We had a discussion of heroes – now I have to ask: who are your favorite romance heroines?
I have to say, romance heroines are fascinating creatures. As Lisa Kleypas said in an interview for the Bosoms, she’s often a creature of moderation – not too tall, not too loud, not too big, not too small. There’s a bit less wiggle room (no pun intended) with the heroine in some sub genres.
In other sub genres, like urban fantasy, she can be as Cranky Sue as she wants to be, ferocious and pissed off, uncomfortable and strong.
When I think about my favorite heroines, there is always an element of strength – and stubbornness. For example: I love Frances from Catherine Coulter’s “Midsummer Magic,” which occupies a soft and permanently fond place in my heart as the first romance I ever read. Frances is stubborn, daring, smart, and angry – and not afraid to scheme. The scheming part alone rocked my 15 year old world – you can have ambition, even if that ambition at present is to dress like a nearsighted dowdy zealot to avoid marriage to a guy who uses cream?! WHOA.
I also love Mercy Thompson and Anna Latham from Patricia Briggs’ series, because both are strong, and both are wounded. Their struggle to be strong while recovering from those wounds is one of my favorite things about those characters.
I like Daphne from Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series, specifically The Duke and I, because part of what stood in her way is that she was friends with so many of the gentlemen of the ton. She didn’t play games or flirt or simper – she was herself, and she had plenty of personality, and strength of her own.
But of course, if I try to think of who I would pick if I could only pick one heroine, my mind goes blank and I forget I ever learned to read, much less which book and which heroine I’d pick. I don’t know if I can pick one – but I can ask you to do so!
Who’s your favorite heroine(s)? Why? Do you gravitate toward strength? Fearlessness? A smart mouth? Pursuit of perfection? Excellent swordfighting skills or dancing skills?
As usual, I’m looking to add your quotes to the book, so if you leave a comment, I could quote you in the manuscript. I’m free to use pseudonyms, so don’t worry about giving me your real name. (This is going to be the best works cited page ever.) But if you want to participate and do NOT want me to quote you, please do let me know. And as usual, thank you thank you thank you.
I really like most of the Bridgerton heroines. Julia Quinn has a knack for writing believable and likeable heroines. I tend to like a heroine who is practical and stubborn and just does what needs to be done because somebody has to. And also has a limit on the amount of crap and abuse she’s willing to take in the service of “true love.”
But the one I immediately thought of when I saw the question was Adele Ashworth’s Caroline. She’s smart, and she knows she’s smart, and she has passions and interests outside of what her society deems to be acceptable. She’s also not quite as confident as she presents and tries really, really hard to fit in while still being true to herself and what makes her who she is. And it doesn’t always work out for her the way she wants it to, but she keeps on trying anyway. She just seems so human, with faults and insecurities and all that and not at all a superwoman, which seems to be the usual trend in heroines lately.
I prefer a heroine I can identify with. One thing that turns me off and makes it hard to identify with the heroine is flawless looks. I’m more the average sort. I already know perfect women get the guys. I like to see the more ordinary looking heroine find love too.
I love strength in a heroine, and I love vulnerability. I tend not to gravitate towards the ass kickers. Inner strength is more interesting to me. Some favorite heroines:
Alyssa Locke from Suzanne Brockmann’s Troubleshooters series. She’s an ass kicker, but I identified with her because of her struggles in dealing with gender bias in the military.
Payton in Julie James’
Practice Makes Perfect
. I love Payton’s unapologetic ambition as a lawyer, her intelligence and work ethic, and her gutsiness. She also struggles with gender bias, and I identified with her over that.
Joanna from Barbara Hambly’s Silicon Mage series. Not technically a romance series, but in my head that’s what it is. Joanna is an insecure computer geek with surprising inner strength. She reminds me a great deal of my younger self; as a teenager, I read those books until they were dog-eared.
Olivia from Loretta Chase’s
Last Night’s Scandal
. I was surprised I identified with Olivia so much; in many ways she’s my opposite. Very confident, very dramatic, very beautiful. Those things are not me. But I adored her intelligence and sense of adventure.
Anna from Elizabeth Hoyt’s
The Raven Prince
. I identified strongly with this abandoned and widowed woman of average looks who finds the love of her life in her second marriage.
Cordelia from Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan Saga. She’s tough and sensible, and I always enjoyed the fact that she was essentially the lone liberal in a world full of conservatives. As the lone liberal in my family, I got a kick out of that.
Cast my vote for Eve Dallas for all the reasons listed above. I discovered the In Death series during a very dark period of my life, when I was dealing with PTSD. Eve brought me back to the romance genre. She is real—vulnerable yet throwing up walls so thick it took a man just as emotionally damaged to knock them down. And dammit, every time Roarke touches that button in his pocket I go all misty-eyed and sniffly! That has got to be one of the most romantic moments in the history of the genre!!!!!
My spam word: did72 I DID read those books 72 times (or at least it seems that way.)
Yay, love this topic. My favorite heroine is Christina from “The Lion’s Lady” (Garwood) because she knows herself, what she wants (the hero) and doesn’t deny it while at the same time trying to live by a different set of social rules from that in which she was raised. Plus, she can throw knives! (I mean, how cool is that?!)
@ MarieC: We are completely on the same wavelength. Gin Blanco is great. Jane True is another young series with a great heroine. Mercy, Elena, and of course Kate.
Jennifer mentioned up the thread how fully actualized Kate is and that, I think, is what makes a great heroine. It’s also why I like series books. There is more time for a revealing what makes them tick and a patient, talented author can show you enough to gain your interest early while unfolding the character over several books. Kate and Gin Blanco both really stand out in that department.
Also, I like a heroine who can change but doesn’t necessarily undergo a complete transformation of character. Someone who learns to face fear is different than say, a gal who starts as a complete mouse and becomes fearless because she finds a hidden strength or talent.
Love me some good heroines!!
My girls have to be (not necessarily in this order): Funny, Smart (in a I’m-not-ending-up-a-darwin-award-winner way), Sexy (state-of-mind whether short, tall, curvy, lean, or buck-toothed doesn’t matter if she’s got that self-confident sensuality), and tough-as-nails when she has to be, but tender when someone needs compassion.
Oh and she has to be a bit flawed. Otherwise she just irritates me like a scratchy tag in my underwear.
The ones that come to mind? Okay—here my awards:
Sweetest Kick-Ass Heroine: Annique Villiers in Joanna Bourne’s The Spymaster’s Lady. Ohmygodilovehersomuch!
Best Comeupannce: Jessica Trent in Loretta Chase’s Lord of Scoundrels. For making-him look like a love-sick puppy AND for shooting him.
Funny and Loyal: Leonie in Georgette Heyer’s These Old Shades and (briefly) in Devil’s Cub. She just decided to love her man and NOTHING was going to dissuade her.
Ohmigosh! I forgot Alexis Tarrabotti! How great is she?
Jessica Trent, of course.
Young Polly Brandon in Carla Kelly’s Marrying the Royal Marine.
Lydia Boyce in Meredith Duran’s Bound By Your Touch.
Emma Hotchkiss in Judith Ivory’s Untie My Heart.
Bryony Asquith in Sherry Thomas’s Not Quite a Husband.
Grace Russell in Patricia Gaffney’s Crooked Hearts.
Hmm. There are two con artists on the list, and all of them except Polly Brandon are making their way, one way or another, in a man’s world. Come to think of it, even Polly, young as she is, does fine in situations that women wouldn’t ordinarily be in. So I guess I like heroines who aren’t averse to steering their own ship of life. Extra points for wit and emotional growth.
There are others, I know there are, but I can’t come up with them right now.
I really like Mary Challoner from Devil’s Cub by Georgette Heyer.
She is very good at doing what she deems necessary in a quite, well mannered and dead stubborn way, with little care for what others would think of her for doing it. She consistently does her best in very difficult situations without complaining about the unfairness of the world.
She is calm and kind, without being in any way weak. She does not shy away from desperate measures when they are called for. She shoots Vidal to convince him that she really is not interested in being raped, thank you very much.
She is not perfect. She consistently does not think things though, but that is about it as far as flaws go.
I think the best romance heroines are a combination of intelligent, vulnerable, quirky, and flawed. She needs to be a complex character in her own right, able to stand her own with the hero and not act TSTL because the plot calls for her to need rescuing. With many heroines, it comes down to the author’s ability to show and not tell. She doesn’t have to be physically strong, but emotionally. She doesn’t even need to start out that way, some of the best romances are ones in which the heroine discovers her internal strength over the course of the story. It’s hard to describe the perfect heroine, but you know her when you see her.
I love Eve for the reason mentioned above. I think many of Nora Robert’s heroines fit: Stella Rothchild in Blue Dahlia, Rosalind Harper in Black Rose, Tess Mercy in Montana Sky, Grace Monroe in Rising Tides, Brenna O’Toole in Tears of the Moon (but she’s also written many popular heroines I can’t stand – LOL).
I also love Lily Whitney in Christine Feehan’s GhostWalkers series. She’s smarter than all of the guys, walks with a limp, at times fears she is as cold as her adopted father because of her ability to be analytical, but is also warm and kind. Two additional favorites from this series are Marilgold Smith in Deadly Game and Briony Jenkins in Conspiracy Game. They’re twins, but have very different personalities.
JAK in her many guises also writes memorable heroines (particularly during the early 90s). Desdemoma Wainwright in Trust Me, Molly Aberwick in Absolutely, Positively, Harriet Pomeroy in Ravished, Emily Faringdon in Scandal, Olympia Wingfield in Deception, just to name a few.
Jenna McMillan in Cindy Gerard’s Show No Mercy is a wonderful combination of tough as nails as a reporter, yet vulnerable. She doesn’t put up with any crap from Gabe, but goes toe-to-toe with him.
I think the best heroine’s are ones who bring out the best in their heroes. Someone who can argue with the hero, if applicable make him see the error of his ways without nagging, and make the hero want to be a better man. She can be stubborn, determined, insecure, clueless, selfish or selfless, and any combination thereof. Just like with heroes, I want the heroine’s story to take me on a journey. Doesn’t matter if the story is a straight up romance between two every-day, average characters, a spy thriller, or a futuristic set in space where the characters aren’t even necessarily human. Just make me root for her to get her HEA.
@Christina—Now you’ve done it. After I read your remarks I had to grab my copy of Devil’s Cub just so I could re-read Mary’s recounting to the Elderly Gentleman in the Inn the story of how she came to shoot Vidal. His reactions throughout her explanation are priceless and still make me laugh out loud each time I read it.
Any of Heyer’s heroines, my favorite might be the grand Sophy, but really, any of them, because her characters are so much larger than life. There isn’t a specific trait that I need or like in a heroine. And I don’t need to identify with the heroine, in fact, it can be nice to get into the head of someone who’s nothing like me. I actually do not much care for Eve Dallas, although I love Roberts in general. It’s the same problem I had with the Twilight books, with a lot of heroines in romancelandia, I find it tiresome when all good things in life have to be forced upon the heroine (although if you like that sort of thing Trollope works it brilliantly, particularly in Can You Forgive Her?). I prefer heroines who aren’t virgins, don’t have purple eyes, ooh, and I hate the ones who can speak dozens of obscure languages but not think in any of them. But I can live with anything between and including the twin pitfalls of weeping and fainting or bitterness and naggery. I just need to be able to get lost in the story. Quote anything you like.
Broken heriones. Like Gillian in This is All I Ask. Completely battered and abused with PTSD, nearly dies and HAS to trust her arranged husband for survival.
With a little self-esteem and respect, she takes the small bit of fighting her brother taught her to defend herself from their father and hones it into, perhaps not the best sword work in the world, but at least on average with her new husband’s guardsmen.
Princess Elspeth from the Valdemar. Starts up a spoiled little brat, grows out of it, strikes out on her own, finds herself a mate instead of one being assigned to her, and then pretty much kicks ass.
Tank Girl. >:D
I can’t remember her name, but I love the heroine in “Mr. Impossible.” She wasn’t just clever, she was wicked smart dedicated scholar – which appealed to my geeky little heart. And, of course, like all Ms. Chase’s heroines, she is independent and strong willed and Able To Get The Job Done in an era and place that was very anti-woman.
I don’t really have a type as such. I just like my heroines to not be useless. While they can be saved by the hero, I like them to not just wait around for him to come along. I want them to know their own minds.
But particually, I like Dante Valentine from the books by Lilith Saintcrow and Tory Kaferi from the Dark-Hunter series (mostly because she’s a lot like me, lol).
I have go go along with the crowd on Eve Dallas, Mercy Thompson, Claire, and Jessica Trent. I look for the following in my favorite heroines: courage, humor, intelligence and good problem solving skills, compassion, and a strong sense of self. Bad things can have happened to them, but they do not live in the victim role. They have friends who care for them and they care in return. They may or may not want children in their lives and that’s okay.
In other words, people who I can look up to as having character parts I would like to strengthen in myself. They can also model characteristics I would like to lessen in my own personality. I agree with the folks who said this person should be someone you’d like to strike up a friendship with and who you see watching your back.
Jessica Trent from Lord of Scoundrels, hands down! She took no prisoners, but was always a lady. She kicked butt with her brains, long before the kick-ass heroine came into vogue; and wasn’t afraid to use more tangible weapons, if need be. Strong yet still feminine.
Not very original I am afraid but my first thought was Cordelia and then Mary Challoner and then ALL of Heyer’s heroines.
Sookie Stackhouse from the books because:
1. Her decency to people who don’t like her because of her “disability”.
2. Her sense of humor and repport with Eric.
3. Her work ethic.
4. Her loyalty to her friends.
5. Her choice to do the right thing, especially when it doesn’t benefit her.
Not Sookie Stackhouse from the show because:
1. She’s a doormat.
2. She’s too stupid to live.
My favorite heroine is the Rev. Clare Fergusson from Julia Spencer-Fleming’s mystery series. (I know, I know, NOT ROMANCES. Except they really are.) Clare is realistically flawed—she has doubts, makes mistakes, often speaks before she thinks, and can be amazingly stubborn and careless of her own personal safety when she’s solving crimes. There are times when police chief Russ Van Alstyne would like to lock her in a closet to keep her from poking her nose into things that are likely to get her in trouble, but she’s far from being TSTL. She operates from her heart and her soul and her intellect, but her heart always comes first. And she just never, ever holds back even if that means jumping into a river in the middle of winter to save a child. I love how she has had the courage to go on without Russ due to the seemingly impossible obstacles life has thrown between them, but I also love knowing that she will never, ever stop loving him. Most of all, I love that the next book in this incredible series will FINALLY be out in March!!
A big huge shout-out for SEP!
I’m torn between Sugar Beth Carey from Ain’t She Sweet and Cornelia (Nealy) Litchfield Case from First Lady. Both complex, not entirely lovable women.
I always feel a bit bad for the heroines because I find myself being much harder on them than on the guys. Still, I have a few favorites:
Molly Jenkins in Talk Me Down by Victoria Dahl
Willa Mercy (actually I love all the sisters) in Montana Sky by Nora Roberts
Blue Bailey in Natural Born Charmer by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Beatrix Hathaway in Love in the Afternoon by Lisa Kleypas
I like my heroines to be someone who could be real. not perfect all the time, sometimes doing stupid things or having meltdowns, etc.
i agree with what everyone said about Eve – she’s real. sometimes she is annoying as heck and you want to smack her upside the head, but she eventually realizes it or someone points it out. and she is fiercly loyal to those she loves, something that is important to me.
i also like Stephanie plum – she gets into crazy situations, but she is also relatable, for the good things she does, and the mistakes she makes but then tries to correct.
reading some of the other comments has moved some books higher up on my TBR list 🙂
Have to throw in my vote for Eve Dallas, for all the reasons listed above but also for this. Eve can admit she’s wrong, she can admit that she needs to change, that her way isn’t always the best or only way. And she has flaws, immense ones, but its because of those that she’s so loveable. She will do things that make her uncomfortable if it means helping Roarke in some way.
Just about any of Nora Roberts heroines are faves of mine.
I also love Elizabeth Bennet. (sp) Haven’t seen her mentioned yet. Mercy and Anna from Patricia Briggs.
I love heroines that are true to themselves but not to the point of stupidity. I mean, by all means, hold to your ideals and your core self, but be willing to admit that sometimes your wants and ideals change.
I like the heroines in the Robin D Owens books – her guardian series and the Celta series. They are full grown women, confronted with problems and solving them, with or without the hero.
Other series with kick ass heroines – In Death series by JD Robb, Jalav series by Sharon Green (woooohoooooo @ moresomes with major attitude!). Lot of the Lora Leigh books are more about being a sub etc, strong heros and open minded heroines but not particular strong heroines.
Some of the Carpathian books have strong heroines, but most are rolled over by testosterone. Got to be strong to have a relationship there, but most focus is on the guy rather than a parallel independent existence as a woman.
Jayne Ann Krentz is famous for her stubborn headed heroines, constantly doing stuff in contrary to the heros. Some of them are strong, sometimes they just think they are strong but actually end up needed a lot of help from the heros. So I would say maybe 20% or less of her heroines are as strong as they think they are.
I’m with Lynne Connolly on Venetia.
I’m right there with all the Cordelia love, but I can’t believe no one has mentioned Bujold’s Ista (Paladin of Souls)!
I’ll add my voice to the chorus and say Eve Dallas.
Other’s that I like are Angelina Simone from Midnight Bayou by Nora Roberts, and now that I think about it, I like most of the heroines in Nora’s books.
And I have to add Jean Auel’s Ayla.
Chloe Neill’s Merit of her Chicagoland Vampire series. When Merit was attacked and turned by a rogue, Ethan, the vampire who saved her, expects her gratitude and subservience. Instead, Merit struggles to maintain her identity as an individual, even though her independent streak gets her into serious trouble with Ethan. He eventually comes to respect her unwillingness to compromise, even though it causes problems for him with the other vampires. Awesome series with a kick-butt heroine who has a strong internal compass.
I love Sophy from The Grand Sophy and the eponymous heroine of Frederica, both by Georgette Heyer. Both heroines are incredibly intelligent, resourceful, and independent. They take special delight in demanding that the heroes respect them, and their ambition is unselfish. They can be irritating, but they feel so real, so much like someone I would love to hang out with, that I forgive them for being human.
Spamword: firm69. I don’t even have to go there.
I really enjoyed the heck of the heroines from Lisa Kleypas’s Wallflower series with the exception of Daisy. I felt like Kleypas tried too hard to make Daisy cutesy and dippy. But the other three…well I just loved them, they seemed fun and real.
And apparently I need to go and read some books about Eve Dallas cause it sounds like I’m missing out!
Agnes Crandall has slipped past Jessica from Lord of Scoundrels. I love women who confront their men when they’re being jackasses. Agnes wins because she uses kitchen napalm (melted sugar) and her frying pan in self defense. She’s certainly flawed, braining people with kitchen utensils on a regular basis, dealing with some very intense anger management issues, and if not for Shane stopping her, she would have skewered her previous boyfriend with something even deadlier than the Skillet of Skullcrushing.
She handles moments of insanity- her own and others’- fairly well, and she doesn’t need to be rescued from much, except the trouble her temper gets her into.
I do love Jessica for shooting Dain, because there is nothing more awesome than a Heroine who saves her own bacon, but Agnes repeatedly saves herself. That, and the angry sex after trying to skewer no-good Taylor. Putting her angry impulses to better use, indeed.
I know many prefer the more relatable, down to earth ones, but I was raised on soap operas so I’ll always gravitate towards over-the-top, glamorous heroines. Authors like Virginia Henley and Bertrice Small get a lot of flak for their heroines being vain and ambitious, with too many sexual partners, but I like their confidence and spirit of adventure. And that they usually have a life that consists of more than just being in love with the hero.
The thing I love best in a heroine is when she has her own agenda. Something she wants or has to do that’s either unrelated to the hero, or completely at odds with his goal. I really respect a heroine that doesn’t let anyone shake her from her quest, even the hero. Marianna from Beloved Scoundrel by Iris Johansen is a good example of this.
Jillian from Heart of Fire by Linda Howard is another great heroine on a mission.
I also like a heroine to be sexually curious. Sexually inexperienced is fine, especially in historicals, but a grown woman who’s gone her whole life without a single flutter of sexual attraction for anyone (or just on her own) until she’s met the hero? No thanks. And double no thanks to modern heroines who’ve never orgasmed until the hero comes along to show her how.
So basically I like heroines that are smart, adventurous, with a healthy sexual nature. Everything else can vary.
“Jessica Trent from Lord of Scoundrels. She consistently calls Dain on his bullshit and frankly, SHOOTS HIS ASS for ruining her. She’s smart, witty, passionate, down to earth and intensely likable.”
Yes, yes and give me a HELL yes. Jessica’s sense of humour, no-nonesense and ability to shoot the man she loves in the ass makes her fun to read and immediately admirable. Love the character, love the book.
Outside of Jess … hmmmm. I’d probably have to go with Jaz Parks from the “Once Bitten” series by the late Jennifer Rardin. Jaz is fallible, and it’s that ability to get things wrong on top of her kick-ass fighting skills that keeps you in her corner. She makes mistakes, has no illusions about herself and is fiercely protective of those she loves. However, she’s not so flawed that you feel that she doesn’t deserve the HEA … you just know with Jaz that she’s going to have to keep fighting for it.
What’s common to both heroines is their own awareness of who they are – the good, the bad and the ugly. Both are stubborn (something I can personally connect to!), determined, loving and don’t suffer fools – my kind of heroines, for sure!
The first character that popped into my mind when I read this entry was Flora from Jilly Coopers “The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous,” “Appassionata” and “Score.” She’s not the primary heroine in any of the books, but she always makes me smile when she’s on the page. She starts out as a bolshy fearless teenager, gets her heart broken by an older man, remains witty and kind while taking no nonsense and carving out her own career, falls in love again, almost loses him before getting him back.
She knows and uses her sex appeal without being slutty and is a bit wicked without being a bitch. She’s one of the few romance heroines who I’d genuinely like to have as a friend.
Francesca Bonnard, from Loretta Chase’s Your Scandalous Ways. She’s independent, she’s educated, she’s witty and clever and an even match for the hero in every way. She’s a courtesan (by her own choice, for her own enjoyment and wealth)—she has sex, lots of it, good sex, not just with the hero, and that is okay with her. I love me a sex-positive heroine. And best of all, she shares the alpha screen time with the hero—I mean, she’s the one who tells the hero, “You’re beautiful when you’re angry,” not the other way around. I would love to be the sexy, independent badass that Francesca is.
Favorite romance heroine? Sophia Stanton-Lacy, Heyer’s Grand Sophy.
I read widely across genres, and I have other favorites (Cordelia Vorkosigan, Lisbeth Salander, Kathy Mallory, Amelia Peabody, Philippa Somerville), but they all have a number of traits in common, chiefly guts, brains and sometimes quirky, but always strong, ethical systems. Sophy is both fearless and ingenious in dealing with problems. She also has an sense of humor and even her flaws (outspoken and interfering are two fitting adjectives) are made endearing by her ability to laugh at herself and her genuine concern for other people. She is also a woman with a powerful sense of honor. In short, she’d make an excellent hero.
To me the qualities that make an effective heroine are the same ones that work for the hero. I don’t care about pretty, and I dislike self-descriptions that claim plain and describe pretty. I love humor, but don’t require it. Angst is fine as long as it isn’t accompanied by stupidity or self-destructiveness. I like honesty in a heroine, but honor is usually more important, and it doesn’t have to be the cookie cutter variety. I guess I just like my favorite characters to actually have character.
Amy in The Secret History of the Pink Carnation. She idolizes anti-napoleon spy the Carnation and is bound and determined to get to Paris to find, unmask, and help him. And make him fall in love with her.
She does find him, gets him to reveal his identity, and gets into several scrapes along the way but her confidence, her resourcefulness, and her humor make her unforgettable.
She is strong and clever and in no way “bumbling” or “helpless”.
She ends up rescuing him and forcing him into retirement to start a school for aspiring spies.
When I was younger, it was Jane Eyre. I loved that she went through so much hell, but always remained true to her own values. She also made decisions that showed she valued herself as a person. I still admire those things about her, but she’s almost too perfect and forgiving to me now.
Now I’d have to say it’s the heroines from Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark series. I love their humor, confidence and ability to kick major ass. I also enjoy their relationships with each other. I feel like they have full lives before the hero ever shows up. He just makes their lives richer.
It is easy to pick strong heroines from some romance genres—particularly, PN/UF or romantic suspense. I choose one from historical romance, whose strength is in everyday matters.
Jessica Trent from Loretta Chase’s Lord of Scoundrels is intelligent, capable, dependable, honest and good with a gun. At 27, she is older than the typical historical romance heroine. She has considerably more life experience than her peers and is unapologetic about her strengths or desires. She always remains a lady. People like and respect Jess. In Lord of Scoundrels, she faces off with a hero many find demanding and difficult. The result is a love story of equals.