Thanks so much for having me on LovLivLife Reviews today. I thought I'd talk about heroines and what draws us to them. We all talk about the hero so many times and why we love him, but what about the other half of the story?
We're supposed to want to be or believe we could be the heroine in a romance novel. And so many talented writers develop characters that do just that, make readers fall head over heels into the heroine's POV. How?
When you think about it, romances range from all sorts of time periods and worlds. The heroines aren't even always human. Most times they don't look like the reader. Yet, she, the reader, loves her, even becomes her while in the story. How does a writer do that?
I love heroines across the spectrum. They don't have to be kick-ass fighters who can take on vampires, gunmen, or space monsters. They don't have to have figures that make every man who sees them stop in his tracks. They don't have to be brilliant or even know how to shoot a gun. But they do have to be able to hold their own with the hero.
That's the key to the story for me. I can fall in love with the hero and the heroine if they are well matched. My favorite hero is the super alpha. I love them- on paper in the confines of a book. I'd most likely run for the hills if I ran into one in person. (Who needs that aggravation? J) Since the super alpha hero has an overly masculine persona I love for the heroine to be a little over the top, too.
That doesn't necessarily mean she's extremely feminine and requires the hero to carry her from room to room or that she's a super alpha herself and shoots everyone or is so snarky she becomes super bitch.
It means she's sharp and reads the hero well. She knows when to play up her feminine wiles and when to defend her own honor. She knows what's what and isn't constantly blindsided, but she does need the hero. Her persona compliments his and vice versa.
Heroines need to able to be strong and hold their own against most situations, including the hero, but she also needs to have a softer side. In life, this is the reality. Most women hold their own. We work. We cook. We clean. We have hobbies. We relax. We defend own perspectives, points of view, and domain. What's ours is ours. When someone challenges us, we rise to the occasion. Granted, most of us are not challenged by kidnappers or evil vampires, but still, we step it up when we need to.
We have our weaker moments when we need a hand or supportive shoulder to cry on. We slide into the dumps every once in a while. It happens to the best of us.
And when we're with our lovers, we're softer, feminine, alluring. We are the center of their worlds.
This is reality. It's what makes us able to connect with the heroine, to believe we'd be able to put on men's clothing in 19th century England and go gamble the night away or to use our divine powers as a Pharo of Redemption to deliver lost vampire souls to The Light.
We relate to the heroine. That's the key to loving her.
I'm currently reading Jeanine Frost's Night Huntress series. And I love Cat. She's tough in her own right, fighting what she believes to be the righteous battle. She meets Bones, a master vampire who gives her a good run for her money and at the same time falls in love with her and has to help her believe in love.
What are you reading? What heroines do you love?
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After trying her hand at many, many things- from crafting and art classes to cooking and sewing classes to running her own handbag business, Jordan finally figured out how to channel her creativity. With an active imagination and a little encouragement from her husband she sat down and began to write, each night clicking away at the keys with her black Labrador, Dino curled up under the desk.
A few short years later she's entered the publishing arena with no plans to ever turn back.
Jordan's a member of Rhode Island Romance Writers, as well as RWA National, and the New England (NEC), Connecticut, and Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal (FFnP) Chapters.
Her first book, Perpetual Light, is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, kobo, and All Romance Ebooks from Crescent Moon Press.
Jen's rating: 4 of 5 stars
Cute book - the beginning was a little hard to understand what was going on. I had a hard time figuring out what was a dream/flash back and what was reality.
But after a little farther into the book it started to become more clear what was going on.
Fate is cruel. Especially when the one you’ve sworn to love for all eternity, the very soul who changed your destiny is the last person you should trust.
After more than three hundred years of running, Lucia Dicomano must make a choice.
Forced to take her place as a Pharo of Redemption, the divine slayer needs to master her forgotten powers. Lucia turns to Vittorio, the one vampire she’s failed to deliver from eternal damnation. But overcoming smoldering remnants of love, lust and anger aren’t their only obstacles.
Samuel, who may know Lucia better than she knows herself, hunts her with a fervor stoked by a thousand years of vengeful hatred. His plan—capture and enslave the weakened Pharo then take control of her elusive power.
Can Lucia trust Vittorio long enough to reclaim her powers? Or will she have no choice but to kill him and battle Samuel alone?
Jen's Review:
Lucia and Vittorio were married over 300 years ago. They were so happy and in love. Until that one dreaded night when Katrina interrupted their date and took Vittorio's life. Changing him into one of the damned. The soulless creatures, a Vampire.
Lucia had been hurt, but she survived. Although surviving without Vittorio wasn't easy.
Vittorio hated what he had become. Katrina had forced her powers over him and turned him into her lover. Forced him to kill humans to feed. He hated himself, and he wanted out. He fought her as hard as he could, and when he was finally strong enough to break free, he did.
The first place he went to was church to beg God for forgiveness. Forgiveness for what he was, for what he did. And he prayed for Lucia. He wanted her to be safe,
When he found out she had been born again, and was looking for him, he stopped everything, and went to find her. Only finding her wasn't that easy.
Lucia isn't a regular human being. She's been reincarnated many times.
Each time she was born again, she had no memory of her past lives. She had no idea what she was. But her dreams became clearer as she got older.. and soon, she would stop everything else in her life and focus only on finding Vittorio.
When Samuel and Brian enter the picture, things get more complicated. Samuel is very strong and powerful, and he wants Lucia for himself.
When Lucia and Vittorio finally get back together after over 300 years, nothing had changed between them. Vampire or not, they were soul mates, and Lucia's job was to kill Vittorio and bring his soul into the light.
But how could she kill the one man she has loved for so long? And why is it her job in the first place?
I really enjoyed this book once these two got together. You could see the love they shared. I liked the originality of this book. and I really loved reading about The Abyss, especially when she was there with someone.
Can't wait to find out what happens in the next book.. I'm assuming there is still more to come :)
Juls Review:
