Why is it that just when a gorgeous-and-unusually-responsible-for-his-age duke realizes he's found the dream wife he didn't know he'd been hankerin' for, he decides the best way to win her is to offer her carte blanche? Probably because deep down, all men are boneheads, at least the ones who're worth their salt as potentially marginally bastardly romance heroes.
It's the promise of a stand-up guy's being capable of jumping lunkhead when his heart, hormones and honor are at cross purposes that allows the nice-guy hero a chance in Hell at competing with the classic Bad Boy we seem to adore.
Jenna Petersen gives great Good Boy Gone a Bit Bad in her sexy, appealing and tremendously fun to read "What the Duke Desires." In it, His Grace, Simon Crathorne, duke of Billingham, is charged with the duty of finding a spouse, begetting an heir and carrying on the sterling legacy created by his beloved-and-respected-by-all late father.
Attending the house party Simon's mother arranged for the purpose of gathering proper potential brides is Lillian Mayhew, who's out to expose a dark secret about Simon's "saintly" father which will destroy the Crathorne dynasty, and Simon's reputation.
As you've guessed, despite Simon's mother's considering Lillian Jezebel incarnate - and Lillian's best attempts to avoid the man she's coming to respect as well as desire - Simon can't stay away from Lillian or disregard the emotions she stirs in him.
Yet as the two struggle with obstacles that might seem insurmountable to any romance couple, "bonus" secrets crop up in the Crathorne family of which Simon wasn't aware - and which Lillian must decide whether to use to make Simon hers for life, or to make him pay.
Your Romantic Reads hostess Melanie Murray's got a wicked-exciting November in store for you, including a visit with Elizabeth Hoyt at RR! Click here to check out why Hoyt's Legend of the Four Soldiers series rocks, especially her newest, "To Desire a Devil!"
At least... I think so!
Hey you guys!
Your explanations are right on target! Sometimes I think the good-guy gone bad happens when the hero is inadvertently pushed there by the heroine's manipulations. I don't think that she sets out to do this, but it happens when the hero is pushed to the limit of his endurance. Let's face it, most times it's not bad. Who wants a goody good guy all the time! A little wicked thrown in there is like a little something to spice it up. Once it's spiced up, then that's when the good stuff all begins. The bells start to ring, stars are shining in their eyes and temptation is looming big time!
The heroine gives in when she's conflicted by his indecent proposal because it's really tempting to her. She likes what she sees, which is a new side to his character,but at that moment she's not going to admit it. They both wear down each other's resistance. That looming temptation can no longer be denied and they both give into to their desire. That's when it all comes out. She admits that she loved the good guy gone bad and he can bask in her adoration and admit he loved her daring! 
Hi Michelle - I love Jenna Petersen's books - she's an amazing talent. And bad boys - yes, yes! I love the supreme alpha male hero, and if he's bad, too, it makes for extra sizzling hot conflict with the heroine. It also gives him a bigger mountain to scale in terms of his growth, and the more extreme the character arc, the more satisfied I am with the book at the end. Give me a bitter, tortured hero anyday. I like a hero who surprises me, sometimes even shocks me with his badness. And in this age of political correctness, it takes a brave author to let her hero be genuinely bad in certain circumstances. But if the heroine is just as strong, she'll get him back on track, and that's part of the allure of romance - the taming of the wild beast .
