What do I want from my heroines?

Reality. Okay, that's not entirely true. I read most genres, but my true love is Romance, and in particular PNR/Urban/Sci-fi romance. And there is invariably an element of unreality in those types of books. Fine, then I want relatability.

A good, relatable heroine - she always feels instantly like my new best friend. It's thrilling to be included in her adventures and taken into her confidence, and often makes me feel a little jealous of her maybe. How come she gets all the adventures and the hot buff guy? But at the same time you are completely happy for her.
Having a best friend is complicated - all the best relationships are layered. I don't think any of us actually wish we were the heroine - those gals lives are fraught with dangers, trouble and some of those Heroes take a heck of a lot of wrangling to bring into line... BUT.

And this is a really important but. When I become best friends with a heroine I find myself not just admiring her sass, her grit and her kick-assedness (so a word) I find myself inspired by her.
I'm not talking about wanting to pick up a sword, slay a dragon and save the Prince.
But there's a little more steel in my backbone these days when I cheekily haul someone across the coals for their entitled impoliteness. "You're so very welcome." I tell everyone loudly who breezes through the door I opened for an elderly lady at the post office as if I was their servant and without a word of acknowledgement.

And a relatable heroine - she can't just be one note. No one wants a best friend who is only ever grim, or clumsy, or ditsy.
People always seem surprised when I say this but a great heroine, she needs some flaws, some contradictions and most of all she needs layers.
She can make mistakes, but they need to be acceptable mistakes given the world, her knowledge and the storyline.
TSTL heroines are a dime a dozen and I'm over them. I refuse to read any tale that has the heroine either too blinkered, too stupid, or too naive (cause the Hero won't share the rules - ggggrrrr) and stumbling into situation after situation just so the author can create some angst or advance the plot in a particular direction.
TSTL heroines make me, the reader, just want to slap some sense into her. I'm talking about the heroine here, but maybe some authors could use an educational tap or two.

No layered heroine is going to be perfect. If they are written with flaws then readers will have hot buttons that they just can't stand. Some will find the heroine too snarky. Too immature. Too reckless. Too annoying because she can't see the clues the reader sees and know the next door neighbour is an assassin from Hell.

So really, when an author gets it right, creates a heroine you adore, who is your new best friend - it's kind of a miracle when you think about it.
So to all the authors out there who have provided me some awesome best friends, thank you so very much.

Now, on to the only remaining problem - can the author at the same time produce a double whammy miracle and create a Hero who could totally be my next book friend?

Happy Reading.