Last night I was at a Super Bowl party with my friends (what an exciting game, btw!), and we were talking about the contrasting quarterbacks, Eli Manning and Tom Brady, that they were both athletic, talented attractive men, but that they conveyed very different personalities and reputations (okay, so a lot of that may be media hype, but I'm talking about how our conversation got started here 
). It was half-time, and our conversation turned to books (okay, so the guys went and grazed the buffet table, but the ladies were talking books 
), and specifically, we talked about memorable heroes in the books we read.
One friend mentioned that she had read my August Intrigue, UP AGAINST THE WALL, and that she loved the mystery in it--but that the partner of the hero in that story was an interesting character and would he be getting a story of his own. I smiled. She was talking about Det. Cooper Bellamy, who indeed got his own story the next month in my Intrigue NINE-MONTH PROTECTOR. I said I'd get her a copy so she could read Coop's story. But what I found interesting is that I have gotten so much positive feedback on Coop through fan mail, emails, word of mouth and in reviews.
This has happened to me a few times before--with T. Merle Banning in PARTNER-PROTECTOR, with Mac Taylor in IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE, with AJ Rodriguez in POLICE BUSINESS, with Bryce Martin in FORBIDDEN CAPTOR, with Zachariah Clark in my Blaze AT YOUR COMMAND. So I asked, what is it about these particular heroes that makes them stand out so memorably with readers? (and why can't I create that same magic with every hero I write? 
I certainly try.) They are all very different men--T was a brainy computer geek who matured into a highly logical cold case investigator. Mac was a crime lab technician who was blinded in an explosion. AJ was a street kid turned undercover cop. Bryce was a scarred-up "beast", a soldier turned bounty hunter who was being held hostage in an island prison. Zachariah is a big, badass Marine down to the bone.
My friends mentioned different traits they loved in heroes--a sense of humor (especially self-deprecating humor, or humor in tense situations); a man of honor who stands up to do the right thing; a protector; a smart man; a sexy man; a man in uniform; a tortured soul who comes back to find "light" in his world (I'm going to use that quote, Carolyn!). I suppose we could have gone on and on, but the second half was starting. 
I know what I find most compelling in a hero. What about you? Who are some memorable heroes from your reading experience? And what is it about him/them that makes the hero stand out so that you want to read the story again and share it with your friends? What makes the magic?
Julie Miller
PROTECTIVE INSTINCTS / ARMED AND DEVASTATING--The Precinct: Brotherhood of the Badge mini-series--Intrigue, June/July 08--Both are a Romantic Times Top Pick!
The Intrigue Authors Summer Blog Blitz starts July 1... www.juliemiller.org
Heroes...
Oh boy... I love so many of the characteristics listed above; they're definitely on my list. As to just who would be memorable heroes from my reading experience... whew! That's gonna take some thinking... and some free time.
I will be back!
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kalyko ~ Reading: One of life's little joys and a much needed reward!
Someone who stands up for
Someone who stands up for what is right, no questions asked, but will be there to help you if you screw up. One of my favorite heroes is Ethan Quinn from Nora Roberts' Chesapeake Bay Trilogy, I loved him. I am sure there are more, but whenever I think of a hero, he still sticks in my mind and it has been years.
Cady
TBR--The Born Readers
The memorable ones for me
The memorable ones for me are intense and fiery. And I admit, I've got a soft spot for the arrogant (er, I mean, confident) men.
PUTTING IT TO THE TEST, Harlequin Blaze, April 2008
UNLEASHED, Harlequin Blaze, November 2008
Join me on my blog at www.sizzlingpens.blogspot.com
or my web www.loriborrill.com
Oh lori
You're an alpha lover! Eeeeeeuuuuuuwwww!
"Perhaps what the average member of a group is capable of doesn't limit what a given individual can accomplish." -- Boston Globe, letter to the editor
March's Member of the Month!
I love an alpha with a
I love an alpha with a soft, vulnerable, well-guarded spot inside him (that only the heroine seems to be able to reach) myself. Maybe that's a mostly alpha? Semi-alpha?
Someone asked me who some of my favorite heroes are that I've read. Probably too many to name. But here are a few off the top of my head. (and I know they're memorable because I remember names/titles/authors
)
Possible all-time favorite? Ian MacLaren from Rachel Lee's IMMINENT THUNDER.
Gage Dalton from Rachel Lee's MISS EMMALINE AND THE ARCHANGEL.
Bobby Taylor (TAYLOR'S TEMPTATION) and Wes Skelly (NIGHT WATCH) from Suzanne Brockmann's Tall, Dark & Dangerous series--I loved Bobby and Wes from the moment they stepped onto the pages as supporting characters in the series!
Sloan from Debra Webb's SOLITARY SOLDIER.
John Doe from Debra Webb's JOHN DOE ON HER DOORSTEP.
Major Booker Hayes from Cheryl St. John's LAND OF DREAMS.
Morgan Trayhern from Lindsay McKenna's RETURN OF THE HERO.
Rush Callahan from Debbie Macomber's NAVY WIFE. (loved all the men in that series!)
Morgan Kincaid in Janet Dailey's SIX WHITE HORSES.
Alex Rodriguez from Dana Marton's first SDDU Intrigue.
Edward Rochester from Charlotte Bronte's JANE EYRE.
Pretty much any hero Nancy Warren writes in a Blaze, or Suz Brockmann writes, period, work for me
Like I said, I could go on. I think this tells me that the hero is one of the main elements (if not THE element
) I read for in my romances.
Julie Miller
PROTECTIVE INSTINCTS / ARMED AND DEVASTATING--The Precinct: Brotherhood of the Badge mini-series--Intrigue, June/July 08--Both are a Romantic Times Top Pick!
The Intrigue Authors Summer Blog Blitz starts July 1... www.juliemiller.org
I'm an alpha lover
I've loved all the military men in Cathy Mann's and Julie's books, I love the Brothers and you can't get more alpha than them
) and treat them as brainless gold-diggers,
What I don't like are arrogant supercilious men who disrespect the women in their lives, try and blackmail them into bed (but let's face it that would be the only way they'd have a hope of getting them there
but they don't qualify as "alpha" males, just stupid ones
Dream Team 2008 Challenge blogs
LOL FF. Careful. I
LOL FF. Careful. I might give you Alpha cooties. But really, there's Alpha jerks and there's Alpha cuties. The ones I like are those who flash a lot of charm to get their way. You know, the ones who, when they smile, that little Orbit gum twinkle shoots out?
But what I love about them, is they're almost always paired with the one female on the planet immune and completely unimpressed. Give me a hero who has the looks, the charm, the smile and the car, then put him with a heroine who completely deflates him and makes him beg. That, my Fake Frenchie, is a good read. IMO, of course.
The one that comes to mind because I just recently read it was Dean Robillard, who was in two of Susan Elizabeth Phillips' books, Match Me If You Can, and Natural Born Charmer. In fact, in both books, he was paired with a woman who yawned at his fame (at least outwardly).
Of course, I also like the dark, tortured heroes too. And I have a thing for nerds. Oh, heck. Do I have to narrow my favorites down to just one? hehehe
Lori
PUTTING IT TO THE TEST, Harlequin Blaze, April 2008
UNLEASHED, Harlequin Blaze, November 2008
Join me on my blog at www.sizzlingpens.blogspot.com
or my web www.loriborrill.com
But you said Arrogant before
Then you don't mention arrogant. Arrogant is bad. All the other stuff can be good.
"Perhaps what the average member of a group is capable of doesn't limit what a given individual can accomplish." -- Boston Globe, letter to the editor
March's Member of the Month!
Right, Sadhbh--that's just
Right, Sadhbh--that's just a bully, not an alpha.
Alpha implies heroic to me--heroes may be stubborn, have seen too much of life, and think they know best--but if they can't grow and learn and laugh, then you're right--they're stupid jerks, not heroes. imho
Julie Miller
PROTECTIVE INSTINCTS / ARMED AND DEVASTATING--The Precinct: Brotherhood of the Badge mini-series--Intrigue, June/July 08--Both are a Romantic Times Top Pick!
The Intrigue Authors Summer Blog Blitz starts July 1... www.juliemiller.org
Lori, I love it--alpha
Lori, I love it--alpha cooties! I'm writing that one down
.
Julie Miller
PROTECTIVE INSTINCTS / ARMED AND DEVASTATING--The Precinct: Brotherhood of the Badge mini-series--Intrigue, June/July 08--Both are a Romantic Times Top Pick!
The Intrigue Authors Summer Blog Blitz starts July 1... www.juliemiller.org
Heroic types...
Wow, there are so many wonderful answers; for me a sense of humour is key as well as the willingness to be vulnerable to those that matter to him.
Then there's the ability to laugh at himself, to not take anything too serioulsy...there's a time to be serious and a time to let things go; and a man who is there when he's needed, however he's needed ~ a man who can be depended on.
And the ultimate is a man who is good with his hands.... Not like THAT... c'mon! Well, okay like that too, but I really meant someone that's a handy kinda guy to have around, and... uh never mind, anything that I say seems to have a double meaning.
But you get my drift right?
Some of my favourite heroes? (And I too like Alpha males... but they can't be real jerks... that's a big turnoff!)
Edward Rochester from Jane Eyre was the first character that I "fell in love with"... when I was about 14. He's always been one of the good guys in my book
Colin Eversea in Julie Anne Long's The Perils of Pleasure and Tom Shaughnessy from Ways to be Wicked.
Joe Pike from Robert Crais' Elvis Cole mysteries.
Bryce Martin from Julie Miller's Forbidden Captor and A.J. Rodriguez from Police Business.
I know that there are more... but I'm running on E right now, so that's the best that I can do... for now!
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kalyko ~ Reading: One of life's little joys and a much needed reward!
Ooh, I love this turn of
Ooh, I love this turn of phrase, Kathy--"a man who is there when he's needed, however he's needed"
I agree--that's my favorite kind of hero.
Edward Rochester was one of my first loves, too. I loved that he saw Jane's beauty and brains, and gave his heart and loved her passionately--not easy for a tough guy. And, I love that he wasn't so cocky that he couldn't be unsure of himself and her when she came back to him.
Of course, I love just about any kind of Beauty & the Beast love story. (Probably why Bryce Martin was a favorite of mine to write
)
Julie Miller
PROTECTIVE INSTINCTS / ARMED AND DEVASTATING--The Precinct: Brotherhood of the Badge mini-series--Intrigue, June/July 08--Both are a Romantic Times Top Pick!
The Intrigue Authors Summer Blog Blitz starts July 1... www.juliemiller.org
A Hero
is more than just good deeds. A hero has a code of honor he lives by. A man of honor (or woman), lives with what they do and pays the conscequences.
Robin Hood is considerd a hero, but he ends up getting more people killed, than he saves.
Terri
Got Books?
I love the heroes who are
I love the heroes who are the protectors. I love it when the hero is really into the heroine. I think that is one of the reasons that I adore Coop. That is one of my favorite kinds of hero.
Julie, I love the cover of At Your Command!
Margie :)
Thank you Julie *grin*
... and Beauty and the Beast was probably always my favourite fairy tale... I guess that's why Forbidden Captor struck such a strong note!
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kalyko ~ Reading: One of life's little joys and a much needed reward!
Thanks, Margie! Coop is
Thanks, Margie! Coop is pretty special, isn't he?
Interesting, thought, Terri. I've never been big into the whole Robin Hood story--maybe that's why.
I love a hero (and heroine) who's tough enough to do the right thing, even when it could cost him dearly.
Julie Miller
PROTECTIVE INSTINCTS / ARMED AND DEVASTATING--The Precinct: Brotherhood of the Badge mini-series--Intrigue, June/July 08--Both are a Romantic Times Top Pick!
The Intrigue Authors Summer Blog Blitz starts July 1... www.juliemiller.org