My Hero ... A Contest Entry

I'm reading Nalini Singh's Psy-Changeling Series and she's hosting a contest to celebrate the release of her latest offering:

Mine to Posses



The subject of this contest is our favorite romance hero/es and why we love them. I would have to say that of all the heroes out there my absolute favorites are the tortured alphas. They aren’t always the nicest guys around, but they’ve got their reasons for it. Whether it’s a loveless/abusive upbringing, betrayal or the death of a loved one these guys have had their hearts broken and are going to make sure no one does it again. The world sees them as aloof, cold or even down right heartless beasts and they sometimes go out of their was to prove them right. Then the one meant for them comes into their life and they fall in love ... kicking and screaming the whole way down. Some realize the danger right away and do their best to drive their heroine away, some mistake it for something else and don’t see it coming till it whalops them right upside the head, while others want the love, but don’t know how to go about winning it or keeping it. I know I’m not alone in this because there are several series, many supernatural romance, where all the heroes are tortured in one way or another.

My favorite of these fellows is hard to choose. Off the top of my head, I’d have to say Sebastian, Lord Dain, from Loretta Chase’s Lord of Scoundrels. His father was a cold man who cared more for his estate than anything else. After losing his wife and two young children to illness he chose to marry a young Italian lady who’s noble family had money. He found her to passionate for his taste and, after she gave him an heir, he stopped having “relations” with her. This led to a very tense and unhappy home life for our very young hero. It did not help that he took after his mother’s family in both looks and temperament. He was a sensitive young boy who was very aware that he didn’t look like others and that his father was ever disappointed in him. His mother disappears when his is just 8 years old and all his father will tell him is that his mother is Jezebel. He hates his mother for abandoning him and begins to develop his mistrust of the female species. The fact that his mother would abandon him drives it home in his mind that even a mother could feel no love for someone like him. He is promptly hustled off to school where he is picked on and taunted. He fights back and earns the respect of the bullies and is then determined to be the worst of lot. His first experience with a woman , a whore, at the age of 13 teaches him that with enough money people will deny you nothing and sets out to become as rich as humanly possible.

As an adult Dain has achieved everything he's set out to. He's rich, he's feared, and he lives life on his terms. Knowing that his father prizes his family’s title and reputation, Dain has set out to be the biggest blot on the family name that he can be. He spends his time drinking, gambling and whoring, when he’s not collecting antiques and works of art or making loads of money. His one foray into decent society led him into the hands of a gold digger and he then swore off anything to do with women who are not professionals at all cost. He avoids ladies like the plague. He believes himself ugly, evil, and unlovable and has built a shell around himself that is all those things and unapologizing about it.

Through his fall we get to see inside him, which is what draws me most about this type of hero's story line. Inside Dain is a lonely little boy who's only ever wanted to be loved and shown some affection. While he falls in love we get to see him learn to accept himself and see himself as worthy of being loved. Really, though, my favorite parts are the times where his lady shows him some affection and he is so socked and thrown off balance that he goes into a bit of a tailspin. Those are the moments that touch me most. Damn, I think I'm going to have to go read it again now!

Others I am partial to off the top of my head are: Zsadist (J.R. Ward’s Lover Awakened), Asterius (P.C. Cast’s Goddess of the Rose), Hades (P.C. Cast’s Goddess of Spring), Connor McCabe (Patti O’Shea’s Through a Crimson Veil), and Zarek (Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dance with the Devil).

The Bride Finder

Author: Susan Carroll

Anatole St. Legere is a clairvoyant and telekinetic, which he sees as a curse. As a child his mother was freaked out by his abilities and wanted nothing to do with him. Then one day he tried to cheer her by picking her a bouquet of flowers. Since she didn't want him near, he floated the flowers to her. She lost it and threw a glass vase at the poor boy and traumatized him for life. Lately he has been seeing visions of a flame haired woman who will bring about his death. So when he sends out the Bride Finder, who is the only one who can choose a bride for a St. Legere man without his being cursed to a life of misery and early death, he asks him for a simple, sturdy, placid woman with anything but red hair. The Bride finder, Reverend Septimus Fitzleger, finds the bride that is fated for Anatole. Unfortunately for Anatole she is a dainty noble woman with flaming red hair.

Madeline Breton arrives at Anatole's castle expecting a warm welcome from the Prince Charming that Reverend Fitzleger led her to believe she was going to marry. When her party shows up at his gloomy castle she finds that, not only is he not at home, but his people won't let her in. She's worn his miniature around her neck, the portrait of a 15 year old Anatole that made him look like some soulful poetic prince, and dreamed of meeting him, but the man she meets large, rugged and rough. He rides in and mistakenly grabs up her maid, whom is everything Anatole asked for, and is then heartily disappointed when he realizes Madeline is his bride. Though she is a bit frightened of him, and feels terribly rejected by him, she chooses to make the best of things and sets herself to be a good wife to him.

Anatole finds himself in a though situation. He marries his wife and pledges himself to her for eternity, a vow that is magically enforced for the men of his family, and while he's feeling the pull that St. Legere men are supposed to feel toward their mates, his new bride seems not to be feeling the great passion that St. Legere brides are supposed to feel. He spends most of the story wooing his bride, or learning to, and trying to keep her in the dark about his "gifts" and the family ghost, Prospero.

There is also some drama in the way of a possibly evil cousin and the family's ancient rivals, the Mortmains, whom everyone thought wiped out.


I really loved this story, partly, I think, because I could relate so well to Anatole. I really felt for Anatole who felt like he was an unlovable freak thanks to his mother, with some help from his father, and who thought that his new redheaded bride would be the death of him, literally. He felt his gifts were curses and was at odds with Prospero, his ghostly ancestor who really only wanted his descendants to find love and happiness. I love watching him learn how to win over his new wife, which would have cost him less effort had he not been so obviously disappointed at the sight of her upon their first meeting, and come to terms with himself. I liked that Madeline did not give up easily on Anatole and that she helped him accept his gifts and make peace with Prospero. She helped him realize that his mother was messed up and that just because she couldn't deal with him it didn't mean that he was unlovable or wrongly made.

Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down

Anthology


Captivated By You - Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon

Rhea Stevenson is pretty hot, but she's also a by the book girl, and a little uptight. She's secretly crazy about Ace, one of her fellow Bureau of American Defense (B.A.D.) agents. Since he's a womanizer and she's set on following the "no office romance" rule, she acts as if she hates him and gives him the cold shoulder/evil eye every chance she gets. Unfortunately she's been assigned to work a case with him that has her posing as a dominatrix at an exclusive club to catch a terrorist.

Ace Krux has got it bad for Rhea, but she hates him and he doesn't know why. Fortunately he's maneuvered her into working a case with him that will involve her in skimpy outfits practicing her dominatrix skills on him. He's hoping that his charm and their near nudity will result in a little action. His prayers are answered and things heat up pretty quickly between them after she ties him down. Only now Ace isn't so sure he likes the idea of sending her into a room alone with a terrorist.


The characters weren't terribly well developed, but we did catch small glimpses into what made them who they are, and that made the romance more believable. I like the lengths that Ace was willing to go to in order to keep Rhea safe.


Promise Me Forever - Author: Melanie George

Ten years ago Savannah Harper and Donovan Jerricho were crazy in love, but with his pro-football career taking off there was a lot of strain on their relationship and when a misunderstanding causes Donovan to believe that Savannah has slept with one of his friend, they break up and Donovan leaves town without looking back. Savannah is pregnant, a fact that Donovan knows nothing about, and never will if she has anything to say about it. Now Savannah, a single mom to a precocious little girl, has finally agreed to marry Jake, her boyfriend of two years. Only, a few days before her wedding, Donovan Jerricho blows back into town stirring up feelings she thought were dead. They are both angry and bitter about the past, but can't help feeling that pull towards each other. Donovan learns the truth about that old misunderstanding and realizes that he made a big mistake and threw away the only woman he ever loved, but can he convince her of that before she ties the knot? He just might if she gave him had the chance, but since she won't he resorts to drastic measures and kidnaps her and plans to hold her hostage in their old love nest until she hears him out. And when will she tell him that Reese is his daughter?


I'm not sure how I felt about this story. He resorted to kidnapping, which was kind of creepy, but he couldn't find it in him to hold her. It bothered me that Savannah was willing to marry Jake after she realized that she still loved Donovan and that she loved him more than Jake. It bothers me that such a sweet stand up sort of guy would marry someone who didn't love him wholeheartedly and slept with her ex shortly before the wedding. Seriously, doc, have a little self-respect! Nice is one thing, doormat is something else all together! I hated that Savannah didn't have the guts to let Donovan know that he had a child and that she didn't tell her kid who her father was.


Hunter's Right - Author: Jaid Black

Corporal Ronda Tipton, U.S Army, is excited about her new assignment. She's going to be stationed at a research base in the Arctic. Unfortunately, her helicopter crashes somewhere in the Arctic Circle and she is the only survivor. Hoping that she was somewhere near the base when the chopper crashed, she heads out on foot. When she finds what appears to be a door in the side of a mountain, she thinks her prayers have been answered. She soon finds that she was mistaken as she stumbles upon the hidden Viking civilization of New Sweden that has thrived underground for hundreds of years. She is discovered and chased by giant Viking men. She nearly escapes, but is caught by Lord Nikolas Ericsson, a cousin to the King and a revolutionary. He believes she is a military spy and questions her about how she came to New Sweden. When he learns she is telling the truth about the accident, she is sent off the the bride auctions. The auctions were once a respected tradition, but the Kings corruption has turned it into something of a sex slave auction where the men fondle the women who are brought before them naked and shackled. When it's Ronda's turn up on the block she takes serious offense to being manhandled and uses her martial skills to smack down the offenders and get free. Just as all hell is breaking loose Nikolas claims Hunter's Right, the law that says a man may keep a woman he has captured. Nikolas did not intend to marry until after the revolution, but not only did Ronda make him hot, she was a fighter and he hated to see her punished or handed over to one of the Kings vile friends. Ronda believes she must escape and find the base so that she can inform the military of what is going in this secret world, but she soon finds herself drawn to Nikolas. Will she choose freedom or love?

The sexual stuff is hot ... really hot, thought this whole chains and aphrodisiacs stuff kind of squicks me. I really enjoyed the characters and though the whole women as property thing doesn't appeal to me overly much, I found myself very intrigues by their world and most especially that prophecy of theirs. I've read one other novella and Deep, Dark & Dangerous which were both set in New Sweden and I have to say, I'm looking forward to more.

Anyone But You

Author: Jennifer Cruise

Nina Askew married a professional man and put her career on hold for him. She had an expensive house and an upscale lifestyle. Then she got fed up with the married life, living for someone else and having all her decisions made for her. So, now, six months after her divorce, she's sold the big house, moved into a cozy apartment, and started working as an editor again. Only Nina just turned forty and isn't dealing well with it. All she needs is a perky little puppy to cheer her up and keep her company. Enter Fred, part basset hound, part beagle, and on his last day of life. He's not a puppy and he's not perky, but Nina just can't leave him behind knowing she's his last chance. Neither Nina or Fred are too sure about each other at first, but it doesn't take Nina long to figure out that Fred was just what she needed.

Dr. Alex Moore, the thirty year old hottie who's apartment is right below Nina's, has just broken up with Debbie, another in a long line of girlfriends looking to marry a doctor and create a happy family. The problem is Alex doesn't want a family. His family is a dysfunctional disaster. Everyone's a dr, his dad's an alcoholic cardiologist, his stepmom is an recovering speed addict thoracic surgeon, his often engaged half-sister is an oncologist, and his serial dating semi-alcoholic half-brother is a gynecologist and they're putting pressure on him to specialize instead of working in the ER, where he's happy. Then Fred pops in his window and he meets Nina. There's an instant attraction that neither of them is too keen to explore right away. After a failed date, where Nina comes to the rescue, Alex decides he'd really like to get to know Nina better. So he invites himself up to her apartment to watch movies. This becomes a routine and they become fast friends. Unfortunately for Alex, he wants a whole lot more. He's afraid if he makes a move he'll lose what he has with Nina because he's pretty sure Nina sees him as an immature kid. Now he's rethinking his whole career. He's thinking of taking his dad up on a cardiology position so that he'll have money and Nina will see he's getting somewhere. But is that what Nina really wants?

Nina's determined to keep her relationship with Alex strictly platonic. Sure, she thinks about him a lot and wonders what it would be like to be with him, but she doesn't see it going anywhere. Alex is young enough to want marriage and a family, while she's been there, done that, and not going back again. She's also not to keen on showing her forty year old body off to a thirty year old man who's used to dating twenty year olds. When Alex makes his move, Nina decides to go for it, but is he looking for more than she's got to give?

I'll lead off by saying that I liked both lead characters a lot. They seemed very real and like they were good people. I really loved Alex, even when he went a little crazy there and you kind of wanted to smack him upside the head so that he's just snap out of it. He was just so cute ... him and his Daffy Duck shorts. His brother Max was also highly lovable and I hope to see him hook up with Nina's friend Charity in another book. They seemed to hate each other on sight, but I think there might be something there. Nina was great, but I though the whole incredibra issue was flat out ridiculous! I'm thirty and have had a couple of kids, so the girls aren't where they used to be, but to get that uptight over having your lover see you nekkid? If you can't stand for them to see you sans clothing, then you probably aren't ready to be sleeping with them. Her insecurities were a little overplayed, I think. She just mentioned her forty year old body one too many times for me.

Love is Blind

Author: Lynsay Sands

Lady Clarissa Cambray is near sighted and blind as a bat without her glasses. So what does her "helpful" stepmother do? Basically tells her that "Guys don't make passes at girls who wear glasses." and when Clarissa insists on wearing them stepmommy dearest breaks them. She then sets Clarissa loose on the ton where she repeatedly causes disasters, like dropping food on herself, tripping, stomping on toes, mistaking people's laps for tables and burning their "piffles" with hot tea, and then she sets one suitor's wig on fire. This leads to stepmommy making her sit and do absolutely nothing during parties. She's miserable, she's bored and she's very aware that the ton laughs at her and calls her Clumsy Clarissa behind their fans. She doesn't know that they think she won't wear glasses for the sake of vanity.

Enter the Earl of Mowbray. Adrian Montfort, once thought one of the handsomest men of the ton and quite the rakehell, returned from the war a then years ago with a scar down the side of his face that had the young ladies swooning to prove their delicacy. That and a run in with one twisted lady, who pretended to like him when she just wanted to bed a freak, had our hero rusticating for a decade. Now he's back in town and still feeling the freak. His cousin, having been a victim of one of Clarissa's nearsighted accidents, warns him to steer clear, but Adrian is intrigued. The though of spending some time with a woman who might not cringe at the prospect of talking to him, much less dancing, holds a lot of appeal. He soon finds himself laughing and smiling more in a few minutes with Clarissa than he has in the last ten years. They both know right off that they'd like to spend more time together, but, of course, stepmom doesn't want them to get together. Adrian, not being someone to let something he wants slip away, enlists his family to help sneak her out to meet him. They're only too happy to do it since Adrian seems so happy and hopeful.

Some strange "accidents" have been happening to Clarissa and after finding her floating face down in a fountain with a bump on her head, having been lured out to the garden by a false note, Adrian suspects someone is trying to kill her. He waits outside her window so he can sneak in and talk to her about these accidents, but once he's in her bedroom, things take a turn for the naughty. When a fire breaks out right outside Clarissa's bedroom, Adrian gets her out the second story window and down to the ground, where the servants find them in less than perfectly clothed condition. Adrian asks for her hand and wedding plans are under way. There's just a few of things bothering our couple. Adrian is afraid that when she gets her glasses back she'll be disgusted by the sight of him and hate him. He's also worried about who might be trying to kill his wife-to-be. Clarissa is afraid that when he sees her with her glasses he'll think her ugly and she'll lose any chance that he might love her.

I'll come out right up front and state that I have a weakness for Lynsay Sands. It's just something about the way she writes her heroines. They're not what most people would consider perfect, but they end up being just that for our heroes. I know that her historicals have modern language in them and it tends to catch your eye when you're reading, but for some reason, it doesn't really bother me. I know the plot isn't spectacularly original, but I still found it enjoyable. The writing was definitely there and I really wanted Adrian to be happy at the ending of it all. I really liked his character. It was nice to see a hero who wasn't all alpha and swashbucklish. I'm a sucker for a hero who doesn't know what a great catch he is and is a bit insecure in his wooing. I see the alpha type much more often, so this type of her is a bit of a treat for me. I think Clarissa level of insecurity about her glasses was a bit overdone. I mean she was afraid the guy would suddenly think her ugly and not the least bit lovable because of a pair of glasses. If he's so shallow that a removable pair of glasses turns him off you permanently, then he is not a man you want to marry. I mean, if the glasses put him off that badly, what'll happen when she gains ten or fifteen pound? What about her body after she's had a kid or two? Know what I'm saying?

Tall, Dark & Dead

Author: Tate Hallaway

The Order of Eustice is the Vatican's anti-witch hit squad. Yes, they take "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." very literally. Garnet Lacey was part of a coven until the one day she showed up late. She walks in expecting to get ribbed for being late and instead finds her entire coven dead and the Vatican's Order performing Last Rites. In a moment of rage she calls Lilith to her and becomes the goddesses avatar. She slaughters the Order's hit squad and, with the help of her vampire ex-boyfriend, hides the bodies. She leaves town and settles in . She's running an occult store and masquerading as a goth. Then one day Sebastian Von Traum walks into her life and it's trouble all over again.

Sebastian is dead, has been for years. He was an alchemist and became a vampire by drinking a potion. He's not your average vampire either. He can walk in the daylight and , but he's got one major problem. After all these years the potion is failing and unless he can work the kinks out in his potion, he may end up dead for good. To top it off, the Order is after Sebastian. Seems they think that little potion of his might come in handy and though they don't usually hunt vampires, they're willing to make an exception, since he's also an alchemist. Garnet's ex-boyfriend vamp comes into town, confusing things between Garnet and Sebastian. Then there is , Sebastian's post-death damphyr son who's working with the order to bring down his father. Let us not forget Lilith, who's still inside Garnet and looking to take control over Garnet's body permanently. Can she and Sebastian work together to stay alive or will the forces aligned against them be too much for a failing vampire and a solitary witch?

I liked it, I really did, but Garnet got on my nerves with her feeding issues. I mean, come on, if you're going to date a vampire you will either have to provide sustenance or not be uptight about them getting it elsewhere. Either deal with that or stop dating guys that need to feed off other people! Sebastian was interesting, but I didn't feel like we got to know him much. I know we got a lot of info on him, but it was like reading a list of facts about someone. You know? No personal connection. I kind of liked Matyas. I know he was sort of supposed to be one of the bad guys and he tended to be a jerk, but he had good reasons for feeling the way he did and doing the things he did. He was wrong, yeah, but I couldn't dislike him for it. I felt bad for Phillip too. He comes to Garnet because he's hit hard times, and because he still has feelings for her, only to find her hooked up with a day walking vampire who fed off her when she wouldn't let him. As if that weren't enough, the poor guy is having to basically prostitute himself, he's in such dire straights. The ending left a lot of things open, so I'm thinking we're being set up for a series, a trilogy at least. I don't know how I feel about that. I love series books but I have it when the individual books in the series are left too open ended. Leaves me unsatisfied and not too sure if I want more. Give me some kind of resolution on something!

Heaven In Your Eyes

Author: Judi McCoy

Anne McAllister is married to an uptight controlling jerk. They met in college, where Annie was a criminal justice major with plans of joining law enforcement. All that went out the window when she married Tom. She became his living Barbie doll. Wore her hair the way he wanted, wore the clothes he chose, ate what he ordered for her and basically lived her life to please him. Just as Anne is getting fed up and ready to shake things up Tom dies. Tom somehow manages not to go to Hell or Purgatory, but gets a chance to redeem himself by helping Annie find true love. You see, Annie was supposed to go on to law enforcement training, where she would have met her soulmate, Andrew Falcone, and had a HEA ... only that didn't happen because she met and married Tom before she ever made it that far. So Tom will have to hop into another body, a la Heaven Can Wait, and help Annie find the perfect man for her.

Fast forward six years after Tom's death and Annie's is now a U.S. Marshal and working her first Assignment with the Witness Protection Program. Her charge is one Dominic Viglioni, a mob guy turned informant, who doesn't have long to live. After putting the moves on Annie, during a one-on-one game of hoops, Viglioni is shot by rogue marshals and Tom moves in. They go on the run and soon after Annie, and Tom, figure out that Dominic Viglioni is no snitch. He's an undercover agent trying to draw out dirty marshals and his real name? Yup, you guessed it! Andrew Falcone. So now Tom, who's got pieces of Falcone's personality and memories floating around in his head, is trying to protect Annie until they catch the bad guys. Unfortunately, spending so much time together is proving a hard temptation for Tom to fight. He's finding he likes this new Annie a lot better than the one he tried to make her into. How can he find her a husband when he's falling in love with her all over again? Meanwhile, Annie's terribly attracted to Flacone and a little weirded out by some of his familiar habits. Will she find happiness with her ex in her soulmates body or will the bad guys kill them before she has a chance to find out?

I dunno, I really enjoyed Judi McCoy's Wanted books and Almost a Goddess was a fun, but I just can't like Tom enough to want to see him happy with Annie ... and I'm feeling really bad for Andrew Falcone. Yeah, he was a good guy and went to heaven when he died, but come on! Because Tom's guiding angel didn't do her job Falcone got cheated out of conecting with his soulmate, a loving marriage, kids and the many more years of life he would have lived had he been married and not taken that fatal assignment! WTH?! He deserves better. Tom? Yeah, his parents sucked. I get that. It still doesn't change the fact that he made his wife miserable for years. And so he gets what? A hot new body, many years of life after his expiration date, and a second chance at the marriage he screwed up the first time around? Hello?! Anyone else annoyed by this? And, Annie? Why the hell would she even consider hooking up with a guy that reminds her so much of a man that made her life miserable? Seriously!

The writing was there, and there were some good scenes, but I just couldn't get past my issue with the characters to really enjoy the book.