Real Women

Yesterday morning I decided to break my rule and go jogging with my husband. A while ago I made a vow never to go running or jogging with him and I’ve been sooooo good about it. Well, yesterday I was feeling uber motivated and wanted to go farther than I normally do. I couldn’t take the dog (too much humidity in FL) so to alleviate total boredom, I asked the man to come along.

On the last stretch I looked over at him and realized (in disgust) that he hadn’t even broken a sweat. Then I remembered WHY I didn’t jog with him anymore. I’m next to him drenched in sweat and breathing so hard I sound like a polar bear with asthma. It’s embarrassing really. When we got home I looked in the mirror and was even more horrified. My face was lobster red, my already super curly hair is frizzing all over the place, and I have leftover mascara (that I didn’t wash off the night before – yes, I’m sexy) smeared under my eyes. Not to mention, the entire front of my gray Notre Dame shirt was completely drenched. I looked like an accident victim. The man? Not a hair out of place or drop of sweat to be seen. He kissed me and tried to get frisky….Seriously??? All I know is he must love me if he wants me in that condition. Don’t know if I should be happy or horrified.

This reminded me why I love reading about less-than-perfect romance heroines (real women) and the men who love them. Perfect women are annoying enough in real life, I certainly don’t want to read about them in my books. The book is a little older, but there’s a scene from Up Close and Dangerous (Linda Howard) where the hero, Cam Justice, is realizing just how sexy the heroine is and it has nothing to do w/ her looks. In his own words, she looks like a bag lady. However, she’s busting her ass trying to find them shelter for the night and to keep him from freezing to death (their plane crashed in the mountains) and he seriously wants to jump her. This is one of the times when a hero was truly turned on by a heroine’s actions and determination and I found it incredibly hot.

When I was choosing my two heroes for the DIK draft, I basically had the two men I wanted lined up. I can’t remember who, but someone threw all their men back into the pot, thus disrupting my original choices. So, I picked Acheron as my first hero (don’t think I need to explain why) because I knew he’d get scooped up by the time it got back to me for the second round. I was on pins and needles trying to narrow my second choice and hoping someone didn’t get him. In the end, I chose Jack Culver from Roxanne St. Claire’s Now You Die because of his love for Lucy and because his attraction had very little to do with her looks. He saw past all her issues and was able to get in her face and break down her barriers without being a jackass. Lucy might be a badass but the woman has serious problems with trust (rightly so) and she’s so flawed and real it’s hard not to love her. When a woman has been through a lot but isn't a whiner or a martyr, it's just plain sexy.

So, while I like my heroines to be tough and determined and so not perfect, I still like my heroes to be just a little bit stronger. What about everyone else? Who are your favorite heroines? And why?