Comments on Book Binge: Guest Author Jenna Petersen Blogs: Different Man, ...

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I just came back to say not to enter me in the con...

2009-04-03T09:44:00.000-07:00

I just came back to say not to enter me in the contest. I didn't want to wait, so I got the book already. :)

Hi, Jenna! I've never read your books before, but ...

2009-04-02T17:14:00.000-07:00

Hi, Jenna! I've never read your books before, but they sound really good and I can't wait to check them out.
It's not too often I don't like a hero. There are some books I've read where the hero is a total and complete jerk to the heroine right up to the end. That's too late to be redeemable to me. Now if they start off as jerks, but you see the growth of their character and their love and commitment to the heroine, then I tend to pretty much forgive anything.

Personally, I think if the hero is less than heroi...

2009-04-02T11:34:00.000-07:00

Personally, I think if the hero is less than heroic, it makes them more human. It brings a little bit more to the story than good guy with good girl. If the story is written well, you can see the inner struggles of the hero and what made him do the things he did. I do like stories where you are in love with him from page 1, but when they have a lot of growth to get through - its more satisfying for me.

Justin was definitely one, St. Vincent (Devil in Winter) and Hardy Cates (Sugar Daddy/Blue-eyed devil), and Joe Bristow (Tea Rose) are the ones that I am thinking of off the top of my head where not so perfect men are really GREAT men. ;)

Now that I think about it, I usually like every he...

2009-04-02T07:24:00.000-07:00

Now that I think about it, I usually like every hero. I don't have to love them from page one, but very early on I tend to find good things about them and cheer them in their quest for HEA (no matter how bad they or their actions might seem).

There are times I have found myself liking a hero ...

2009-04-02T02:11:00.000-07:00

There are times I have found myself liking a hero even if I don't want too, and then I melt and loves him. But I do love heroes that i love from page 1 too.
I don't know which one too choose, the ones you come to like during the road are more surprising, but the one you love from beginning, well he holds your heart :)

When I think of a hero that I didn't expect to lik...

2009-04-01T23:16:00.000-07:00

When I think of a hero that I didn't expect to like, that'd be Sebastien St. Vincent from Lisa Kleypas's Devil in Winter. I mean, come on!

I'm of mixed feelings about the hero question. I seem to go for the bad boy who gets redeemed at the end, but I also love the good guy from the beginning.

For me, and I know I keep rehashing this, it's all in the execution. If an author can take a hero who at one point is downright evil and redeem him in a believable way? I'm all for it. :D

HI Jenna wavesHmmm. I think I'm going to have to...

2009-04-01T23:04:00.000-07:00

HI Jenna *waves*

Hmmm. I think I'm going to have to hide behind the couch after I've posted this but...the hero I didn't warm too initially was Sebastian from Lord of Scoundrels *ducks* He just felt like a bit of a bully, and I hate bullies. But as the book progressed and I got to know him more I grew to like him (and see him as the hero of the story). In completely contrast, the hero of my favourite Loretta Chase book - Knave's Wager - I just loved, even though he acted dissolute and like the whole world bored him. I just knew there was more to him than met the eye...it didn't help that he was called a 'bad, beautiful angel' by one of the secondary characters and it seemed apt :)

All the best with the release of Her Notorious Viscount! I'm really looking forward to reading it ;)

What an interesting question. I like heroes in ge...

2009-04-01T20:45:00.000-07:00

What an interesting question.

I like heroes in general, all types really and I suppose I am predisposed to like the hero at the beginning of the book (or, at least I expect I'll like him by the end) or I wouldn't pick the book up at all.

Some of the best heroes are the tortured ones. They often do bad things but if I can understand their angst, then I can bleed for them without condoning their behaviour. Then, they change and grow and they learn how to be a better person so they wouldn't do that sort of thing again and then they get their HEA and I love it.

I'm thinking of Sean Culhane in Christine Monson's Stormfire in particular - I hear this book draws a lot of controversy because the hero rapes the heroine after kidnapping her. He's abusive and mean and ordinarily, totally unlikeable. I can totally understand that some people would never like him but I felt for him. He was in such agony and when I read the book I felt that the pain he inflicted was just an outworking of the pain inside himself. That's not an excuse of course but because I "got" why, I didn't paint him completely black and unredeemable. I didn't think he was inherently evil. In the end he's prepared to give up everything for his Kit (and even sacrifices (literally) his left nut (or his right?) for her. Their journey was tortured and angsty but I totally loved him.

I also like Christian Jervaulx from Flowers in the Storm and Sebastian from Lord of Scoundrels but I thought they were pretty much heroes from the start, just waiting to be exposed as such.

Having said that, I also love the hero who is a hero from day one. I love love love the rescue theme. That knight in shining armour who rescues the damsel in distress - in any subgenre I am a sucker for this story. My favourite of this sort of hero is probably Jack from Robyn Carr's Virgin River series. He's just so noble and good and HAWT!!

Then there are the in between heroes - they save the day in the end of course, but they have their own woes but aren't total asshats either - I'm thinking now of Lord Rothgar from Jo Beverley's Malloren's (he's so in my top 10 heroes of all time!) and Luke from Mary Balogh's Heartless (also in my top 10). These are stories where the hero and the heroine effectively rescue each other.

Let's face it, I just love heroes!

Rachie, oh I know. It's rotten to have to defend t...

2009-04-01T18:02:00.000-07:00

Rachie, oh I know. It's rotten to have to defend the genre all the time. But we're doing pretty well. One of the only genres continuing to sell in a tough economy so... you know... whatever. LOL

JennaP

Congrats on your new release!I prefer the type of ...

2009-04-01T17:31:00.000-07:00

Congrats on your new release!

I prefer the type of hero that you don't really like from the start, and then in the end the have won both me and the books heroine over.

YEA!! Jenna Petersen! :)There are many heroes that...

2009-04-01T16:52:00.000-07:00

YEA!! Jenna Petersen! :)

There are many heroes that I like despite myself. I loved the hero from "Lord of Scoundrels" and I enjoyed Zsadist from the JR Ward books. They really don't have many redeeming qualities, but I love 'em!

I hate when people make fun of romance books! Ugh, I work @ a library and the children's librarian and I go rounds when she calls romances "bodice busters" MAKES ME SOO MAD!!!! keep fighting the good fight :)

I really prefer a hero that I'm not carzy about at...

2009-04-01T16:45:00.000-07:00

I really prefer a hero that I'm not carzy about at first....kinda like my hubby...they grow on you! :)

mj.coward[at]gmail.com

Raven -- Yes, that is so true! In Amanda Quick's S...

2009-04-01T14:43:00.000-07:00

Raven -- Yes, that is so true! In Amanda Quick's SCANDAL the hero is still a bit of a jerk at the end of the book... but he'll NEVER be a jerk to her. And that was awesome.

Maered -- I think character evolution is key to an...

2009-04-01T14:42:00.000-07:00

Maered -- I think character evolution is key to any good book, so that is very true. Any character has got to have something change or else there's just not a story.

Jane -- Thanks so much!

Gabriela -- Motivation is definitely key!

Willa -- LOL, thanks!

The most important thing to me is that when I reac...

2009-04-01T14:37:00.000-07:00

The most important thing to me is that when I reach the end of the book I feel like the hero will always treat the heroine right. I don't mind if the hero starts off as a jerk or has problems, as long as he grows during the story into someone worthy of the heroine. I like when characters mature and grow. It makes for an interesting read when characters are redeemed. I also like heroes that are easy to love from the beginning of the book. I think both type of heroes can be satisfying.

Thankyou for answering my question - it was just a...

2009-04-01T14:10:00.000-07:00

Thankyou for answering my question - it was just about unwrapping it - what a great analogy, I love pressies and unwrapping! Lol!

Hi Jenna, If the hero of the story does something ...

2009-04-01T14:03:00.000-07:00

Hi Jenna,

If the hero of the story does something that totally turns me off, but the story and the author can help me understand and be ok with what/why a hero does something, then I find myself liking the hero in spite of myself.

Heroes that I love from page one, are usually from a series, and I have practically fallen for him before his story even made it into my hands. Like Zarek from SK's DH series, or St Vincent from Kleypas' Wallflower series.

The most satisfying is the hero that I love from page one and when I finish the book, I am still just as enthusiastic about him. Which doesn't necessarily mean that just because I was practically in love beforehand, the author was able to keep the love affair going throughout the book.

Hi Jenna,Congrats on the new release. I have foun...

2009-04-01T13:58:00.000-07:00

Hi Jenna,
Congrats on the new release. I have found myself liking the hero even though he was a jerk or arrogant in the beginning of the book because he redeems himself. I think it's more satisfying when I learn to love the hero because the hero has evolved into a better person.

I can only like a hero despite myself if I see som...

2009-04-01T13:36:00.000-07:00

I can only like a hero despite myself if I see some potential in him. Or if I see some sort of evolution from him being an as* to being someone more heroic. There's nothing more annoying to read than no character growth in a hard to like hero. That's a wallbanger, for sure.

A likable hero on the other hand is great to read about. Likable doesn't have to mean passive or boring! It's nice to read about a hero who doesn't hate all women because of issue's with his mother. *rolls eyes* (I hate heroes like that.)

Both types of heroes are completely a different reading experience. Depending on my mood or how well they are written, both types can be very satisfying. ;)

Willa, you know writing them is sort of like readi...

2009-04-01T13:10:00.000-07:00

Willa, you know writing them is sort of like reading them. They're both a great experience, just different. For example, Justin was hard, but I knew what he'd gone through and all his good qualities, so it was kind of like a Christmas present you buy for someone else. I knew how good it was inside, but it was just about unwrapping it

The hero in my next book, WHAT THE DUKE DESIRES (November 2009) is really a very good man. He's decent, he wants to do good, he's taken aback by the evil he starts to find around him. He was great to write because he's not perfect but he's obviously a hero.

Now Nicholas is something in between. HE's not as hard as Justin is toward Victoria. But he's not always good, either.

But I am a little in love with all three of them. LOL And they were all hard and wonderful to write at the same time.

JennaP

I suppose liking a hero despite myself all depends...

2009-04-01T12:52:00.000-07:00

I suppose liking a hero despite myself all depends on how well he is drawn as a character - whether there is a sense of 'more' beneath the surface of what we see that makes him so offputting. Is he redeemable to me? - that's another whole ball of wax because we all have our personal 'hot' buttons!

Loving a hero from day one is a different experience too - I have to say I prefer the 'darker' characters, those that have a certain mystery/hardness/depth to them, otherwise they can be just bland and ultimately forgettable.

Both are satisfying - each in their own way and represent a different reading experience for me. You have the 'smoothness' of a character that you love from the start - and then there is the 'challenge' of reading a story where you do not truly know how you feel about things and that can make uncomfortable reading . . but there is something there that draws you back.

Can I ask which type of hero you prefer and which you find more challenging to write?

Hi Crystal -- I agree! I think a couple that has t...

2009-04-01T12:01:00.000-07:00

Hi Crystal -- I agree! I think a couple that has to fight is much more interesting!

And Maureen, I also (obviously LOL) like the hero who turns himself around.

JennaP

Hi Jenna,I like both types of heroes but it is gre...

2009-04-01T11:20:00.000-07:00

Hi Jenna,
I like both types of heroes but it is great when I find a hero I can't stand and he turns himself around to become a favorite.

Hi Jenna. When I am reading a book that has a hero...

2009-04-01T11:16:00.000-07:00

Hi Jenna. When I am reading a book that has a hero that exhibits unhero like qualities, I am hoping throuhout the book that he will redeem himself in the end. Sometimes, the heroes that start out bad are the ones that you remember the most. I like stories where the couple have to work for their happy ending. It bores me if it is all hearts and flowers from page one.