I love alpha heroes. Not abusive or misogynist “heroesâ€, but the sweep ‘em off their feet, take all of the oxygen out of the room male. The problem: can the heroine match him?
Sometimes, I think this is the major problem with romances, particularly contemporary romances.
In a historical, you can more easily accept a sweet young innocent as a heroine. Two hundred years ago (for Regency times), that was more of the norm. Also, historicals seem to allow the reader more of the luxury to suspend reality—it’s a whole other world. But contemporaries are set in a world we know. It is harder to accept a heroine who we must judge against our own day by day perceptions.
That judgment tends to be harsh. Why? In real life, we may (and do) stupid things on a regular basis. But we want the heroine to be better than that, we want to see her overcome problems and thus triumph with her. So while we might go downstairs to see what the noise is (no matter how many times we’ve seen Halloween or Scream), we want the heroine to do better—or if it’s a Bombshell, at least be armed to the hilt. Unfortunately, too often, the heroine charged down those stairs with no thought of danger. Why should she be worried, she has the big strong hero to rescue her?
One of the more popular romantic suspense novels of last year dealt with an undercover agent, who was beyond dark. He was absolutely riddled with angst and sexuality. I loved him. But the heroine he was matched with was a naïve waif who stumbled into a situation she was unprepared for. I couldn’t finish the book. The hero and heroine were so mismatched, I couldn’t find the romance. I never had a feeling they would have a happily ever after.
To me, the heroine must have her own strength. She must be a woman who does not need a man to complete her, but wants a man to be her compliment. Her strength should be his weakness; his strength should be her weakness. It is the yin and yang that should be the force that pushes forth the relationship.
