"Bad boy" PNR series observations, book-by-book

[Literary Ames]

Has anyone noticed the way a "bad boy" PNR series unfolds?:

Book 1 - usually based on a leader or highly respected member of a group of "bad boys" (alphas like warriors, weres etc.) e.g. Slave to Sensation, Dark Lover, Kiss of Midnight.

Book 3 - usually based on the "tortured soul" of the group e.g. Dance With The Devil, Passion Unleashed, Lover Awakened.

I haven't read all of the books in the series I've mentioned so there could be more. Can you think of any more of these conventions?

I love tortured souls so I'm wondering if I should just buy book 3 of every PNR series I come across!

[new_user]

LOL. I think you're onto something. Certainly, every PNR series seems to have a tortured soul.

[ϟ Jess ϟ]

There do seem to be a whole lot more men with tortured souls than heroines. I haven't read a ton of PNR so far, so I don't know about the pattern, but I just read Born of Night and that guy had the most tortured soul I've ever read! He was also a 'bad boy' type, so I guess he fits for book one, too.

Makes me want to go read a book with a kick-butt lady type right now :).

[Danielle The Book Huntress]

Great observation, Amy. Also Dance With The Devil by Kenyon fits this motif.

[Deanne]

Another is Fang in Bad Moon Rising a Dark Hunter novel.

[Mhollie]

I must say that I really like the bad boys and tortured just makes it better for me. Just my opinion of what I like.

[Deanne]

I agree with Mollie!!!

[Stacie]

huh, totally agree with this observation!
Others that fit:
- Katie MacAlister Dark Ones fits with A Girl's Guide to Vampires (#1) and Sex, Lies, and Vampires (#3)
- Lords of the Underworld #3 with Reyes (Pain) fits with the tortured part...
- Amy mentioned the first Lara Adrian Midnight Breed, but the third one (Midnight Awakening) is about Tegan, who is the tortured soul in that group.
- Kerrelyn Sparks' Love at Stake #1 (How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire)fits as well..

[☺~Tina~☺]

Acheron by Sherrily Kenyon, that was pretty bad. I don't know who's was worse, Acheron's story or Zarek.

[Literary Ames]

Stacie wrote: "huh, totally agree with this observation!
Others that fit:
- Katie MacAlister Dark Ones fits with A Girl's Guide to Vampires (#1) and Sex, Lies, and Vampires (#3)
- Lords of the Underworld #3 w..."

So there's actually a pattern then. I wonder if authors are given a guide to writing "bad boy" PNR or whether they just copy each other, and who established this pattern, who got there first? Sherrilyn Kenyon (Night Pleasures first published 2002)? So many questions...

[Stacie]

might be something fun to research...=)