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I was at a writing workshop a while ago where a woman (an unpublished writer) stood up and asked an editor on the panel why they don’t buy books with regular guys as the hero. When they asked her to clarify, she said “you know, men who have a few pounds to lose or those without a full head of hair.”
The editor’s answer–women look to romance novels to give them a fantasy, an escape. Most of them want the handsome hero not the average guy next door.
I know some authors have their heroes be not quite handsome…maybe his features are more rugged rather than chistled. Maybe he broke his nose as a kid so it’s not quite straight. Those guys I can handle. But an overweight, balding one…ummm not so much.
How about you? Do you like the heroes in the books you read to be good-looking? Or doesn’t it really matter?
Filed in: Jaunty Post
Jan 30th
2010
7:50 am
Emmanuelle Said:
I know I’m shallow but really, beer-bellies and bald spots don’t agree with me.
(I won’t compromise on that !!lol)
I don’t need cover model perfect, actually I don’t usually enjoy those. My hero doesn’t need to be 6’4 either. I love the rugged looks and scard don’t bother me. I’ve read a few romances last years with enjured heroes (mostly missing a leg) and it totally worked for me. If my romance hero doesn’t need the perfect looks, he does need the charms. I’m not so very difficult : a good dose of charms, masculiny and… hair
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Jan 30th
2010
9:18 am
kristan higgins Said:
In my books, the heroes need to be appealing rather than good-looking, Cindy, and there’s usually one particular trait the heroine focuses on…his smile or his eyes or his hands. Gray is better than balding; beer belly…no. One of my heroes was shorter than the heroine. I really liked that. As a reader, I feel the same; give me one feature to “see” and I’m all set. Those grocery lists of features tend to border on cliche for me…I mean, I’m guilty of it too, but that irascible lock of hair falling over his forehead…it’s getting a little old!
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Jan 30th
2010
10:55 am
Emmanuelle Said:
Funny Kristan, I was thinking of Trevor and his 5’10 (or 5’11 don’t really remember) when I wrote my comment
.
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Jan 30th
2010
11:57 am
Kate Diamond Said:
The least handsome guy I’ve ever connected to in a romance novel had to be Harry, in “The Nerd Who Loved Me.” He sounded cute, but not rippling-abs fit. That actually fit into the storyline–he wanted to protect the heroine, but he was an accountant, not a bodyguard. He had to use his brains to protect her. And he still whaled on a guy at one point.
Vicki Lewis Thompson made him hot because we only ever heard about him “not being in shape” from his point of view. The heroine only ever thought about how cute he was… so I sided with the heroine and pictured him as adorable in my head!
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Jan 30th
2010
12:35 pm
Quilt Lady Said:
My heros don’t have to be good looking so to speak they just have to fit the part! Some books they have to be rugged to fit the part. I want them to have flaws and be more like the real world.
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Jan 30th
2010
1:32 pm
Shana Said:
Well, I think the heroine has to think he’s good looking, but I don’t like my heroes to be too good looking. Usually there’s a line somewhere that notes he’s average in this way or that–but she never thinks of him that way.
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Jan 30th
2010
2:37 pm
Lily Said:
I would normally say I love a hunky handsome alpha hero, but I just finished Victoria Dahl’s Start Me Up and I LOVED that the hero was nerdy, under 6 feet tall and a little scatterbrained! It was so refreshing and real and still a sizzling pairing. It made me want to find other books with that slant. (Though truth be told, over 6 feet tall is my preference since that’s how tall I am
)
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Jan 30th
2010
5:46 pm
Catherine Kean Said:
I don’t mind a hero with a few scars or even a misshapen/broken nose, if that adds to his character. If he got those scars or that broken nose heroically saving someone’s life, well, even better! Since I write medievals, that totally works for my time period. I admit, I do read romance novels for the escapism, though, so I totally agree with Emmanuelle about the “beer-bellies and bald spots.”
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Jan 31st
2010
5:24 am
Kirsten Said:
I don’t need/want perfect men. Having said that bald and a bowl full of jelly is something I don’t really want to imagine. But I just want the Heroine to find him attractive. If she finds him handsome & can see his heart and good intentions, then so can I.
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Jan 31st
2010
9:52 am
Paula R. Said:
Hi everyone! Nice topic. I like my men a little flawed in some way. Too perfect, pretty, hot, smexy, delicious is just too fantastical for my brain. A little “blemish,” whether it is through personality, they way they talk, etc makes them more believable characters to me. No one is perfect, right? On the other hand, I am totally turned off by really out of shape, comb-overs, etc. To be perfectly honest though, I don’t even look at covers anymore. Back in my wild horny teen years, if you had a sexy man on the cover I am there, but it is not the case now, though I am not too far from those teen years. Titles grab me, more so than the cover. I honestly don’t look at the cover too much until I am done with the book. I don’t even know what I am thinking when I do either.
Peace and love,
Paula R.
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Jan 31st
2010
12:16 pm
catslady Said:
He doesn’t have to be perfectly gorgeous (but it doesn’t hurt lol). No sorry, no pot bellies and bald (unless they shave it on purpose). Heck, there’s enough of that in real life lol. I’ll go with the fantasy. Not a real pretty boy though – like model pretty.
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Jan 31st
2010
6:05 pm
Cindy Kirk Said:
I’m lovin’ all these comments.
It also made me think of something else…heroes or heroines where their hair style or clothing sounds really weird when it’s described in the book…anyone else bothered by that?
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Feb 5th
2010
10:59 am
Michelle Rattigan Said:
If I want to tlk look at, have sex with a balding forty year old with a few pounds to lose, i’d call my husband into the room!! I want a guy who is tall handsome and with animal attraction in spades. Call me shallow but who cares. I change nappies and wipe up puke for a living, surely a billionaire Italian/Greek God isn’t to much to ask for:).
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Feb 5th
2010
4:49 pm
Cindy Kirk Said:
Michelle,
I loved your response. lol
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Feb 6th
2010
6:25 am
Michelle Rattigan Said:
Cindy,
. I have to put the image in my ‘special place’ (located in my brain) and change the hairstyle to something more desirable, or else I would have to imagine my hero as Andre Agassai circa 1989.Also in my special place are heroes who tuck their shirts into their jeans with no mention of a belt, deck shoes, and turtle necks. I mean it’s really disturbing. I need my hero to be moer of a black jeans and tight black tee.Having said that I’m sitting here in a pair of winnie the pooh pj’s that the dog has chewed the bootom out of, so beggars cant be choosers as my mother would say. 
I have to agree. When creating a picture in my head of a hero it has to be very specific. The amount of mullets I’ve come across over the years
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Feb 6th
2010
7:02 am
Michelle Rattigan Said:
sorry I meant to say bottom not bootom.Have not yet learned to type as fast as I speak. It’s frustrating.
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Aug 17th
2010
1:04 am
Pine Desk Said:
if you drink too much beer and you sit to much on a couch, you’ll develop the dreaded Pot Belly~,-
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Oct 5th
2010
2:28 pm
Hailey Hall Said:
pot belly is sometimes very annoying, it make you looks quite fan`.`
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Oct 20th
2010
5:08 am
Fire Grate Said:
pot bellies are hard to remove, you need lots of exercise and diet modification**’
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Nov 9th
2010
2:37 pm
Chipboard Sheets · Said:
you will easily get pot belly if you are eating too much carbohydrates ‘
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