THE BEST HEROES ARE….

“Hi, my name is Ednah and I’m a tortured-hero addict.” 

Say, “Hi” then share your addiction(s).

Seriously, what type of heroes rocks your world?  Is it the flirt? The perfect and charming one? The serious, meticulous kind? The cocky bad boy?  The nerdy hunk? The tortured brooder?

I remember a critique partner kept pushing me to read J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood books. I resisted for so long but finally succumbed.

For months she raved about her favorite hero. All she talked about was Hollywood—I can’t remember his name now, but if you’ve read the series, you know the one. He’s the gorgeous hunk with multi-shaded blond hair.  She raved about how hot he was, gorgeous and charming…everything she loved in a hero.

When I finished four of the books, I only had one word for her—Zsadist. Boy, talk about a tortured hero. I loved Z before I read his story.  Cried when I read it. And he spoiled the rest of the series for me.  Okay, he didn’t exactly do that.  After I read the ghost wife book, my interest in the series tapered off.

Anyway, this post is not about Ward’s BDB series. It’s about heroes.  What we like in our heroes and what we don’t.  Look at TV characters we love, the programs we tune in to watch every week. I’m talking about Dr. House, White Collar, Monk…. I may like smart, nerdy guys (I love The Big Bang Theory), but my favorite guys are the tortured heroes.  The White Collar guy…what can I say? He’s so in love with his Kate he can’t see straight.  Monk and his dead wife.  House…why is House tortured?  He’s so complex every time I think I’ve figured him out, he surprises me.

Why tortured heroes? I like to see them come out that dark place and into the light, watch them become transformed by the right woman.  They tend to resist falling in love the hardest, yet they long to be loved the most. When such a man lets a woman in, you know it’s for keeps, ladies.  You got him for EVER.

So in my books, I always try to make a hero as imperfect as I possibly can and tortured. If it’s not family issues, it’s personal ones.  Ron, in SLOW BURN, is from a wealthy family, but it’s as dysfunctional as they come. They have secrets, most of them not good. They’re not big on touchy-feely moments either, so he has a lot to learn about trust and love.  Then there’s the tortured part, the guilt he carries with him that only adds to his character. 

In MINE UNTIL DAWN, my hero has it worse—dealing with rejection from his father. Part of the time he wishes the old man would stay out of his life the other part he wants his approval. 

In KISS ME CRAZY, my hero was seriously hurt in the past and when that past comes back to haunt him, it almost costs him the woman he loves. So there, I admit it—tortured heroes are my weakness.  Share your favorite heroes.