Apparently I'm in a wondering mood this week because today's topic is favorite heroes. Also I love to stimulate discussion even if it is by just a handful of people who happen to actually appear interested in the happenings here. Thanks for that.
So, my question for those who care to answer, who are some of your all time favorite fictional heroes? I know it is hard to narrow it down to just a few, but do try if you can.
I'll start out the discussion with some I can come up with off the top of my own curly head.
1) I have two favorite heterosexual historical romance heroes and they are both heroes by the same author and they are Ian from Julie Garwood's The Secret and Geoffrey from Julie Garwood's Gentle Warrior.
2) Favorite hero from a contemporary heterosexual would be Harry Trevelyan from Jayne Ann Krentz's Absolutely, Positively.
3) I must confess I don't read a whole lot of historical gay fiction. Most of what is out there sort of bores me because I'm just not a fan of endless historical details in my enjoyment reading. If I want to read about that I will pick up a history book. I myself write when the fancy takes me "historical light" but I will say that I have a definite soft spot for Lord Oliver from Ava March's Bound series.
4) And finally I must list a few favorites in the contemporary gay fiction. I absolutely adore Keaton (Bit) Reynolds from J.L. Langley's Without Reservations. I love both Sean and Dan from Josh Lanyon's The Dark Horse and The White Knight. I love Sean from AM. Riley's The Elegant Corpse.
5) And for Sci-Fi I am going with Aiden from My Fair Captain.
Naturally I love many more heroes and books but this is what I could come up with and that stand out with me right now.
So how about it, who are some of your favorites?
Oh, I have so many.
ReplyDeleteAs I'm sure you've gathered, I'm a HUGE historical romance fan. So, the majority of my favs are from historical romances.
Let's see...
Addis from Madeline Hunter's, By Possession.
Dr. Jake Linley from Lisa Kleypas', Against The Odds.
Matthew Swift from Lisa Kleypas', Scandal In Spring.
Derek Knightly from Samantha Kane's, At Loves Command.
Vishous from JR Ward's BDB Series--although I was not happy AT ALL with who he ended up with.
Please, I could go on and on.
Oh and I'm with you about Oliver :) He was my personal fav. of the two.
Heroes. My favorite subject! ;)
ReplyDeleteI really don't read contemporary m/f romance, so my favorite m/f heroes are all from historicals. I loved McKenna from Lisa Kleypas's Again the Magic. Sebastian from Devil in Winter is a fav, but McKenna's got the edge over him. My fav Julia Quinn hero is Simon from the Duke and I, with Michael Sterling from When He Was Wicked close on his heels.
In gay romanceland, I read a wider variety of subgenres. My favorite books are usually contemporaries, which is kinda odd considering I don't read contemp m/f at all. Go figure. Noah from Diving in Deep is at the top of the hero list, followed closely by Aiden from MFC. Cody from Reckless Seduction and Reckless Behavior is up there as well along with adorable Duncan from The Squire. Yeah, I got a thing for beta heroes. LOL. I just adore them. ;)
And thanks Barbara and Shawn! Oliver's feeling the love. :D
Ava! OMG, I forgot McKenna! How could I forget him? He was the man! My copy of 'Again The Magic' is so old and worn, lol. I must have read it a dozen times.
ReplyDeleteAh...here's a perfect example of how much people's tastes vary. I sent 'Again The Magic' to a friend as a gift. I would have bet ANYTHING she'd love the story, because I absolutely adored it.
Yeah, well, she didn't even make it past the first few chapters! She said she didn't like the concept.
I couldn't believe it! Aline and McKenna! Their tale was just so passionate and romantic! Ugh, how they both suffered with longing... GOOD STUFF!
Well, to me anyway, lol.
Sigh...But, in the end it's all a matter of opinion.
You are really on a role this week - but as usual I love how your mind tick over...
ReplyDelete1)One of my absolutely fav hero I Clayton Westmoreland from "Whitney My Love" by Judith McNaught, he was such a cad when the book start but he goes through such a monumental development you can't help but fall for him...
Scott from Layryle Spencer "The Gamble" - he is everything you want your man to be, A lover, a fighter, a dad and a smart alec as well... This is one of my most reread book... I was so sad when the author stopped writing.. Everything she write is just perfect...
(Barbara - I think you would love this book)
2) There are just so much in contemp sometimes I wonder if they haven't start introducing themselves...
Beverly Barton - the Protector series - wonderful hero's ( Morgan from "A Man like Morgan Kane" - WOW)
Rachel Lee - Conard Country series - also another series where all the hero's stands out (Gabe from "Miss Emmaline and the Archangel" give a new name to scar torn hero - he was just perfect)
A few Julie Garwood hero as well - Tom from "Heartbreaker" is one I can remember straight off.
3)I don't read alot of historical gay as yourself so off hand I can't really thing of straight m/m hero - However Samantha Kane menages does have some men that could drag me off anytime about now..(LOL)
4)M/M hero's - this area there are really too much - All your's Shawn, "Bit" is a particular fav...
Elegant Corspe is just the book - I love that book and the cast (all of them)
I find I also like the naive, sweet, klutzy guys -
G.A. Hauser - Murphy's Hero has a guy I like,
Drew Zachary - The Painted House,
Jenna Byrnes - Nothing but Trouble
I remember reading one with shifter Dolphins - I quite like the guys in that as well...
The surprise hero's as well - knock my sock off everytime...
So the guys from Shawn last two books are brill...
Drew Zachary - On fire
I'll stop now - my hero's are all over the place - I am so a mood reader - some hero's logically I should hate or find issues with but I end up loving them alot...
I am liking this wondering mood that you are in - I have just pulled out my copy of "The Gamble" - I'll have a quick reread before the kids get up...
E.H>
This is harder than I first thought it would be! I keep thinking of stories I absolutely love, but the heroes in these stories are not necessarily favorites or ones that stay with me... Hmmm, let me think.
ReplyDeleteTop 5 (I think...) in no particular order:
Clyde from WMSmoker Seeks Seclusion by Pirategrrl.
Belimai from Wicked Gentlemen by Ginn Hale.
Wira from Gadarene by Tina Anderson and CB Potts.
Charles from Harry by The Composer
Trip from Promises to Keep by Grasshopper.
Honorable mentions:
Dominic from Cooking With Ergot by Luisa Prieto.
Adam from the Mercy Thompson books by Patricia Briggs.
Jeremy Archer from Shadow of the Templar by M. Chandler.
Jekari from In This Land by Matthew Haldeman-Time (though technically he's not a hero, just a secondary character).
Ezra from Downtime by Tamara Allen.
I have others, but these are the ones I can think of now. :)
Thanks everyone! It's so cool to see how we all think.
ReplyDeleteAnd it is hard to narrow down our heroes isn't it? I keep thinking of more I'd add.
Ava and Barbara, you two are historical romance junkies! LOL. Do you know I have never read a single Lisa Kleypas book? My bad, lol. I think I might have tried once but I don't recall that even.
E.H., you made me smile. You are so cool. Thanks! And you and I have very similar tastes in books and heroes. I, too, am a huge fan of The Elegant Corpse.
And Falconer, what an unusual list! I think the only book listed that I have heard of is Cooking With Ergo. I'll have to check them out.
In fact, I appreciate the list from all of you because it definitely gives me more books for my TBR pile.
Shawn: Lol. Yes, I (used to) read a lot of online gay fiction. The only ebooks in the list (apart from Cooking with Ergot) are Gadarene and Downtime.
ReplyDeleteGadarene is horror-ish and Downtime is paranormal. The Mercy Thompson series is mainstream het paranormal (they might be available as ebooks but I'm not certain). Wicked Gentlemen is (gay) steampunk, and it's only available in print. In This Land is a very very long on-going series that's available through a subscription.
All of the other ones though are stories that are available for free online so you could start with these. Promises to Keep is kind of similar to Brokeback Mountain, Shadow of the Templar is the story of an FBI agent and a British thief (it's really long: 4 novels I think). Smoker Seeks Seclusion is contemporary and it's hilarious. Harry has a very special place in my heart. :)
EH...VampFanGirl actually mailed me "Whitney My Love"!! She also said, "I think you'd love this story." LOL! Funny you would mention that. If I recall correctly, it's a thick book. I'll have to dig it out of my tbr.
ReplyDeleteShawn, you've never read a Lisa Kleypas novel? Oh, she's my all time favorite! And yes, I'll admit, I'm a historical hussy. Don't know what I would do without them ;)
How long can the list be?
ReplyDeleteMy Favorite Historical heroes are:
Raphel-While Passion Sleeps by Shirlee Busbee
Oliver and Vincent-Bound by Deception and Bound to him by Ava March
Christy Morrell-To love and to cherish by Patricia Gaffney
Jonas Whitaker- The Portrait by Megan Chance
Christian Langland-Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale
Jace Montgomery-Wishes by Jude Deveraux
Sebastian Peyton-Loving Julia by Karen Robards
Simon Thorndike-Duke's Project by Sharon Lanergan
Angel-Angel's Evolution by TA Chase
And many more ;)
Contemporaries
Kevin - Car Wash
Kyle - Beyond the Norm
Keegan - Ero's rising by Ally Blue
Bit and Chay- Without Reservation
Yamane- Drawn Together by ZA Maxfield
Hell- Heaven Sent Hell- Jet Mykles
Lainey- With Love JL Langley
Jude- Jude's Law by Lori Foster
Marc and Pablo- Second Sight by Sean Michael
Simon-Forged by Sean Michael
Coke and Dillon-Roughstock and a Smile by BA Tortuga
and so many more!!!
As far as sci-fi I love Aiden and Nate for My Fair Captain
and all of the velvet glove books by Sean Michael
That's hard to narrow down! I love all of your heros as you know. But Kyle and Kevin are some of my very favorites and of course Duncan!!!
Great list, Shell. I love Lainey too!
ReplyDelete