Romance Writers & Readers discussion

I wish there were more romance novels written where either the hero was loving, caring, respectful, etc. towards the heroine (instead of acting like a villain in a Victorian novel - blackmailing, just using her, etc.) or if he was abusive to her, she wouldn't put up with it.

I know a lot of people find 'nice guys' boring, not exciting, etc. but I wish all kinds of romantic fiction were written to satisfy all tastes.

If we want to see a guy act like a jerk, be abusive, etc., we can just put the book down and look around us.

Alberta :)

Lots of romance novels feature nice guys! All kinds of romantic fiction are being written. Maybe you haven't looked in the right place. Jill Shalvis, Lisa Kleypas, Julia Quinn, Shelly Laurenston, Sarah Maclean, Julie James and many many more all write nice heroes that aren't abusive. There are tons of indies that write nice guys stories too.

I actually don't read a lot of romance, but I wrote one, LOL.

Anyway, I definitely chose to go the "sweet" way. I though having my male be sweet and caring would up the conflict greatly for my heroine.

I agree with Alexis, there are tons of romance novels written with nice guys. Jill Shalvis writes some excellent stories! Indies as well!

I do believe there's something out there for everyone. Lots of different types of romances, lots of different types of heroes heroines.

I do have to give a friendly reminder that we need to keep it respectful and non-criticizing here. While one person may enjoy a nice guy with a sweetness to him, others enjoy the rougher, dominating kind of guy. We all have different tastes and we shouldn't judge someone for that. (Not saying you are.)

Are you asking for recommendations, Alberta? Because Alexis gave you a great start for recommendations. Or to start a conversation about this?

I know of some books with nice guy heroes too! You'll definitely find more than one nice guy for you to choose from. I love books where the guys would be good to be around.

Queen Amanda and I were just talking about , which was a fab book, in our humble opinions haha! Anyhoo, the banter is quick and witty annnnd the H could almost pass for a beta (not really, but he's anything but a jerk).

Personally, I prefer my heroes very alpha jerk but if I think of anymore, shall be sure to share!

And totally agree with everyone else. Tons and tons of nice guys in romance. I see em all the time when I'm passing by. Tee hee.

Ha ha, Annie...you made me think of that song on the radio about "Nice Guys Finish Last"... :)

@Miss Amie: LOL they totally do with me!

*pats nice guy on head*

It's okay, though, buds. All the sweet romance lovers will appreciate all the sweet things you do in the very sweet way you do em.

Is talking to a hypothetical fictional character unhealthy? I mean the fictional part seems okay, but the hypothetical part worries me...

^_~

EDIT: Sorry for getting off-topic. I've been AWOL for 24 hours and seem to miss GR talk haha! Okay, no excuses. Sorry.

Annie wrote: "Queen Amanda and I were just talking about , which was a fab book, in our humble opinions haha! Anyhoo, the banter is quick and witty annnnd the H could almost pass for a b..."

so funny because I started to reread that one when we talked about it. I got halfway through already, and then got distracted by some other books (since I've read it before) hahaha

OMG I did too! Both started rereading it (cuz some of the food-related bits are hilarious) and got distracted (cuz obvi read it before too) LMAO!!

That's too funny, Mistress Ann!

Oh, another good one is

Such a sweet guy, and he's younger too. She doesn't like being older than him and yeah, just a really fun, sweet book! One of my faves!!!

Alexis wrote: "Lots of romance novels feature nice guys! All kinds of romantic fiction are being written. Maybe you haven't looked in the right place. Jill Shalvis, Lisa Kleypas, Julia Quinn, Shelly Laurenston, S..."

I forgot to mention Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Her heroines are more likely to do f###ed up sh*t than her heroes lol.

Emma Chase has nice heroes, only Drew is a jerk.

Samantha Young has some nice heroes.

Nora Roberts omg.

I mean, man, there are a LOT of authors writing nice guys lol.

I don't read as many romance indie authors but I'm sure plenty of us write nice guys too.

Oh dear. I read a lot of nice guys.

Take a look at some of my reviews and/or my own books (I think all my guys are nice).

Happy hunting xx

Alexis wrote: "Emma Chase has nice heroes, only Drew is a jerk."

Oh, yeah! Totes forgot all about the talented Miss Chase. Annnd I adore Drew haha!

I prefer nice guys. Just read Take Me Home by Nancy Herkness and the hero is nice and sting and conscious of how his size freaks people out.

I don't think I'd continue reading a romance where the guy wasn't nice. To me, that wouldn't equal romance. He may have his flaws (who doesn't?), but if he's a mean jerk, I'd be done.

I rather have a complex male character. Combining the two nice and bad into a more realistic character would be better.

Most of the books I read have reasonably nice characters, both heroes and heroines, except for the dark romance books Mistress Ann got me reading! I enjoy nice characters but I really prefer interesting, multi-faceted, multi-dimensional characters, if a character is just "nice" then I'm probably going to lose interest in them! I like characters to be real people, with flaws, and problems, and strengths, and weaknesses, and issues to overcome

Angel wrote: "I rather have a complex male character. Combining the two nice and bad into a more realistic character would be better."

That's pretty much where I'm at. An acquaintance of mine (who lived an action-packed life as a street criminal and biker before settling down and going straight about 20 years ago) put it best when he said:

"I know for a fact that I'm not a good man. What I do is wake up every morning and do my best to act like one."

Of course, his other quote to somebody who started annoying him and wouldn't stop was:

"Look pal, I'm dead sure I'm way better at acting like a vicious, violent a-hole than you are. Why don't you settle down and play nice...I don't feel like busting out the Vet-Vac.*"

I don't mind if the hero's got an edge to him, even a serious or violent one; what I don't like is when he treats the heroine poorly. That goes double if he tries to go all controlling or possessive of her - I know some people like it, but I can't stand that stuff.

(*): This was an oblique way for him to say 'keep doing what you're doing and I'll make you bleed. A lot.'

I wouldn't mind having that guy on my side.

Oh I like the sound of that biker dude! <3

@Abigail: One of the things I often tell people is that truly tough individuals (as opposed to wanna-bes) can be both the nicest and the safest people to hang out with. Its the wanna-bes and the macho idiots who are both unpleasant and unsafe.

Unfortunately most attempts in romance to write a "tough guy" that I've read come off more as the second category than the first.

@T.L.: You probably wouldn't have liked him back then. He usually describes his old self as "a paranoid, violent jacka**" who drank too much, got into way too many fights and did a lot of other dumb stuff. These days he's more or less a pleasant person, but he's also mellowed with age; passing fifty does that for most folks. :D