Long Suffering Heroes

How do you feel about the long suffering hero in a romance novel? I’ve just finished two books. The first following The Quest was BROKEN WING by Judith James and the second was SEDUCE ME AT SUNRISE by Lisa Kleypas.

Both books though very different in subject matter struck me as similar in the fact that they both contained the Long Suffering Hero and that got me think if I really enjoyed the suffering hero as a character or do I go for more of “the rake” or “the bad boy”? Now I know on some level every effective character has to have some flaw or thing that he suffers over or he’s just flat. What I’m talking about here is the hero that feels he’s just so bad that he’s no good for the heroine or that super sweet do-gooder. Please don’t give me that guy. I’d just hurt him.

I’ll start with BROKEN WING and Kristie’s Ramblings on Romance Quest. This was an interesting book for me to get my head and heart around.

Without a doubt I enjoyed it. A lot. I was pulled in right away and totally engaged. The author takes the tough subject matter of child prostitution and marries it with an innocent blossoming love story and an epic adventure. The love letters that she writes in the book are some of the most beautiful pages I have read in a long time. But for me I was frustrated by the very long suffering hero and the heroine that suffered right along with him. I wanted someone to stand up and be strong and fight. That said, I would still recommend the book. It’s an interesting love story that I’m still thinking about today. The historal detail is amazing. So am I a Quester? Kristie what do you think?

Now in SEDUCE ME AT SUNRISE we have another long suffering hero that can’t get his head out of the past. First off, I loved this sexy book. But much like the hero in BROKEN WING this hero, Kev, feels that he’s not fit to lick the heroine’s boots. Though he doesn’t mind trying to lick at other parts of her. At times I wanted to reach though the pages and shake him too which I guess says something great for the authors writing. But this hero never got too deep in his sorrow that I put the book down. He was a fighter and filled with non-stop passion. Totally tortured, but acting a bit of a rake. But what pulled it out for me with this book was that the heroine didn’t fall into The Long Suffering Hero trap. She upped the ante and refused to suffer with him. She challenged him and fought against him to pull him out of his shell.

So I guess I can take a long suffering hero if he’s got enough bad boy in him to be interesting and strong or the heroine has enough fight in her to challenge him.

What do you all think about long suffering heroes? Are you Team Ashley or Team Rhett? I think you know where I stand.
Um, sorry about that. I just can’t get over Twilight.

Have a great weekend!

Best,
Kwana