Heros

In college we had a saying, we wanted a man " who could chop wood."  While I had many friends who were considered, "metro" when it came down to it, I wanted a man who could chop wood, you know, be utterly masculine.  No frilly expensive perfume and manicured nails.  There is nothing wrong with the utterly "metro" guy, but when we girls dream about our knight in shining armor, we dream of someone fierce, powerful, assertive and commanding.  The romantic in us also desires a considerate gentleman who is concerned more for damsels welfare more than his own, a selfless attitude.  Some of my favorite whispers from a book come from lines spoken from the utterly masculine hero who finds himself undone by the female lead character.  There is something so amazing God has done between men and women in their blooming relationships.  The tall dark and handsome become even more alluring when they find they have a chink in their armor, love.  What's even better is when they find that "chink" actually makes them stronger.  It's great when they fight it, makes a great storyline, but it's even better when they realize how futile it is to fight love, and even better when they realize they don't want to.  A few of my favorite heros come from some obscure books.  "California Chances" is one of my favorite books because of the heros within those pages.  The book is by Kathy and Kelly Hake as well as Tracy Bateman.  There are three different stories within the book and each hero is a brother of the same family.  I love family books, or legacy, where you see what happens after the story has ended.  But I digress, I love these books because the man is a rugged California Rancher during the mid 1800s who, in each story, is not only very strong in character and personality, but also very suprised by love and how it finds them.  I love it when I can totally floor my husband, it doesn't happen often but it is a great feeling when I can!  That is a great element in these books. 

Another book where I love the hero is Lisa T. Bergren's "Waterfall"series.  The first time I read her first book, "Waterfall" I had a huge grin and didn't realize I hadn't moved in a few hours till my feet started to go numb. The hero, Marcello, makes my heart sing.  He is an actual knight in Mideval Italy and swordfights, all while fighting his attraction to Gabrella who accidently went back in time and now must find her sister who traveled with her.  I have MANY whispers from this book, and it is my "go to" book when I need a good read.  Her next book "Cascade" was an immediate buy after I finished "Waterfall" and I stayed up till 2am finishing it.  Much to my absolute horror, her final book wouldn't come out for 10 days when I had finished "Cascade." Although it was a good thing. I would have stayed up all night had it been available for purchase!  "Torrent" the third book in the series had my head spinning and honestly, it is my favorite book to this day.  All because of the hero.  The hero can make or break a book.  The hero is the backbone to each good romance, and without a strong hero, your book is weak and watered down.  Even if your book is about a Heroine, you need the strong hero compliment to make the mix perfect.  What type of hero do you go for?