Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

My favourite grovel scene is a bit unusual in that it’s the heroine doing the grovelling.  In Jilly Cooper’s Polo, Perdita is a class A bitch, stomping all over everyone’s feelings, especially the lovable Luke, a fellow Polo player who is in love with her.  At the end she realises how horrible she’s been, makes a big sacrifice for him and admits her feelings and apologizes for her past actions.  I found it believable and sweet and redeemed the heroine in my eyes where for a lot of the book I had quite wanted to slap her.

Faro’s Daughter, by Georgette Heyer has some rather nice grovelling, though I think it could do with a little more… everything really. 

Mary Balogh’s Devil’s Web, however, did not have nearly enough grovelling. The hero, who had daddy issues, behaved like a bastard throughout the book and made both of them miserable for 300 or so pages. The make up scene goes for about two pages. I finished the book feeling really miserable, not even remotely convinced that they were going to work out.

I think Darcy does a good, satisfying grovel in Pride & Prejudice.  I’m thinking about Rochester, and trying to decide if his final humbling comes out to a grovel, but I’m deciding not.

Unfortunately, most of Diana Palmer’s books lack a sufficient grovel scene, yet I keep buying the things and devouring them like they’re the last bit of chocolate placed in front of a chocaholic. She was my intro to the romance genre, and I’ve stuck with her through the years. But at least I know what I’m getting into going in with her. My reading experiences in the genre have also spread far and wide from that original book.

I’ll be watching this thread to make a list of books containing a good grovel scene because it would be nice to read some done right. Perhaps I should use my husband as an example when next writing, because he does a damned good grovel…and no, I won’t go into why he had to grovel.

Kiss an Angel - Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Honestly I can’t remember if there was a groveling scene per se in the book between the leads. But the reader gets to see the groveling process and it’s just so darn sweet!

Double Standards - Judith McNaught - I don’t remember much of this book (LOL!) But I remember the ending! Especially the bribing scene. Got a few tears in my eyes and became an unforgettable scene in my mind.

I can’t think of any other “great” groveling scenes at the moment

Just finished La Nora’s latest, Bed of Roses.  I love the hero but he has commitment issues.  He pulls away from the woman he loves and nearly blows it.  The groveling is great because he is shut out by the heroine’s three girlfriends. 
That woman writes relationships like nobody else.  I love the dynamic between the guy pals and gal pals as much as the romance and hot sex.  I want to reread it right now…

Gah!  I can’t remember the name of the romance from the 80’s (HaBO time?) but it was a historical.  The hero’s the heroine’s father’s enemy.  He kidnaps her, rapes her, falls in love, she gets away, he follows her to a leprosarium(!) even though he has a horror of leprosy because it killed his mama (WTFBBQ?!) and when he gets there he gets down on the ground, literally groveling, and washes the heroine’s feet amidst all the lepers.

Now, that’s what I’m talking about!!!

Oh, and both leave the leprosarium without falling prey to Hansen’s Disease, which is much more difficult to catch than people think, but that’s a different issue.

Oh yeah, one more:  I think it was an early Balogh where the hero slaps the heroine and is horrified, not because he slapped her as much as by his losing control. And that’s what ticks her off.  He’s not horrified because he struck a lady—he thinks she’s his ward’s mistress—but because it’s all about him.

At the end, she reminds him of how badly he treated her in that moment and to make amends he jumps off the dock into the bay, fully clothed, to embarrass himself.  Sounds kind of dumb but in the context of appropriate groveling it worked.

Oh yeah—one more and then I promise I’m going to STFU.  I hate Rosemary Rogers’ “heroes” ‘cause they never grovel enough, or at all.  Worst offender was the guy in The Insiders.  I wanted to castrate him with a chain saw.

I’m done now.  Really.

Lol, keep going, Darlene, you’re cracking me up.

I was going to say Darcy too, because I just finished listening to the audiobook, and then had to come in from the car and read the end of the book again, because I just love it. (Mind you, I’ve read and listened to the book, and watched the movie, untold times.) So it’s fresh in my mind. ;)

One of Nora’s Mackade books stick out, in that the hero and heroine had a bet, and she ended up having to dress up like a tart and go into a bar where all his friends were. Then he had to grovel.

Without a good grovel scene, Elizabeth Lowell’s “To The Ends Of The Earth” would have been a resounding wallbanger. With it, it’s a keeper. The hero doesn’t make up for his bad behavior all at once, and he doesn’t expect anything for what he does. I like that. I want a hero who makes amends and doesn’t expect anything in return, though he can hope.

Also - how about the heroine who should grovel? I can’t think of a good heroine grovel scene, but sometimes she really should. How about all those secret baby books, where very often she has absolutely no right and no good reason for keeping the child from its father?

I just finished reading The Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas and Sebastian St. Vincent does some excellent groveling.  Had to apologize to his former best friend for kidnapping his fiance, had to admit he wanted Evie, and agreed to celibacy to earn her trust—and then he didn’t whine when he lost the bet!  Delicious groveling!

As to heroine groveling?  Yes—I think we could use more of it.  For instance, I really really really needed Zenia to grovel in The Dream Hunter.  As it is, I still want to beat her senseless, send her back to the desert, and get Lord Winter a new spine.

A Duke of her Own by Eloisa James has a nice grovelling scene by Villiers—it’s short, but he did a lot of self-imposed penance beforehand. 

He’s such a catalytic hero-despite-himself through most of the series, it was wonderful to see him royally screw up with a woman (heaven forfend), admit he was wrong and have to scramble to make amends . . . all without changing his basic Villier-ness.

And while I agree that Rochester didn’t grovel,  I do think he was adequately punished . . .

Judith McNaught’s “Perfect” and “Paradise”.  Both times the males plow over the heroine then have to make it up to her to win her back.  Great books and wonderful author.

MsM

Sarah’s Child by Linda Howard would be unbearable without the hero’s groveling at the end.  He has treated her like crap for the length of her pregnancy (his kid, no less!!) but finally comes to his senses.  My thoughts on Elizabeth Lowell—I often felt that her category romance heroes never groveled anywhere near enough.  I always wanted those books to end with the heroine saying

Sorry dude, too little too late

.

I don’t have as much of a problem with a bad (or lack of) grovel as I do with the fact that some authors put them right at the end of the book.  I’m with Natasha R—Double Standards is a great grovel scene.  But then the books just over.  There hasn’t been time to see their HEA, or to convince yourself that he even meant what he said.

The awesome thing about books like The Devil in Winter is that he grovels like, halfway through the book, and we get to see the relationship evolve from there.

Sarah’s Child by Linda Howard would be unbearable without the hero’s groveling at the end.

:::SNORT:::  IMNSHO, SARAH’S CHILD is unbearable period.  There is NOTHING hero-like about Rome (the prick) Matthews whatsoever.

@ Kate Jones

You are SO right on about the importance of the timing of the grovel.  If it’s too late in the book, I just don’t buy his (or her) sincerity.  I need to SEE the character change and grow after the grovel in order to buy into the story.

I’m going to go with Edith Layton’s The Fire Flower. I mean, first he talks her into being his mistress, then he marries someone else but tries to keep her on the side - I’m rooting for her to leave him for his best friend - but by then end of his OMG I’m such a tool moment I was like awww, ok, take him back.

I wanted to castrate him with a chain saw

Now THAT is not a hero I want to read about!

That is quiet the word picture. I’m going to have to remember that the next time I get really mad at someone~to say it; not actually do it! ;)

Sarah’s Child emotional grovel at the end. Love the book and the slow lead to that groveling scene.

Hm - I can’t think of any. Maybe it’s because groveling scenes just don’t do it for me. I’ve had too many people grovel to me IRL then turn around and start the same behavior over again. So I can’t suspend my disbelief enough.

Oh, SEP gives great grovel, LOL.  “Kiss and Angel” is prime example, but “Heaven, Texas” is pretty good as well.

Linda Howard could pump up her grovel scenes.  I recently re-read the Blair Mallory books and was not satisfied with his contrition for a) dumping her cold in the first place, and b) being completely disrespectful of her in the middle of the second book.  He does apologize, but it just wasn’t enough for me. 

The end of Tara Janzen’s “Crazy Love” (Dylan and Skeeter’s book) is one of my all time favorites, although it’s not an explicit grovel.  It’s all about the way she describes the ring he bought and what it means.  Sigh.

I don’t have a favorite… I think Susan Elizabeth Phillips does them pretty well.  I agree that I like the timing to be more toward the middle as opposed to the last page.  I want to SEE the change, not just hear about it. 

Question:  in the title of this post “GS vs. STA”  What does that mean?

An oldie, but goodie Regency from the 90’s:  Mary Brendan’s Beloved Avenger.  Alpha male hero seeks revenge on the heroine’s family whom he has bankrupted.  Hero wants to marry the heroine in exchange for forgiving the family debts, but settles for her acting as a companion to his sister-in-law.  The pivotal plot moment in the book is a forced seduction scene which results in pregnancy.  It’s a long and tortured story with a stubborn and immature heroine, but eventually they live HEA.  Hero spends at least half the book searching for the runaway heroine, and even allows her brother (who has returned from war to find his sister missing) to beat him up at one point after he confesses to the rape.  You see this mega-rich alpha male bent on revenge dissolve into a wiser man, full of regrets for his actions which ultimately bring him lots of pain.  Mary Brendan has gone on to write some pretty good stuff, but I think Beloved Avenger was her best book.

Susan Elizabeth Phillips is a master at the grovel. I particularly love the ones in Natural Born Charmer and Dream a Little Dream. I think Sherry Thomas does very good grovels, too. Who can forget Gina’s entrance when Cam has dinner in NYC in Private Arrangements? And Lisa Kleypas is another one—-when her male characters mess up (and they usually do big time), they make up for it.

Bill the Vampire does a pretty good grovel in the Sookie Stackhouse books. Most notably the last one. Short and simple on the words but big on the gestures. Mmm, mmm.

My immediate first thought was Judith McNaught’s Almost Heaven. I know it’s been mentioned by The Bitchery before for other wonderment reasons, but Ian’s long road to a grovel breaks my heart every time. First, the heroine (can’t remember her name) saves (or thinks she saves) his bacon in the House of Lords by acting like a dimwit (this is her grovelling) then she disappears, and when he finally, finally, gets over their baggage, he goes to the one place he loves the most (a cottage in Scotland, natch) - and finds her waiting there for him. Commence the grovelling. So tender, so funny, so heartbreakingly wonderful.

That book is so glorious, I can remember quotes from it still and I haven’t read it in at least 10 years.

Double Standards, Paradise, and Perfect are other great McNaught’s also w/the grovelling, but she usually has grovelling b/c there’s always a Big Misunderstanding that wrenches her h/h painfully apart. I prefer her historicals though.

Also? Kingdom of Heaven. Sigh. That woman writes great books.

Judith McNaught - Almost Heaven. Both hero and heroine do some awesome groveling. The scene where the hero and his crotchety grandfather (who hero hated and only made up with so he could grovel to the heroine) enter the ballroom…sigh. Then it’s her turn. After they marry, she’s a total asshat and leaves him, which gets him charged with her disappearance. She shows up in court and completely embarrasses herself to save his ass. But he’s still not happy! So she retreats and eventually he goes to find her and there’s mutual groveling. That’s my fave McNaught book.

The power of the grovel is a beautiful thing.

By far the BEST at this is Judith McNaught. I see her name pops up in the comments A LOT. I think no one grovelled better than Royce Westmoreland and his descendant, Clayton Westmoreland. Clayton was by far the biggest asshat I’ve EVER read in my life and he is my all time favorite Hero. And I don’t like Alpha Males AT ALL… unless they’re Judith’s….

I do love a properly repentant character. In fact, I’m actually working on revisions to a book where I may have tipped the balance too far (he’s grovelling, but she’s not accepting. This does not satisfy me, and I’m the damn author).

Nicola Cornick’s Deceived has a hero who is an asshat to begin with (with what he believes to be good reason) but does manage to redeem himself by the end. Halfway through, he realises just how awful the heroine’s life has been, and that it wasn’t her choice to jilt him all those years ago. He doesn’t listen for a long time, to the point where that rusty chainsaw sounded mighty tempting to me, but then he realises and he’s so, so repentant.

I was also really moved by a Sara Douglas book, Threshold, where the hero is sort of semi-possessed by something evil (looong story) and has the heroine, his personal slave, tossed in a cell to die. He doesn’t precisely grovel when he gets her out, but he’s so repentant, and it’s a huge turning point in your perception of a man who doesn’t seem to be hero material at all.

Beth Kendrick’s Nearlyweds has an insincerely grovelling husband. The more he apologises, the less you like him.

As for unrepentant asshattery, I’ve read so much of it I can’t count, mostly in Old-Skool romances that I’ve mercifully blocked.

Definitely KISS AN ANGEL by Susan Elizabeth Phillips.  The hero is actually brought to his knees.  Also, the oldie HIDDEN FIRES by Sandra Brown.  You have to ignore the “gate of her womanhood” references but otherwise good groveling.

I’m back.  I don’t know if you’d precisely call it “groveling”, but the end of The Duke’s Wager by Edith Layton has one of the best redemption scenes I’ve ever read.  Just re-read it and nearly wept at the beauty of the writing and her ability to capture the essence of the anti-hero hero.

Ms. Layton’s untimely death is a true loss to the romance community.

My all time favorite grovel was Anne Stuart’s Falling Angel.  His whole EXISTANCE became one big fat grovel. 

Here he is, this utter twerp (technical term) whose asshattery knows no bounds, and then (BRILLIANT!) he gets smashed to smithereens one cold wintery night whilst on the way to indulge in even greater asshattery.  His get out of jail card?  Major grovellage to the heroine (who has a really bizarre crush on him… or did when he was alive). 

Of course, when he comes back, he’s one seriously HAWT angel, which always helps when grovelling.  But I digress.  The main point, the book is basically one long ode to grovelling.  The initial fake grovelling eventually leads to sweet luuuuurve and then real grovelling.  Which is pure magic.  Really it is.

thats7s - That’s 72 ways to grovel, so get to it!

I thought Ransom groveled pretty well at the end of Midsummer’s Moon and the fact that Wiz never flew into hysterics nor demanded the groveling from him as a token of his love made it all the sweeter.  Their love was never the issue.

Question:  in the title of this post “GS vs. STA”  What does that mean?

Good Stuff vs. Stuff to Avoid

I always loved Mary Balogh for her “grovelling” scenes (though I never put it that way in my head). 

I loved the scene in The Red Rose (very early Signet Regency) when the alphole hero realizes that his unwelcome ward is a brilliant musician, but because he’s been so cold and dismissive of her because of a deformity (club foot?), she wants nothing to do with him.

Of course, the best of the best grovelling scenes are in The Last Hellion - pretty much throughout the whole book.

I love good groveling, so avoid MacKenzie’s Mission by Linda Howard. He spends the whole book dominating her, then believes she committed treason and is so angry he forces her into rough sex, all in the name of getting to the truth supposedly. Then she gets all weepy and understanding. Yuck! I hate heroines who accept their heroes’ bad behavior and forgive with no consequence.

OTH, there’s some good groveling and heroic humiliation in The Pride of Jared MacKade by Nora Roberts.

I agree that Robert’s Bed of Roses had a great grovel at the end, but I disagreed with who should be doing the groveling - at best, there should have been a mutual grovel. but even though I disagreed, the groveling scene at the end was wonderful.

Yeah, I gotta go with Whitney, My Love. Clayton is such an asshat, it really is vindicating when he beats up on himself for all of Big Misunderstandings. Although, Whitney herself is no walk in the park.

Becca, I absolutely agree about the groveling in Bed of Roses. I had a few issues with how the heroine thought to deal with the situation, and her reaction. Mutual groveling, at the least. (Still not
convinced what the hero did was all that bad.)

I remember one of Eloisa James’s books had insufficiency groveling, but I can’t remember which one. It was an early one, Potent/Midnight/Enchanting Pleasures. I thought the heroine let him off the hook waaaay too easily.

I agree with the Kleypas/Devil in Winter grovel—Sebastian was my favorite hero of the Wallflower series simply because he had the most growth, the most believable growth, due to his earlier grovelling.

The Roberts/Bed of Roses hero, Jack, is one of my favorites as well, even though the book only came out, what, a week ago? Her heroes are always pretty straightforward and understandable, and that’s just a sign of good writing, that we get to see His thought processes as much as Hers, but for some reason I loved Jack more than many of Roberts’ other heroes.

The first book in this series, Vision in White, has a nice grovel from the heroine, which you don’t see very often. And it may be less grovel than “A-ha!” moment, but it’s still nice to see Mac realizing her ridiculousness. Frankly, I think this “Bride Quartet” series might turn out to be one of my favorite Roberts reads ever.

I recently found myself totally entranced by Kresley Cole’s “Immortals After Dark” series, which I love because of the way her heroes are strong and smart and special but are completely dependent (for their own well-being) upon the happiness and safety and sexual satisfaction of the females. And I don’t usually like paranormals. Dark Desires After Dusk, Cadeon’s story, is heartbreaking, simply because he knows, the entire time he’s with Holly, that he’s going to betray her, and he keeps trying to find ways to avoid it and can’t. Luckily, she’s pretty kick-ass and doesn’t exactly need him when push comes to shove (which I applaud), but you watch this long road you know is leading to an impossibly huge grovel at the end. And even though it’s not the world’s longest grovel, it contains some pretty strong elements of sacrifice and expressions of understanding and love.

The most recent Jayne Ann Krentz/Jayne Castle
I was severely pissed off that the hero never really apologized to the heroine. He makes her life much worse, his whole family and everyone that knows him keeps picking at her for not treating him well enough, and he never has to take any responsibility for his behavior. He makes a vague noise to appease her and she forgives him everything. (2 paragraphs maybe?)
With most JAK heroine’s, I understand why they are forgiving the hero. This one needed at leaset another few months of the cold shoulder.

GRRRRRrrrrrrrrr.

Abusers are capable of groveling.  Apologies and promises to reform are part of the cycle of abuse.  Which is why I also need to see some kind of behavioral change in the asshat hero to believe in the HEA.

Nora gets it, and several of her MacKades do a great grovel.  But my favorite is Wulfric in Mary Balogh’s Slightly Dangerous.

Miles’ grovel/non-grovel to Ekatarin the Bujold’s Civil Campaign: nothing like an alpha determined to grovel better than anyone else.

Not a book but if you’re in the mood for a movie I love the modern version of Sabrina, especially the end when Harrison Ford’s character shows up in Paris and grovels to Sabrina for the way he treated her and promises to make her happy in the future. Oh yeah and he grovels to her dad in the scene before that too. Great stuff.

As usual whenever these questions pop up I’m drawing a blank, though I know I’ve read several books with fantastic groveling.

So, am I the only one who hated Sarah more than Roman in Sarah’s Child? Not that I liked Roman, but I felt that Howard gave us enough good introspective moments with him that as much he sucked he could still reasonably be forgiven with enough groveling.  But Sarah? Every time I was subjected to that stupid bitch’s thoughts I kept hoping Howard was pulling a genre switch and Roman would turn into the crazed serial killer who would kill the TSTL secondary character. And I felt the same exact way about the “heroines” in the the two other Howard books I tried before giving up on the author.

I love almost all of Julia Quinn’s books - she’s one of my favorite romantic comedy authors - but the one book that frustrated me so much with its LACK of a grovel was The Duke and I. I couldn’t believe that Daphne never, ever apologized to her husband for what had read to me
***SPOILER WARNING****

like a really nasty instance of marital rape (committed by her against him).

**END OF SPOILER*****

It really ruined their HEA for me, and it’s the one Bridgerton novel I immediately gave away and never read again.

Henofthewoods, I felt the same way about that book (Obsidian Prey by Jayne Castle).  I got why he did what he did, but I wanted him to show more understanding of how his actions negatively affected her and express remorse.  He did lie to her and betray her after all.  A big flaw for an otherwise enjoyable hero.

Captain Wentworth, in Jane Austen’s Persuasion doesn’t just grovel, he commits his grovelling to paper, and thus writes the best apology/declaration love letter I’ve ever encountered.

I definitely think the Judith McNaught fans have a point about her grovel scenes. The dual grovelling in Almost Heaven was good stuff, but does Royce’s public humiliation/beating in Kingdom of Dreams count as grovelling? (I say yes!) If so, nothing can beat that…

As aside: There is no amount of grovelling that could have possibly saved Whitney, My Love for me.

I just found a copy of Indiscreet by Mary Balogh. The book is out of print, but it has some pretty good groveling.

The heroine is living life in a small village when Mr. Viscount comes along and decides he’d like to spend some time bedding her to cure his boredom. He accuses her several times of being a tease because she continues to deny him despite the obvious chemistry. He’s really a jerk throughout the book-unwilling to accept her refusal and punishing her for refusing him.

They end up married because he compromised her reputation because he was…wait for it….indiscreet. We later come to find out that she was raped by a well known rake, delivered a premature baby that later dies and was exiled by her family to the village because she refused to marry her rapist. Mr. Viscount grovels because his refusal to accept NO as an answer to a possible dalliance, punishing her for her refusal, compromising her reputation- which results in what is initially a loveless marriage- is all pretty horrible. He apologizes profusely naturally and even duels her rapist.

AWESOME!

Reading this thread brings home to me (again) how different readers can be in their tastes and perceptions.  What actions require groveling, what is a sufficient grovel, what is too little too late—fascinating questions that we obviously answer differently. 

I don’t like book-ending grovel scenes usually; I’m with those up-thread who want to see the reformed behavior, not just hear the apology (however good it is).  This is particularly true for me when there’s a pattern of behavior, not just one inciden.

I remember one of Eloisa James’s books had insufficiency groveling, but I can’t remember which one. It was an early one, Potent/Midnight/Enchanting Pleasures. I thought the heroine let him off the hook waaaay too easily.

I’m guessing it was Potent Pleasures. I really liked that one early on, but the “hero’s” jealous accusations and abandonment of the the heroine still piss me off. If I remember correctly, *SPOILER ALERT*

....he ships her off after the wedding night b/c she wasn’t a virgin (turns out he was the deflowerer years ago and didn’t recognize her), takes her back, then dumps her again when for no good reason that I can recall he believes that their baby is really his twin brother’s. He turns up just in time for her to give birth, afraid she’s gonna die, after (maybe?) his brother convinces him that the baby is really his.
This last scene kind of reminded me of the Diary of Miss Miranda Cheever. Yeah, the hero was scared, but where’s the long, heartfelt, DESERVED apology?

Love both the P&P and the Persuasion scenes.

Sarah’s Child had a sequel (can’t remember the name) that really needed a grovel scene and didn’t get it. He seduced her for inside info his company needed and then says her problems are her insecurities which she just needs to get over. I don’t think there was even a general apology.

My other fave is Laura Kinsale’s Flowers from the Storm. The Duke speaks in the Quaker meeting house, struggling with his speech (post-stroke? I always wondered), telling her of his love; that he would go down on his knees if she asked; that he wanted no one else to raise his bastard daughter ‘cause no one else could teach her bravery. I love this passage, it’s too long to quote all of it: “. . . . fornication? I called it . . . love for you. Before God . . . love . . . honor . . . my wife . . . cherish all my days. I said it. Still truth, Maddy. Still the truth . . . in me, and always,” Then, he tells her he will wait outside 5 minutes and she must come then or never. And then he waits, and waits, and waits till she does come out. I think I cried the first time I read it. Still my favorite.

My thumbs down goes to The Pirate Prince by Gaelen Foley. Here I was enjoying the story when suddenly, about the last quarter of the book, the hero does a—well, maybe not a 180 but he did start to make a turn for the worse, and for no real reason. The guy started to piss me off royally. But wait! He realizes he’s done wrong and even says to his pirate crew that he has to do some groveling, so I’m ready to give him a second chance. He’d better get on his knees and shed some tears or something, I’m thinking. The hero shows up just in time to save the heroine’s life. Okay, here it comes! Here comes the great groveling scene! And…..........nuttin’. I can’t even recall if he ever said he was sorry for his asshat behaviour. I was totally, totally ticked off and the only reason now I remember reading the book is because of the way it made me feel mad.

As for a thumbs up choice, I’m going to go totally out of the field and say the best groveling scene I remember came from a soap opera years ago. It was As The World Turns. I can’t remember the characters names, I think the woman was Emily. She and this businessman/crime boss were starting to get hot and heavy then something caused them to argue. I don’t recall over what but I do remember Emily told the guy the only way she’d take him back was if he came crawling back on his hands and knees. Later, at some kind of event they end up dancing a sexy tango in front of everyone and get really turned on. Emily returns alone to her apartment when the doorbell rings. She opens the door and there’s the businessman/crime boss - down on his hands and knees! See, it’s stayed with me after all this time. That’s a grovel for you.

For some reason early Jude Devereaux books are coming to mind.  Lyons Lady and Twin of Ice were my favs of hers.  And I even believe that Lyons Lady’s many groveling scenes even included the Heroine disguising herself as a Camp Servent to follow her estranged husband.  She ends up learning to belly dance (or some kind of strip routine) to entice him and then can follow through with the seduction cuz he thinks she’s a servent girl (but by then he’s figured it out already).  Anywho, later on there are many many opportunities for him to grovel also.  Including our heroine being kidnapped by a home-wrecker intent on her man and when she is rescued she is basically IN LABOR and the grovel scene during and after delivery is pure gold.

I think another book of hers is Temptation? Not sure if that is the right name.  The hero’s family practically destitute and he weds the lovely lady for her money although she is convinced that she can make him love her.  He’s an absolute ASSHAT most of the book until she finally shows some gumption and cleans house (literally).

Hmmmm I have to dig these up now to re-read.  Jude’s were my first historicals way back before puberty.  Not crazy about her recent stuff but her 80-90’s books are pure goodness :0)

Sarah’s Child had a sequel (can’t remember the name) that really needed a grovel scene and didn’t get it. He seduced her for inside info his company needed and then says her problems are her insecurities which she just needs to get over. I don’t think there was even a general apology.

The sequel to Sarah’s Child is called Cutting Edge and that is nothing grovelly at all in there.  Seems like the heroine tends to grovel more for doing nothing wrong. Its a stupid book and the “hero” is an asshat supreme!.  One of my least favorite books - EVER!

I always liked the scene in Krentz’ Family Man where the hero tries to cook a gourmet meal for the heroine. It’s not really a grovel, but he is making a fool of himself in an effort to convince her to marry him.

My least favorite nongrovel is an old Linda Howard, the name of which I have mercifully forgotten. The “hero” destroys the heroine’s business, causing her to lose her home, because he mistakenly believes she is involved in something illegal. He even realizes he is mistaken, but figures it doesn’t matter because he is going to marry her and take care of her anyway. Aaarghh.

Second the love for the grovel, and many of the favorites others have already mentioned.

Darlene:

she reminds him of how badly he treated her in that moment and to make amends he jumps off the dock into the bay, fully clothed, to embarrass himself.

This was Edith Layton’s ABANDONED BRIDE. As many have noted, the lady could write and *awesome* grovel (and a very very early mainstream romance of a [spoilerific] trope-busting.

Also loved, loved, loved Miles’s apology letter in CIVIL CAMPAIGN.  Totally in alpha character, yet literally sealed in his own blood.

I also have a soft spot for Patricia Veryan’s DEDICATED VILLAIN, which was basically the hero’s book length grovel to just about everyone for his behavior in the previous five books of the series.

And, just to prove I read new books occasionally, Julie James’s PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT has a very short, but very sweet, concluding grovel.

@Kristina- I was so thinking of Jude’s stuff as well.  “Velvet Promise” seems to ring a bell- hero rapes wife on wedding night (which isn’t the biggest issue) but then doesn’t get his ex-mistress to STFU, wife ends up having a miscarriage thanks to an accident caused by said ex…anywho- I recall there being a great deal of remorse communicated in that book and found it quite believable and touching.  There’s also the matter of LOVING heroines that don’t immediately respond with a “omg, you apologized for being a complete and total ass, breaking my heart, treating me like crap and I luuuuurrrrrve you so much NOW that you apologized this ONCE.” 

Johanna Lindsey has also done some wonderful grovel scenes. Can’t recall particular books right now though…

To someone who mentioned Mr. Rochester above- I think his groveling was pretty well noted in that scene with Jane shortly before she left him.  Didn’t work toward an immediate reconciliation but it was still one of the most heart rending scenes I’ve read to date (those are the kind of grovel scenes I like- no quick forgiveness, reconciliation).

Catherine Coulter’s Rebel Bride is still the one that gets me so mad I could spit.  Julien not only commits ultimate betrayal, then he blames HER for how angry he gets, and he never truly apologized to her.  Then he gets to be the HERO at the end because her dad is an evil evil bastard.  Whoooo…

The letter I got from CC basically telling me to get over it after I read it didn’t make it any better; I never write to authors, but I was SO angry…  “That’s how we wrote the books back then” for a re-published edition doesn’t fly as an excuse.

To someone who mentioned Mr. Rochester above- I think his groveling was pretty well noted in that scene with Jane shortly before she left him. 

His apology is sincere and touching, but not good enough for our Jane.  I think that’s the thing I love most about her.  She still loves the bejesus out of Rochester, but the offer isn’t good enough for her.

@Julia- Oh, I think what was best about Mr. Rochester’s apology was that it didn’t work to woo (sp?) her back, however it was one of the best groveling/sincere apology/please forgive me for being an ass scenes ever.  I almost always hate groveling scenes that end in a “You apologized now I take you back”.  Just never strikes me as quite true to life.  Gotta love the heroine more for saying “I love you, but I just can’t….”  Because of how it played out I was in tears and I can’t ask for any more than that in a groveling sequence.  ;)

Same goes with Scarlett- loved her epiphany but gotta admit that Rhett wouldn’t have been the hero he was if he hadn’t given her that lovely line as a response.

Laura (in PA)>

Your thinking of The Return of Rafe Mackade. Just finished it.

Any picks I had have already been taken, sooo…

@hapax—Yes!  That was it.  Thanks for the reminder.

I’m not surprised that I scene I remember that well was written by Layton.  *sigh*

I’ve been going ‘oh, of course’, as I read these comments. Yes to P&P and Persuasion and Slightly Dangerous. There’s also Suzanne Enoch’s The Rake, where the Hero and Heroine both get to grovel.

Another one that could have done with a bit of grovelling is The Spymaster’s Lady, by Joanna Bourne. On the whole I really enjoyed the book. One of the only things that anoys me is that Grey didn’t appologise for his appalling behaviour at the beginning, when he treated Annique with complete contempt. Eventually the penny drops - she wasn’t responsible for the ambush of his men - but does he say sorry for kidnapping, drugging and dominating her? Nooo.

Um… accidentally clicked ‘submit’ before I’d finished. Or edited.

There are some good moments in fantasy as well, like when Fainne sings to Darragh at the end of Child of the Prophecy (not my favourite book, but it’s a good moment). Even better is Fitz’s grovelling to the Fool after The Fight in Robin Hobb’s The Golden Fool. The tension is so hot.

@aadttsm - Fire Song is another of Catherine Coulter’s books that makes me so angry. Graelam (aka the uber-asshat) does every horrible thing imaginable to Kassia, including rape, cheating on her with one of his servants and getting her pregnant (then shipping HER off to marry someone else), accusing Kassia of kidnapping herself and then offering to forgive her if she’ll only says she’s sorry, etc… and then there is a two-second grovel session at the very end of the book. The grovelling isn’t even because he realized he was a douchebag, but because he found out from someone else that he was wrong! Gah!

Jane O, I think the Linda Howard book you referenced is ‘Loving Evangeline’ and there was not near enough groveling to redeem that book.

I think if people mess up because they’re human and admit they’re wrong and apologize and make amends then that works for me. But I want to hear ‘I was wrong’ or some variation of such. A lot of old-school romances were real turn-offs for me because it was like asshattery was the name of the game instead of genuine human faults.

Has anyone read the book Silver Angel by Johanna Lindsey?  There were several parts that could be redeemed (maybe too strong a word) by a good, healthy, floor-licking grovel.  And speaking of rape in romance, wow, this book was chalked full of forced seduction.  Reeeally didn’t do it for me

Double Standards by Judith McNaught

I love the grovel scene.  It makes me cry every time I read it.  The guy really was a total ass.  If I remember correctly, he comes to apologize to the heroine at her dad’s house while she is decorating for Christmas.  She is standing on a ladder and he grovels and basically begs her to take him back by hugging her legs.  Great imagery putting her higher than him.

A lot of old-school romances were real turn-offs for me because it was like asshattery was the name of the game instead of genuine human faults.

Just awesome.

I swear this thread of comments is having me furiously scribble titles down both on my “to read” list and “don’t read” list- the latter I’m totally thinking of actually formulating thanks to the ladies of the bitchery.

I’m an equal opportunity groveller, which means I’m still looking for books where the heroine is allowed to be an asshat and have a great grovel scene.
Is that so wrong?

Hmm put me in as a vote for Darcy. That book kind of defines it all.

Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie is kind of amazing in its uniqueness. Its climax involves both hero and heroine trying to grovel at the same time, all while trying to have hot foreplay/conversation in the living room. Meanwhile, everyone and their cat decides to come over for a visit, knocking on the front door to share their opinion on the groveling/relationship.

And someone here mentioned Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Her books always have first class groveling. In fact her character’s tend to spend most of the book atoning for some major character flaw or another. If one character is really a jerk the other gets a first class tell-off scene before the asshat atones. Natural Born Charmer is one of my favorite stories hands down. Made me cry.

the last few johanna lindsey novels didn’t have anywhere near enough grovelling to cover for all the asshattery, in my opinion. but honestly, between the heroine being such a blatant mary sue and the hero being such a tool (no, i’m sorry, your hungry hungry penis only gets to be an excuse for idiocy for so many pages, and then you get to TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for your behavior), “no choice but seduction” (and the TITLE, omg, are you serious?) was as close as i get to a wallbanger. and then the classic excuse in “captive of my desires”, “but….but she was a pirate! that excuses everything, right? well, ok, her dad’s the pirate, BUT STILL!”

and “devil’s web” by mary balogh? what a letdown. she’d been building up to their relationship for two whole books and then the “hero” spends the whole book being a jerkwad and the heroine does most of the grovelling with all her self-loathing. ugh.

Thanks to Caroline, up above, who mentioned Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale.  Yes, that groveling nearly made me cry too…

In Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series, Jamie and Claire both do a fair amount of groveling, repeatedly throughout the series thus far.

It’s funny this topic has arisen, as yesterday I finished “Captain Fawley’s Innocent Bride” by Annie Burrows and I was quite bothered. I spent the whole book waiting for the big well deserved grovel but in the end what little there was of it was too little too late for me. I enjoyed the plot immensely (love a good angry wounded hero story), as the hero not only has facial scarring, but is missing a hand and a foot. The heroine is a shy plain Jane who is secretly in love with the hero but he has barely noticed her. He behaves appallingly to her, flipping between being a real asshat, who doesn’t want to believe he is wrong about his interpretation of events, to being terribly regretful of his behaviour (stemming from his mistaken assumptions about the heroine), only to keep on doing it! I get that he has issues about his disability, but I really wanted him to realise much sooner how awful he is being to her, even if he doesn’t know she loves him. No one deserves what he does and says. At the end it’s almost worse that she has to tell him how she feels because he never really shows he understands what he has put her though. I really wanted to see that because, if we are expected to like him, we needed to know that he has an honorable core. It is no use presenting an angry wounded hero unless he is shown to be redeemed. I wasn’t convinced.

This reminds me of a story I’ve been trying to find-it was a Silhouette Desire (I think) She’s a columnist in SF (again I think) and she meets this guy at a restaurant she frequents. She writes about him in her column -calls him Sam. Anyway she blows it with him and at the end basically confesses her love/grovels in her column and asks him if he forgives her to meet her at the restaurant-where a ton of people who read the column are hanging out at to see if he forgives her. Can’t for the life of me remember the name :(. but a great example of the WOMAN asking for forgiveness.

I love almost all of Julia Quinn’s books - she’s one of my favorite romantic comedy authors - but the one book that frustrated me so much with its LACK of a grovel was The Duke and I.

Thank you, Steph. I could never get over that one, either. Talk about abuse of trust :mad:

The Ravel Prince also by Hoyt for one of the funniest grovel scenes… if you can call that grovelling. Edward is such a loveable jerk :)

I recently re-read His Every Kiss, by and that has to have one of the best grovel scenes ever, partly because Dylan’s betrayal was so shocking. It was shocking but absolutely real to his character, and his and Grace’s make-up scene was perfect.

Re: Mr Rochester, I love how his grovel is kind of split into two parts, or rather there’s two kinds of atonement there.  The first one, as others have said, is the bit where he comes clean to Jane about his history with Bertha, but at that point, really it doesn’t matter how much he grovels, Jane isn’t staying.  I saw her leaving as having very little to do with her thinking it wasn’t enough, and mostly having to do with her own beliefs and self-respect: she couldn’t stay, because her moral code said that being his mistress was wrong, and if she had, she probably would have ended up hating herself.  Whatever he says, it’s not going to change his marital status.  There’s also an element of “woes, my life has been so hard, that’s why I’ve been a douchebag” which…I’m not sure if it sometimes sounds as if he’s trying to excuse rather than explain.  I really need to reread that bit closely.

Of course then Mr. Rochester gets knocked down a peg before she gets back, and so when they do reunite they’re of more equal status.  No more treating her like a doll and making her unfomfortable with all that finery, and while I have to wonder if he would have gotten bored with her if she’d become his mistress, by the end of the book I think it’s more believeable that he truly values her as she is, and won’t ever get bored with his wife.

God, I love Jane Eyre.

Sorry, that was supposed to be Raven Prince. I should re-read my posts better… And I was going to put down The Serpent Prince but I decided against it. Although it seems Hoyt has a thing for great make-up scenes (complete with great make-up sexxoring *g*)

I read a lot of Rosemary Rogers at far too young an age, and all I can remember about them is one sex scene on a boat and the fact that all of her heroes were just friggin appalling asshats.

Is the hero in Almost Heave a math whiz? Like, he can do sums in his head freakishly fast? And he tells the heroine that in the Scottish marriage vows, the groom says “with my body I thee worship?”

I will read anything if some asshat gets castrated with a chainsaw.
Seriously.

My favorite historic grovel has got to be in Lady Gallant by Suzanne Robinson.  Granted, the hero deserves to be in the wrong – due to a big misunderstanding he treats her awfully.  Once he discovers that she was a spy for Princess Elizabeth instead of Queen Mary, he spends quite a bit of the book doing the grovel, as she doesn’t believe his first batch of apologies (smart woman).  However, in one of my favorite scenes ever, he tries to make a love potion to win her back, and has to harness her puppy to pull the roots out of the ground (it wasn’t supposed to be touched by his hand). I can reread the book just in anticpation of that scene.

I also have a soft spot for Patricia Veryan’s DEDICATED VILLAIN, which was basically the hero’s book length grovel to just about everyone for his behavior in the previous five books of the series.

YES!  loved that book, although if you haven’t read the prior “Golden Chronicles” novels to know all of Roland Otten’s misdeeds, the grovel doesn’t really have the same resonance.

I love the Patricia Veryan novels.  I put her up there with Georgette Heyer, and I wish that some publisher would reissue her Georgians and Regencies.  Yes, they are pretty low on sensuality (I can only remember one instance of premarital sex in all her novels), but they are full of wit and adventure.

Archangel, by Sharon Shinn.

Rachel sends Gabriel away *after* he wises up, makes him wait, then summons him to her and makes him walk (not fly - he’s an angel) to her before they reconcile.

I’m not exactly a groveling fan—I prefer symbolic atonement/equalization—but the one thing that drives me just *nuts* is when the hero *starts* to apologize for being an utter jerk and the heroine cuts him off and tells him no, no, I’m to blame! Usually putting her finger to his lips to shush him, like it wasn’t sickening enough. This happens mostly in categories, for some reason.

BTW, in Layton’s Abandoned Bride, he does not jump into the water to atone—she pushes him. Talk about classic symbolic equalization! ;-)

Seconding everyone’s rec for The Devil in Winter and for Veryan’s Dedicated Villain—I actually thought the story was one of the weaker of her Georgean-era treasure hunt series, but the grovelling was delicious (also, he got beat up real good, too, which is always a plus).  He didn’t actually do much grovelling directly to the heroine, more to the entire rest of the world, but then, his acts of great asshattery were mostly directed against other people in previous books. 

Veryan can always be counted on to put her hero through both the physical and the emotional wringer, which makes her one of my favorite historical authors.  Her heroes are also Terribly Misjudged a lot, which is another delicious emotional/plot trope I can never resist. 

Another delicious grovel scene book I highly recommend is Alex Beecroft’s False Colors.  The entire last third-to-quarter of the book is one long grovel from the hero—John doesn’t do much direct verbal grovelling, because he’s too proud/stubborn/uncomfortable-talking-about-emotions, but his actions speak louder than words (and his first grovel attempt, which notably does not contain an actual appology, gets thrown back in his face in a delicious “take that” moment).  Also, you can watch him change and grow over the course of the book, so his “I’ve changed, I swear; take me back!” doesn’t ring hollow like so many end-of-book sudden about faces by heroes do.  My one complaint is that Alfie rubs his nose in it a little too much—and though you understand his reasons, I’d have liked to get something of a mutal grovel at the end of the book. (“Sorry I waited until we’d sailed to the antartic and back to actually apologize to you.”/ “Yeah, well, sorry I acted like a total bastard to you in the meantime.  I completely misjudged you.”)

captcha is “military95”  Appropriate for discussing an Age of Sail romance

Oh, I love me some grovelling. Though it has to be good enough, and part of a greater change to behaviour/way of thinking or ... meh.

Captain Wentworth. *dreamy sigh*

A little out of the box, but has anyone read 629 miles to Love by Fae Sutherland and Marguerite Labbe? Starts off with Noah essentially abducting Cal with the intention of grovelling enough to make Cal take him back, but Cal wasn’t exactly fautless in their continued seperation, so there’s a but of mutual grovelling, a night spent in a freezing car, and oh it made me cry and cry.

Drawing a blank on other ones I’ve loved, but I’ll be looking out for some of the books mentioned above!

Natasha, I am so disappointed with the lack of groveling with Kiss An Angel. That was a fantastic novel, and it was set up for a great groveling.  When I got to the end I had to read it three times and add my own dialog in order for me not to start yelling at the book. It was more heartbreaking, because I loved the book until the very end.  That was it? I want to write to SEP and ask her to rewrite the ending. Is that rude?  I still love Daisy and Alex.

Last night I watched The Damned United, a British film about soccer mayhem and wild ambition, which had a awesome grovel scene at the end, straight out of Romance. Except it wasn’t the hero and heroine, it was Brian Clough on his knees, begging forgiveness of his long-suffering assistant manager Peter Taylor:

“I apologize, unreservedly, for being a twat. You were right. I can’t do it without you. Please, baby, take me back.”
And then they hug sweetly/romantically/humorously. And Peter says, I know you will screw me again, but I love you anyway. Hahaha!

Don’t you think Kathleen O’Reilly wrote some lovely grovel scenes? Andrew’s take-me-back plea at the end of Beyond Breathless is pretty great.

Brian Clough on his knees, begging forgiveness of his long-suffering assistant manager Peter Taylor:

“I apologize, unreservedly, for being a twat. You were right. I can’t do it without you. Please, baby, take me back.”
And then they hug sweetly/romantically/humorously. And Peter says, I know you will screw me again, but I love you anyway. Hahaha!

And ultimately they did fall out, Taylor died without them reconciling, and Clough spent some more time ‘grovelling in print’ and in speeches, for example his dedication in his autobiography “To Peter. Still miss you badly. You once said: ‘When you get shot of me there won’t be as much laughter in your life’. You were right.”

I think Clough would be a good model for a Hero, actually; strong, stubborn and capable of acting like an idiot, but also eloquent and ultimately appreciative and apologetic!

knew83 - who knew 1983 was the year of Clough and Taylor’s permament fall out?

Wait, let me get my head around this.
Cloughie, apologise? Cloughie, the loudest, rudest, drunkest man in football, apologise? I knew there was a reason I hadn’t seen that film! The man who said, “I wouldn’t say I was the best manager in football, but I was in the top one.”
For a great film featuring the King of Football, (sorry, he still makes my knees weak) “Looking for Eric,” featuring Eric Cantona is a pure delight. No grovelling there, though, so maybe a bit off topic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j852L4afUJs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5AYzOLE3XI

Codeword - anyone59. “I am not just a man. I am Cantona.”

Darlene, if you’re looking for “groveling” by a male protagonist in a Rosemary Rogers’ book, don’t hold your breath. If you recall in The Insiders a brother spanks his sister not once, but twice (on her urging). Men in her novels are of the alpha variety. There won’t be any boo-hooing, sniveling apologies or groveling, unless it’s done by women. That may not be your cup of tea, but I have a friend that loves the stuff. She hates men whining and getting in touch with their inner child in her fantasy world. She wants men who are able to “get women in line” and “whip them into shape”. It is quite funny, because she is one of the most domineering women I’ve ever met and her husband is a delicate little fellow who nods and says “yes, dear” quite frequently. Perhaps she is longing for that one man that can take charge and snatch the reins from her hand, though I can’t imagine that ever happening without a fist fight and a significant loss of blood.

I have found that male writers seem to do groveling, male characters a bit better than writers of the fairer sex. I suspect it’s because most women writers don’t want to “sissy up” their male characters, while male writers have a little more robust comprehension of male characters and are willing to allow them to Alan Alda it up occasionally. Of course that is just the rule, there are some notable and superb exceptions. Annie Proulx does male vulnerability quite well (some might say *too* well, for their taste).  ;-)