“Where have all good men gone, and where
are all the gods?
Where’s the street-wise Hercules to fight
the rising odds?”
Nothing like a good man to make a woman go wild.
A good man?!? Who spiked my chocolate milk? No woman goes
wild for a “good” man. Nope. Only bad boys make us pant, roar, and rip our
bodices.
One minor problem: The quintessential Bad Boy smokes, dips, and
chews and sleeps with any gal or two. Yuck. Call me a prude, but smoking,
dipping, and chewing makes a man’s mouth and lungs look like meatloaf. Blech.
“It’s gonna take a superman to sweep me
off my feet.”
At one time or another we wanted to be Lois on the balcony or Mary
Jane braless in a skimpy shirt in the rain. Okay, maybe not the braless part
because we're good Christian girls. But, ahhh, the thrill of the rescue and the
magic carpet ride.
Only one minor problem: You can’t count on Superhero--any
more than Bad Boy--to be home with your kids have the flu or the toilet is
clogged because he’s always off saving the freakin’ world. Face it. Lex Luther
and Doc Ock just aren’t gonna pause in their quest for total world
domination while your SuperSweetheart empties the litterbox. So you’re stuck
with the poopy deed. How romantic.
I know many a romance reader and writer insist Bad Boys will
always be the ultimate romantic heroes because they’re always redeemable by the
“right woman,” but, for me, having the right heroine isn’t enough to compensate
for an unrespectable hero. Let Bad Boy keep his meatloaf lungs and mouth to
himself and Debbie and all the guys she did in Dallas. The truth is the Bad Boy
who lived his life sampling the world’s buffet of women isn’t a hero.
He’s a cliché.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think a guy has to be a virgin to be a
romance novel--or real life--hero, either. But a true Bad Boy is more than an
Iron Chef of Sex.
We all have our idea of the perfect guy, the perfect hero, the
perfect Mr. Romance. Only a hero is more than an archetype. He is more
than a “caricature” of masculinity. A hero is more than a sexy body with a sexy
grin and a sexy voice.
“He’s gotta be larger than life.”
A hero--no matter his archetype or appearance--is dangerous to
somebody. His very existence threatens, intimidates, and costs somebody
something.
He can’t be ignored.
He won’t be ignored.
Maximus, William Wallace, Neo, Aragorn, Jack Dawson, Jake Sully,
Robert Parr, Buddy.
Yes, I mean Buddy from Elf.
He was dangerous to the men and women who didn’t believe in Santa, who didn’t
believe that inside each person was someone special. His joy pushed people
outside their status quo and made a positive difference. Only a dangerous man
can do that.
A hero--no matter his archetype or appearance--isn’t dangerous to
the heroine. Oh, he definitely destroys her peace of
mind, yet he isn’t a physical threat. His very existence confuses, frustrates,
and adds something to her life. The poor dear can’t ignore him no matter how
determined she is to try, and then we the readers are screaming at him for
driving her crazy and screaming at her to give him a heavier dose of his own
medicine. Make him suffer, lass, make him suffer! You go, Princess Fiona!
So you turn the page hoping for the first kiss and the second one
and the third because you know the kisses will come. Why?
A hero--no matter his archetype and appearance--is devoted to the
heroine. But since all men are not all alike, how he shows his devotion
depends on who he is. A white knight will save his damsel’s life. The
hunk-next-door will baby-sit. A hero’s devotion can be as simple as taking her
out to dinner after a long day’s work or more complicated like helping her
realize she’s a good mother even if her house is never clean and her son has an
affinity for peeing in the flower garden.
“Somewhere after midnight,
in my wildest fantasy…
there’s someone reaching back for me”
“We read romance novels not for the handsome heroes, not for the
steamy loves scenes, but for the involvement of the man in the relationship.”
~Vicki Lewis Thompson, author of NERD IN SHINING ARMOR
A man actively involved in the relationship will make his woman go
wild. In a heroine’s wildest fantasy, her hero is reaching for her. And through
the wind, the chill, the rain, the storm, and the flood, he will be there for
her. That’s what defines a romance.
So to you authors out there I say, if you want your Hero (your Bad
Boy, your Good Man, your Nerd) to be a real man, make him dangerous. And give
him a battle to fight. He’ll love you for it. Your heroine will love you for
it.
Most of all, your readers will love
you--and him--for it.
My hero, James Maxwell Kirkland, is an Egyptologist who loves the life
of an excavator and conservator, spending half his year in Egypt, the other
half in scholarly pursuits. He’s made the discovery of a lifetime, but it comes
with strings attached. He must curate an exhibit of his find at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art.
My heroine, Alicia Davidson, is the only child and heir of the Davidson
Department Store fortune and is expected to marry well. But in her heart, all
she longs for is to become an artist…and to find real love. She escapes her
mother’s machinations by going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art each day to
draw and paint.
Erica Vetsch is a transplanted Kansan now
residing in Minnesota. She loves history and romance, and is blessed to be able
to combine the two by writing historical romances. Whenever she’s not immersed
in fictional worlds, she’s the company bookkeeper for the family
lumber business, mother of two, wife to a man who is her total opposite
and soul-mate, and avid museum patron.
BROKEN UMBRELLAS
EMMA BROCH STUART loves people and listening to
their stories. Her heart aches for the broken and she longs to walk
hand-in-hand with them through their storm. Although life's challenges and
hardships have matured her in ways she never imagined, she's decided there are
some things she will never grow out of: decorating Valentine boxes, being
addicted to cherry limeades, and loving her grandchildren. She recently
returned to the Midwest after living in Europe for fourteen years.
The Most Eligible Bachelor Romance Collection: Nine Historical Novellas Celebrate Marrying for All the Right Reasons
