What is your favorite type of hero?

[Danielle The Book Huntress]

Please tell us the qualities that your favorite heroes have. You are more than welcome to list your favorite heroes and what books they are from.

[Terri]

He is very sexy almost hard to look at breath taking. Strong, all the women want him. A rogue of my own.

cold but sexy, a duke Wulfric from Slightly Dangerous

[FlibBityFLooB]

I like the heros who love children, even if they are not their own children.

Examples:
Zachary in Where Dreams Begin
Phillip in To Sir Phillip, With Love

[new_user]

Me too! :D

[Julianna]

Physically, I lean toward the tall, dark and handsome type. I love a guy with long, dark hair. Looks is only a small part of it though. For me personality is much more important. I like heroes who are highly intelligent, trustworthy, loyal, and courageous while still being gentle and kind. He should be a tender, passionate lover who isn't afraid to declare his love for the heroine. I like him to be good with kids and animals, and last but not least he should have a good sense of humor. I absolutely love a guy who can be self-deprecating.:-)

[Fani *loves angst*]

I'm with Terri. I want them dark, cold and sexy. Gentle, romantic souls just don't do it for me. Not that I haven't appreciated a couple of heroes like that so far, but they're the exception rather than the rule.

[new_user]

Julie (Mom2lnb) wrote: "I absolutely love a guy who can be self-deprecating.:-)..."

Oh, yeah, love a sense of humor and someone who can poke fun at themselves.

[Danielle The Book Huntress]

I had to think about this.

My favorite kinds of heroes are:

Intense. That is the one quality that crosses over with all my favorites. I don't care if they are alpha or beta, as long as they are intense.

Other qualities I love in a hero:

Driven to achieve or succeed. That's why I like the self-made heroes.
Thoughtful
Intelligent (an extremely brilliant hero is really a turn-on for me)
Loving towards the heroine
I love a hero who is possessive and wants the heroine to be all his. He'd do anything to get her.
I love tortured heroes. Something about a man who has suffered or had anguish in his life.

I prefer heroes who are not promiscuous, but I have a few faves that are/were rakes. I love virgin and celibate heroes (full of untapped passions).

I love a dangerous hero, who can be lethal when it's called for. Not something I'd go for in real life, but I do like that in fiction. I love warriors and soldier heroes.

I admit I have a weakness for antiheroes, as long as they are walking the path to redemption (mostly, anyway). Conversely, I love honorable heroes. They will do what's right regardless of the consequences (other than letting go of their heroine)

I like cowboys and men of the West (in real life, the cowboy mystique is mostly a myth that I've seen, but I love it in fiction)

I love heroes who are sweet and loving (especially towards the heroine). They don't have to wear their heart on their sleeve. Usually my favorites keep this aspect of their nature carefully hidden, but it comes out to the heroine and those who are in need.

Like others have mentioned, a man who loves children and babies really appeals to me. I like heroes who really want kids and want to be around kids. Probably one of the reasons I love the book Heartless by Mary Balogh. I just loved how Lucas treated his daughter. Some really sigh-worthy scenes in this book.

Lookswise:
I like a tall, dark, muscular hero. I like piercing eyes. I have a thing for dark hair and blue eyes, but I also like dark hair, and dark eyes. There are a few blond heroes I adore, like St. Vincent (Devil in Winter), Samuel Gerard (The Shadow and the Star)

[Danielle The Book Huntress]

Also, I like the still waters run deep heroes. They are very controlled, but underneath, they are passionate, like Sir Ross from Lady Sophia's Lover by Lisa Kleypas, or Carter McKoy from The Texan's Wager by Jodi Thomas.

[Brandy *Ahviel*]

Mine i have to say was St. Vincent in Devil in Winter was on of my favorite. You wanted to hate him, but the little things he did and towards the end when he takes the bullet. AWE i totally was in love

[Danielle The Book Huntress]

I absolutely adore St. Vincent. Definitely in my top five of heroes.

[Danielle The Book Huntress]

St. Vincent is the hero from Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas. Who is the writer of The Highlander's Sword, Leola?

[Brandy *Ahviel*]

Girls, I think I am going to have to take a trip back to the WallFlowers

[Danielle The Book Huntress]

I'm up for a reread soon, as well, Brandy.

[Brandy *Ahviel*]

I think I am going to save my re-read for when I am on maturnity leave. Going to have to do something

[Danielle The Book Huntress]

I don't have time right now. But I hope to reread some of my favorites.

[Brandy *Ahviel*]

Book Huntress, I completely understand not having time. that is why I am waiting 6 months when I will have the time :)

[Christina, but with tea]

I love beta heroes! One of my recent favorites was Jesse from Carla Kelly's "The Wedding Journey". Karl from LaVyrle Spencer's "The Endearment" also comes to mind as an old favorite. I love the sweet, shy, innocent type as well as the quiet, broody, slightly damaged type, too.

I do like the alpha's, but many times they end up annoying me when they are just too alpha. I don't like them when things border on abusive. I've had enough of that in real life, thank you very much.

I loved Scott Gandy from LaVyrle Spencer's "The Gamble", which is probably one of my favorite historical romances ever.

I also have a soft spot for those rare heroes who aren't perfectly handsome, that might be a little out of shape, you know - who aren't cover models. :)

Did I mention that I love a good geek? Give me snarky, smart, and even a little (or a lot) arrogant and I'm a happy girl. Well, just give me Dr. McKay from "Stargate: Atlantis" and I'll be a very, very happy girl. lol

Oh, and I love an alpha who can grovel and grovel good! I don't think enough alpha's, especially in HP's, grovel nearly enough in comparison to the crap they put their heroines through (also, let's face it, many of the HP heroines put themselves through it just as much as their counterparts. I mean, come on, girls! What were you thinking?).

Okay. I'm starting to ramble, so let's stop there for now. :) Ta!

[Danielle The Book Huntress]

Well said, Anesthezea. I love a beta heroes. And you mentioned one of my faves, Jesse! What a man. Have you read The Texan's Wager? Carter is another favorite of mine.

Brandy, I have two weeks off next month. I intend to read like crazy!

[Christina, but with tea]

Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "Well said, Anesthezea. I love a beta heroes. And you mentioned one of my faves, Jesse! What a man. Have you read The Texan's Wager? Carter is another favorite of mine."

I adored Jesse so much! I just wanted to huggle him all the time. :) Thanks for recommending "The Texan's Wager". I'll see if I can find a copy on Paperbackswap and read it asap. :)

[Danielle The Book Huntress]

You're welcome, Anesthezea. I want to know what you think of him.

[Nisha]

I know I'm weird when I say this, but I really like the cute/dumb/playful heroes that are slightly unsure of themselves and are kinda selfish. Like Colin Bridgerton. I can't help it.

On the other side of the spectrum, I really like the self-made ambitious men, like Derek Craven and the guys who seem like bad guys but really have a heart of gold (which I guess makes them a little tortured).

[Diana]

Anesthezea wrote: "I love beta heroes! One of my recent favorites was Jesse from Carla Kelly's "The Wedding Journey". Karl from LaVyrle Spencer's "The Endearment" also comes to mind as an old favorite. I love the swe..."

ITA. A well-written alpha can make an awesome hero, but a lot of times alphas can be...too cruel, intense and macho for me. Personally, I like a quiet, reserved beta -- heroes who are kind and gentle, especially to the heroine. Ruck from For My Lady's Heart and James from Sleeping Beauty are good examples of awesome betas, I think.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, I also like gamma heroes -- which is sort of a mix between the alpha and beta. Tough, but never cruel, a gamma wouldn't deliberately hurt or humiliate the heroine like an alpha might. And they're stronger than betas. Like James from Your Scandalous Ways or Trevelyan from Lessons in French.

I also have a soft spot for a damaged and/or scarred hero; a man who used to be conventionally attractive, but suffered injuries -- in war, an accident, whatever. I love the trope where the heroine sees beyond the hero's looks and, despite any scars and disfigurements, loves him anyway.

[Danielle The Book Huntress]

Nisha wrote: "I know I'm weird when I say this, but I really like the cute/dumb/playful heroes that are slightly unsure of themselves and are kinda selfish. Like Colin Bridgerton. I can't help it.

On the other ..."

Not weird at all, Nisha.

I like heroes that are unsure and awkward. They are endearing to me.

[Danielle The Book Huntress]

Diana, I share your soft spot for scarred/damaged heroes. Some of my favorites are in that vein.

[Davina]

Ruck from Laura Kinsale's For My Lady's Heart is the only beta male I've ever read and completely loved. There are others I've read and thought were okay, but Ruck challenged the archetype of beta heroes I had in my head. Loved him to bits.

My ideal hero is an alpha male with certain beta qualities (for eg tenderness). A good example of this is Christian in Kinsale's Flowers From The Storm and Andre in Susan Johnson's Taboo, two of my all time favourite books.