Since I’m still gearing myself up to combine both of my blogs into one I almost didn’t want to post this but an interesting question occurred to me yesterday so I couldn’t resist.
Who are the most unexpected heroes you’ve ever run across in romances?
That’s the basic question but let me explain which book brought it to mind and why so you’ll know what I’m actually asking. Yesterday I suddenly got in the mood to reread one of Deborah Simmons’ books and finally settled on one of my personal favorites by this author, The Last Rogue. The thing that always strikes me about TLR is how unexpected it was for an author to actually do a story featuring Raleigh, even though he was one of a relatively tight-knit group of male Regency friends that had previously been featured in their own spin-offs.
Why was he so surprising as a romance hero?
Well, basically, in the previous books he’d been presented as a true Regency fop (I believe that’s the correct term) concerned more about his clothes and pleasures than about anything else, except possibly meddling in his friend’s love lives. Even that, however, fit his role as more comic relief than serious character so I guess I really wasn’t expecting him to get his own book. And I especially wasn’t prepared for just how good his story was and how truly wonderful he was as a romance hero.
Trying to explain why, though, isn’t as simple as labeling him either as domineering alpha, sensitive beta or loveable gamma because as it turned out, he was a little bit of all of the above depending on the circumstances. What he truly was however was a bit of an enigma wrapped in a conundrum because at times he actually reminded me a bit of the best secret identity characters who hide their brains and intelligence behind foppish public demeanors when not out saving the world. Only, the truth was that he actually does love his clothes and all those other foppish past-times, first and foremost, until he finds himself falling hard for his new and mostly unwanted bride.
The real kicker is that even at the end of the book, he’s still basically a true fop, but one who is madly in love with his wife and quite willing to get dirty if that’s what it takes to make her happy or save her from harm. After all cleaning him up are what valets are for, are they not?
Unexpected hero that truly worked for me? Oh, yeah.
So, who are the most unexpected heroes you’ve ever run across in romances?
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I actually sat down after posting about Raliegh and reread TLR yet again. He’s just so cute but in a good way. What struck me on that second reread, though, was how well matched him and Jane were. Not so much opposites as that she just needed his influence to bring out another facet of her own existing personality. Very well done romance.
Okay, I’ll stop gushing about this one. ;p
Thanks. It’s been years since I read this book. I need to double check my keeper shelf and see if it’s there, if not, I may need to make a trip to the UBS.
LOVE this book. Always great for a reread 😉
Raleigh always reminds me of the hero of Balogh’s The Famous Heroine. He was a pretty unexpected hero, too.