average vagina. The heroine, of course, looks remarkably like me.
Specifically which characters: Dane and Jessica in ‘Lord of Scoundrels’, Min & Cal in ‘Bet Me’.
I like my hero/heroines to know who they are, what direction they are taking in their lives. To be self aware and confident in their abilities. Then, I like to see them be gobsmacked by the introduction of the other person in their well conceived life. They initially just can’t come to terms with the person they meet who is destined to be their life partner. I like to see them struggle with it, reject it, try to manipulate their own perceptions to include this new aspect of their existence. Then accept it, expand with it, revel in it, live in it.
I like to see character growth. Good story arcs. In a well written book I am involved with the characters; I am moved by their realizations, taken on a journey with them.
All too often for me the book ends at the HEA point – I like to see what happens next. It may be why I think books in series are so satisfying. The Eve/Roarke relationship continues. I am newly hooked on Deanna Raybourn now and I think that is why – I want to see these characters grow into their relationships.
These are characters I want to spend time with. I want to love who the hero is, and while I don’t necessarily need to ‘be’ the heroine, I want her to be someone I would want to know and hang out with.
We as readers get to chose who we ‘hang out with’ and who we spend money on. It is beginning to sound like a date, and to take that a step further, a new book or author is like a blind date.
I could go on and on, but will close with my thanks every night that I go to bed with my own personal hero of 18 years.
The fictional men I’ve fallen in love with are legion, but none of the ones from literature are from romance novels. Anonymously, I will confess to Hector and Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, for whatever that’s worth. As far as romance novel characters go, I’m easy. I’m perfectly happy with just about any sort of hero or heroine, provided they act as their characters are described. I adore both Freddie from Cotillion and the Duke from These Old Shades, because although they are nothing alike they were written by Heyer, who can do no wrong. I can list traits I think I want in a prospective partner, but they inevitably turn out to be irrelevant. Flaws probably matter more than positive attributes, but what really drives the selection process is a mystery. Why did I fall for Hector, or Andrei, or anyone else? Best I can explain is because I couldn’t help it. And I don’t need a heroine I can identify with. I’m far more like Eleanor than Lizzy, alas, but still prefer Pride and Prejudice. I am not at all personally attracted to Darcy, but he’s perfect for her, making the story intensely satisfying for me. I go through on average half a dozen romance novels in a week, and it’s rare that character (or anything else) stands out. With that volume, they can’t all be great, but I don’t mind. I like the pattern more than the specifics. I seek out an author not because I’m hoping for a specific type of character again, but because I like the characterization in general.
1)yes
2)anonymous
Devotion, respect, and trust. That certain spark between a couple that leaves you knowing they’d do anything for each other. That this isn’t a couple where one of them feels the need to protect the other constantly; they know their partner will have their back in a fight, plain and simple. There’s no stupid misunderstandings, no abandonment of trust when the chips are down. They’re not afraid to vocalize their problems, and they know thier partner will accept their faults so there’s no reason to hide them. A true partnership.
As for who does the saving? Simple. They save each other. One way or another.
In a good novel plot and character are interwoven, so it is difficult to talk about one without the other.
The defining heroic characteristic for me in a romance is the ability to overcome problems in order to reach the happy ending. The perfect example of this is Flowers in the Storm by Laura Kinsale, where Jervaulx is the ultimate Alpha male laid low by illness and by an unknowing society’s response to that illness, and Maddie breaks out of the constraints of overwhelming social conditioning.
The ability to overcome problems is pretty heroic for me in real life, too.
Yes of course, and Faellie.
I respect and enjoy characters who are strong and honorable..not that they necessarily always do the right thing, but that they are inherently good people. I think it all boils down to the fact that I don’t want to read about characters/stories that I don’t want to imagine myself in. I want the story to engulf me and make me wish I was living it. And honestly, who would imagine themselves in a bad story?
My favorite characters are Jamie and Claire from the Outlander series. I love their strength and especially how no matter the struggle, they stay true to their character.
My ruminations led me to consideration on physiological rather than psychological traits.
Except in those (too rare for my taste) contemporary novels where the heroines bulge and sag like the rest of us, the typical romance heroines figure is a thing of perfection. So just how do they maintain those wasp waists (around which their beaus can easily wrap their manly hands), and the slender go-on-for-ever legs? South Beach? Atkins? What is the romance heroine’s secret? My inexpert consideration of romance novels has led me to believe in the existence of a HEA Diet.
There is the HEA FAST. This purge and detoxification process is often the plight of orphans and destitute young ladies with miserly parents and guardians. Closely aligned with the HEA FAST, is the HEA Bread and Water regime, or skipped meal, once again enforced by miserly parents and guardians when the heroine resists marriage to ugly/old/dastardly men.
Many romance heroines apply HEA PORTION CONTROL. How often does a romance heroine find herself in an exotic location, and served a meal prepared by a master chef (billionaires, princes, sheiks and similar heroes do tend to dine on only the finest foods). Invariably, the turmoil of the moment, evening, relationship, hidden pasts and secrets renders even the finest meal inedible – the heroine can force down a few mouthfuls at most. While the savour of the dishes may be missed, this approach to meal-time results in only a fraction of the calories that might otherwise be ingested.
Most diet plans include physical activity. Any maiden forced to flee from the machinations of the ugly/old/dastardly mentioned above is likely to burn a significant amount of calories. The most obvious reason romance heroines keep slim is via the HEA BIG O CALORIE BURN. A quick Google search took me to WebMD (http://www.webmd.com/sex-relationships/features/10-surprising-health-benefits-of-sex):
Thirty minutes of sex burns 85 calories or more. It may not sound like much, but it adds up: 42 half-hour sessions will burn 3,570 calories, more than enough to lose a pound. Doubling up, you could drop that pound in 21 hour-long sessions.
“Sex is a great mode of exercise,” says Patti Britton, PhD, a Los Angeles sexologist and president of the American Association of Sexuality Educators and Therapists. It takes work, from both a physical and psychological perspective, to do it well, she says.
Since the average romance heroine orgasm is anything but average – the bed shakes, the world shifts, the heavens move, the stars align – and are often part of all night coupling marathons, a HEA calorie burn could be exponential. These marathon tend to be all-over (each other, the house/mansion/office/castle/villa) workouts, so no doubt muscles get toned.
In all, the HEA diet seems to involve a balance between food and exercise. This December 31st, my yearly resolution will involve following the HEA Diet – albeit vicariously (actually fleeing from the dastardly might result in spilled adult beverages – turning pages does not).
I love quick witted dialog and a smart-ass of both sexes. Georgette Heyer, Nora Roberts/J D Robb, Jennifer Crusie, Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Roberta Gellis pretty much nail that on a consistent basis. Their characters are strong and not afraid to do what’s necessary. The characters are also honorable, loyal and loving and, usually, have wonderful senses of humor. I don’t think you need much more than that.
I like a dark, brooding or emotionally stunted hero. The books I keep and reread over and over again usually have a hero who is in need of a savior, so to speak. So naturally my heroines are those “stand by your man” types who pretty much put up with near torture while this guys is attempting to “find” himself.
1) James Pernell from Devil’s Web (Mary Balogh) This book doesn’t get great reviews, but James is so deciously messed up. It makes for an emotional read, it’s not light hearted, but it’s still so satisfying to see the story pan out.
2) Sheridan Drake from Seize The Fire (Kinsale). Sheridan…he’s one of my all time favorites. So many issues to work though. Ah and the end where Olympia says “I love you no matter what.” Yes! Yes!
3) Derrick Craven from Dreaming of You (Kleypas). If anyone needed a savior, it was Derrick.
4) Wulfric Bedwyn from Slightly Dangerous (Balogh). I mention this book all the time. Wulfric is also emotionally “locked up”. It takes a special type of heroine to get him to loosen up and question his prejudices as they relate to his position in life.