Athlete romance heroes - yay or nay?

I’ve read the advice that romance writers should never write about heroes who are athletes. But I’ve broken rules before, and writing a romance with a hockey player hero was something I always wanted to do. So I did it!

Why shouldn’t we use athletes as heroes? I actually don’t know the reason behind it other than I always thought it was maybe because they were “overused” and people got tired of them. But actually, I haven’t read many romances where the hero is a professional athlete. Susan Elizabeth Phillips writes about great football players. One of my favourite Sandra Brown books, Play Dirty, is about a (former) NFL quarterback - OMG I loved Griff. I’ve read a few books about hockey players - a couple of Harlequins and a Rachel Gibson book. Erin McCarthy writes some great stories about NASCAR racers and Jill Shalvis has written about baseball players.

Today is release day for my book Breakaway, which features a professional hockey player hero. Lest you think that hockey players are big and ugly and have no teeth, behold:


Zach Parise (Can I just say a hockey player in a suit is sooooo hot)




Henrik Lundqvist



Jose Theodore



Mike Camalleri



Maxime Lapierre



Patrick Sharp

But of course, it’s not looks that make a hero, although big muscles and a sexy smile do help! Qualities of determination, passion, loyalty, dedication, sacrifice and courage are important for heroes too. And don’t professional athletes have all those? In Breakaway, Jase is a man who grew up with a lot of struggles that made him determined to succeed. He’s loyal to his team, dedicated to his sport and passionate about hockey. He’s brave enough to fight when he needs to, but smart enough to step away when fighting isn’t right. He’s not perfect—he’s afraid of commitment and responsibility outside the rink (at least, at first) and he’s a fun loving guy rather than serious. But a hero is also someone who’s brave enough to face his flaws and fears and who is willing to grow.

In Breakaway, Remi’s best friend isn’t thrilled that Remi is getting involved with a professional athlete. She’s thinking about the athletes who've been in the news lately—men who cheat on their wives. Men who are accused of rape or "sexting". Men who get drunk and crash their cars. Men who take performance enhancing drugs. Some of the qualities that make them so successful—single-minded determination and ambition —can also turn selfish. And when an athlete becomes a “star”, when he becomes wealthy, able to do whatever he wants, buy whatever he wants, maybe that can change him. Maybe he feels privileged, entitled, above the law.

Jase is successful and he has reporters and puck bunnies stalking him, and he’s definitely wealthy, but at his core he remains profoundly grateful for the talent he’s been given and determined to make the best of that by working hard at his profession. Yes, it’s a game, but even fun-loving Jase knows it’s a business and it’s serious. And when the chips are down—oh, sorry wrong game metaphor. How about, when the puck is dropped, Jase mans up and takes responsibility for his actions.

Any other athlete romance heroes you’ve fallen in love with?

For an excerpt from Breakaway visit my blog.
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Chest Hair - Yea or Nay?

The other day, someone I follow on Twitter posted a shirtless pic of Alex O'Loughlin, from Hawaii Five-0. Almost immediately, someone posted in response, "ew. Chest hair." (My immediate thought was, you've got a gorgeous pic of a gorgeous man like AOL and all you can see is the chest hair? Are you mad?)

But it was true - chest hair was preventing that commenter from enjoying the photo. Others chimed in with their thoughts, pro and con, and thus started a minor Twitter war, between those who like their beefcake pictures with chest hair, and those who prefer them without.

It's been a topic of discussion surrounding romance novel covers as well. Some like the heroes on the books to be smooth and chest-hair-less, while others vote for a more au naturel look. (And yes, I know some men are naturally less hairy than others.) The discussions can get rather...heated, too.

I've noticed that on the German soaps I've watched, most of the men have smooth chests. Same with most model pics I've used for my Inspiration Friday posts. Then there's Alex O'Loughlin and Scott Caan (who sadly hasn't been shirtless on Hawaii Five-0 yet), both with chest hair. And both rowr-worthy, IMO. So I'm flexible - I can appreciate a pic of a hot guy with or without chest hair. But I know that many other women fall strictly into one camp or another.

So my question to you is - chest hair or no? Or does it matter? When you look at a romance novel cover, does chest hair (or the lack thereof) draw you in, or turn you off?

Bad Girls

This particular musing has its origin in a couple of blog posts here a while ago. First, M.J. Fredrick blogged here about her love of bad boys, and judging from the comments that followed, she wasn’t alone. Then my fellow Niner Kinsey Holley blogged about her discomfort with heroines who are promiscuous, and I’m with her on that too. So my question is this: Do we feel the same about bad girl heroines as we do about bad boy heroes? I don’t think so, or at least not exactly.

In my case, I’m willing to accept bad behavior in a hero (provided it doesn’t last very long), but I’m less likely to be understanding with a heroine. I don’t think this is the result of sexism. It’s more because I can’t identify with that kind of heroine so readily. It’s one thing, for example, if the heroine has been forced into a situation where she has to be promiscuous (like the occasional courtesan heroines in regencies, who are almost always victims), but it’s different for me if the heroine sleeps around because she doesn’t feel she deserves anything better. Maybe it’s cultural conditioning, but I want my heroines to value themselves.

This isn’t to say that sexually active heroines aren’t acceptable. Kerry Greenwood has a wonderful series of historicals set in twenties Melbourne about a detective named Phryne Fisher. Phryne has more lovers than Sam Spade, but we know she’s smart and very much in charge, and we know she has a very clear sense of who she is. She may have a long list of exotic men in her life, but she doesn’t seem damaged in the least.

I have to admit that occasionally a bad girl heroine can be appealing, provided she’s on her way to something better. Susan Elizabeth Phillips has several, although her bad girls are more spoiled than slutty and they’re usually trying to change (which makes them sort of reformed bad girls). There’s the heroine in Ain’t She Sweet, for example, who tries to make amends for having been a bitch on wheels in her youth. You know she’s been awful because Phillips shows you just how awful she was, but you can’t help rooting for her because she isn’t awful anymore.

And sometimes I find myself even liking a bad girl heroine who isn't yet ready to save herself, like Grace Hanadarko, the heroine of TNT’s Saving Grace. I have to admit, I didn’t much like Grace at first. She’s all the things I usually object to: promiscuous, alcoholic, frequently self-destructive. But she’s also brave, forthright, and a very good cop. And she’s a damaged person trying to find herself, much like some bad boys. Like the classic bad boy hero, she slips under your defenses until you end up caring about her in spite of her bad behavior.

So maybe that’s the point in the end. Bad boys and bad girls can be heroes and heroines, but only if they’re not really bad. Somewhere in that welter of bad deeds, there has to be a good person trying to worm her way out. In fact, I doubt that we love real bad boys and girls—they’re usually the villains. What we love are the bad boys and girls who have the potential to be good. And given that we’re talking romance here (with the mandatory HEA), that potential has a very good chance of being fulfilled.

So what do you think? Do bad girl heroines work for you?