The Rec League: Silver Foxes

The Rec League - heart shaped chocolate resting on the edge of a very old bookI’m 90% sure that this wasn’t a request so much as an idea brought about by the hero on the cover of Pretty Face by Lucy Parker, where I took it upon myself to schedule a Rec League for all those “silver fox” heroes. See also Paul Mason, the “fashion Santa,” who made headlines a couple Christmases ago.

These romances don’t necessarily have to include age differences. All they need is a hero who doesn’t mind showing a little gray.

Sarah: The Sugar Baby series by Rebekah Weatherspoon.

So Sweet
A | BN | K | AB
Amanda: Ruthless by Anne Stuart ( A | BN | K | AB ) has a significant age difference and I THINK the hero qualifies. It’s been a while since I’ve read it, but the hero is definitely an alpha hero and the romance is a little darker.

Elyse: Only Beloved by Mary Balogh ( A | BN | K | G | AB )

Amanda: Would the hero of Pretty Face ( A | BN | K | AB ) count, Sarah? I’m going based on the salt and pepper hair on the cover.

Sarah: You know he might. He isn’t gray, but he’s older and visibly so.

What about you? Do you have any heroes who qualify as silver foxes? Maybe a little distinguished graying around the temples?

Comments are Closed

  1. Zyva says:

    Merlin. Premature white hair. Was my style role model in case I inherited YA age greying girl genes in the family. Sorry not a genre match.

  2. JoS says:

    The Nadia Stafford series by Kelley Armstrong. He is not just gray but also wrinkled.

  3. Cheryl McInnis says:

    Jack Russo from Linda Howard’s Open Season (the best Linda Howard book IMO!) The party-pack condom scene still cracks me up every single time I read it

  4. hng23 says:

    Sway (Luscious #1) by Lauren Dane (he’s 40, she’s 24, they’re both hot). This series shares characters with her Brown Family series; Drawn Together (BF#5) features the older (42) brother of the hero from Sway, with a woman in her 30s. I love both these series: they feature lovely strong friendships between the women, and the men actually talk to their partners.

  5. CatG says:

    Didn’t one of the hero’s from Elizabeth Hoyt’s Maiden Lane series have silver hair? Blanking on the title tho.

  6. Antipodean Shenanigans says:

    Aral Vorkosigan from Shards of Honor and the Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold would qualify. Both a silver fox and clever as a fox. RAWR

    That book renewed my faith in sci fi.

  7. Olivia says:

    Some of Karen Rose’s suspense books have heroes that are the right age range for getting gray hair, and in “Closer Than You Think” is the story with Deacon (who appears in other books), who has Waardenburg syndrome, causing full on white hair.

  8. sandra says:

    @CatG: Also her first Julia Harper book (Hot) has an older H starting to go grey.

  9. K.N. O'Rear says:

    Roxanne St. Claire has an entire mini series in her Barefoot Bay main series that features exclusively silver fox heroes called Barefoot Bay: Timeless Collection. I haven’t read The myself ( although I would love too), but from the summaries I’ve read that sound pretty good and one of them even states that the heroine is older.

  10. Emily says:

    @CatG the first book, Wicked Intentions, has the hero with silver hair. He’s not that old (in his 30s), he just went prematurely gray, but he does have a full head of gray hair. I believe the review here described him as being a Lucius Malfoy lookalike which is accurate.

  11. LB says:

    The one that immediately comes to mind for me is Rose Lerner’s Listen to the Moon. Definitely a May-December thing; marriage of convenience; and they are both servants, which is so refreshing to read about. It is a very sweet and realistic story. I loved it.

  12. Algae says:

    Miss Gwen’s story in the Pink Carnation series is an older couple. I can’t remember which book is hers right now, though.

  13. Allie says:

    In Nora Roberts’ In The Garden trilogy, the second book called The Black Rose features an older heroine and hero. I can’t remember if his hair is grey or not, but I’m assuming so as he’s in his late 40’s or early 50’s.

    Same with Only Beloved in Mary Balogh’s Survivors’ Club series. I think the hero had grey hair, but I know he is older.

  14. JennyOH says:

    Ross Cannon in Lisa Kleypas’ ‘Lady Sophia’s Lover’. I don’t remember if he’s explicitly grey-haired, but he’s older than the usual romance novel hero (about 40) and generally more “mature” i.e. dignified and thoughtful. I’m a big fan of Kleypas in general and this book was a really enjoyable part of a pretty good series (Bow Street Runners).

  15. Elizabeth says:

    The hero, Jake Robinson, of Suzanne Brockmann’s The Admiral’s Bride is significantly older than the heroine (he’s 53, and I think she’s like 27) and they have incredibly hot sex in a shower in the novel that I remember.

  16. JoanneBB says:

    @#3 Cheryl: I just read the quote/sample on the description page on Amazon for Open Season, and I made me laugh, the introduction is clearly an homage to L.M.Montgomery’s The Blue Castle, where the h won’t get up on the morning of her birthday, listens to the rain, vows to never wear flannel again, etc. Updated, obviously, but the author is more than passing familiar with the 1926 novel.

  17. Jacqueline says:

    Ok, my memory is ABSOLUTE DOG SHIT IN A SEWER…but I swear the book I’m reading for my RITA review has a hero with silver in his hair.

    How I Married A Marquess by Anna Harrington, one sentence summary: A Robin Hood wallflower heroine plays keep-away from Mr Laid-Off-Spy because dude needs to catch a thief for job security; she is that thief.

    I don’t recall his age, and the hero is also struggling with PTSD so the gray might be a result of that. Either way, THE BOOK IS THE BOMB DIGGITY SO FAR!

  18. Lindsay says:

    Pamela Clare’s “Soul Deep” is a novella in the i-team series that features a hero who, if memory serves, is late 50s/early 60s.

    I also feel like in Caroline Linden’s Rake’s Guide to Seduction the hero, Anthony Hamilton’s uncle flirts with the heroines mother and I THOUGHT they got their own book or novella but now I can’t find it– anyone?

  19. Lindsay says:

    Also Edward Clark/Delacey in Courney Milan’s Suffragette Scandal is young but has a lot of gray hair.

  20. It’s not a book (although it is based on the book series by Michael Connelly), but you might check out the Bosch TV series which streams on Amazon. It starts Titus Welliver as Harry Bosch, an LAPD detective. There’s not a lot of romance, but it’s an interesting look at police work/politics.

    I also like Major Crimes on TNT. Again, it’s not a book, but it features several older characters (men and women), two of which are engaged, so there is a little romance.

  21. NT says:

    I posted this morning and it didn’t show up, so apologies if it does and this turns into a double post.

    A Walking Shadow by Regan Forest
    https://www.fictiondb.com/author/regan-forest~a-walking-shadow~14410~b.htm

    A Top-Secret Affair by Vickie York
    https://www.amazon.com/Top-Secret-Affair-Vickie-York/dp/037322043X

    Familiar Stranger by Sharon Sala
    https://www.amazon.com/Familiar-Stranger-Year-Loving-Dangerously/dp/0373271522

  22. Jen says:

    My memory is awful as well and I just went through my entire kindle library and couldn’t find it but I know there is an author that almost exclusively focuses on older H n h’s. The book I’m thinking of the H is a lawyer and divorced I think. The h is post menopausal and leaves her small town home and children for adventure in London after her husband dies. The love scenes were quite steamy and focused on issues that arise with aging n sex.

  23. Cristie says:

    Penny Watson’s Apples Should be Red has an older couple. Hero is in his 60’s & heroine is in her 50’s. The book is sweet & very funny–highly recommend it. I also second the rec on Nora Robert’s Black Rose–loved that one too.

  24. Kay Sisk says:

    Jeanne Ray’s Julie and Romeo features mature hero and heroine. I have a mature secondary character with a romantic arc over the last three books in my Bone Cold–Alive series. Also, the hero of my romantic suspense Once Upon a McLeod is graying.

  25. J says:

    Alex Montcrief, Earl of Faclonbridge – “What I Did for a Duke” by Julie Anne Long. Not sure if he’s quite a silver fox, but he is hot and definitely much older than the heroine – Genieve Eversa. In later books in the Pennyroyal Green series he’s described as having his hair shot with silver.

    Also The Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Wilig. The hero Lord Vaughn is also decidedly older than the heroine Mary Alsworthy. And again, a silver fox.

  26. Noelle says:

    In Julie Anne Long’s What I Did for a Duke (one of my favorite Pennyroyal Green novels, and one of my favorite romances of all time) the hero has “frost” at the hair at his temples and he’s “nearly forty”, which I suppose would make him older by Regency period standards. So, not really a silver fox, but “gray at the temples” is usually about as close as you’ll get in an historical romance. 🙂

  27. LR says:

    How to Tame Your Duke by Juliana Gray has a hero who is 40 and has a 16-year-old son. The heroine is about 20 or so.

  28. L says:

    How to Tame Your Duke by Juliana Gray has a hero who is 40 and has a 16-year-old son. The heroine is about 20 or so.

  29. Ren says:

    I’m just here to say I just started Pretty Face and *good book noises*

  30. Karen says:

    The new Maggie Wells book, A Bolt From the Blue, has a super sexy electrician silver fox hero! Plus, a fantastic older heroine. This one just came out, sexy times, good characters, fantastic dialogue. She’s written other books with older heroes, but I especially love this one. I second the Penny Watson recommendation from earlier in the thread. Adored that book.

  31. Kristen says:

    Jack Macintyre in The Bellator Saga. Silver fox-tastic.

  32. Juli says:

    Daniel from Old Dog’s by Debi Matlack. He’s yummy! Widower with a teenaged daughter and a new friendship with the divorcee who just moved in next door. Great book!

  33. Juli says:

    Ooh, I hate autocorrect!! That should be Old Dogs by Debi Matlack. No apostrophe.

  34. Hopeful Puffin says:

    Ooh. Best Rec League!

    I’m pretty sure the secondary romance in a Mary Balogh’s Heartless features an older couple – they’d been having an affair for years. I believe both were widowed. I liked them more than the primary H/h.

  35. Demi says:

    @Ren YES to “Pretty Face”! There’s a great line in the first chapter that’s something along the lines of “maybe he was getting curmudgeonly, but all persons under the age of 26 looked like babies” (I butchered that quote as I don’t have the book on me at the moment, but you get the idea). I nearly spit out my coffee when I read that – SO HILARIOUS.

    @Jen I want this book! It sounds like a good candidate for a HaBO. Any ideas, anyone? “The book I’m thinking of the H is a lawyer and divorced I think. The h is post menopausal and leaves her small town home and children for adventure in London after her husband dies. The love scenes were quite steamy and focused on issues that arise with aging n sex”

  36. Karen says:

    Luke in Fast Connection by Megan Erickson and Santino Hassell ! Love this book do much <3

  37. cleo says:

    Fast Connection by Megan Erickson and Santino Hassell is mm contemporary. The h/h are 27 and 39 and the 39 yo is discribed as a silver fox – he’s also a divorced dad with twin 16 year olds. I love this book – I’m re-reading it for the RITA challenge review. The h/h meet through Grindr – they’re both vets living in a blue collar neighborhood in Queens.

  38. Liz says:

    Venetia by Georgette Heyer, I think. I don’t remember if Damerel has grey hair at all, but a lot of people describe him as being weathered and kinda wrinkled? It was a library loan for me so I can’t pull it out and check, but even if the age difference wasn’t that significant (can’t remember), he’s a lot more experienced and seems a lot older than Venetia.

  39. Amanda says:

    @NT: Usually comments with a lot of links get automatically spammed. You should be good to go now!

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