Decent Heroes?

[EloisaJames]

My new column is up -- talking about the few and wonderful romances that feature Totally Decent Heroes.  Not rakes, not degenerates, not (fill in the blank) - but men you'd actually love to spend a good forty years with!  

Please check it out - and afterwards, come back  here and share your recommendations.  What's your favorite romance starring a decent guy?  Literary or real life?

hugs, Eloisa

Eloisa's Column

[becke_davis]

I can recommend this one right off the bat -- I read Lisa Dale's new book, IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT and I absolutely fell in love with Eli. This is a wonderful book:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/It-Happened-One-Night/Lisa-Dale/e/9780446406901/?itm=1&USRI=LISA+DA...

Synopsis

Sometimes love finds you when you least expect it.

Lana Biel has always wanted to shake the dust of Vermont off her feet and see the world, one exotic country after another. But when a lighthearted spring fling changes her life forever, she turns to the one man whose strong shoulders can lighten any burden: her best friend, Eli Ward.

Eli has always been there for Lana--after all, that's what best friends do. But Lana isn't the only one hiding something. Eli is keeping secrets of his own that threaten their relationship. Yet as summer turns to fall, new desires awaken between them, even as old fears tear them apart. Then, when another Vermont winter fills the valleys with snow, Eli and Lana are given the chance for an adventure greater than they ever dreamed possible...and a love that will last for all time.

Biography

A lifelong bookworm, Lisa Dale is a firm believer that there are few things in life better than curling up with a novel and a cup of tea. Lisa Dale worked in publishing for a number of years before earning her MFA from Fairleigh Dickinson University. A former assistant editor of The Literary Review and nominee for Best New American Voices 2010, Lisa lives and writes in Northern New Jersey. 

For book trailers and excerpts you can visit Lisa's personal Web site, www.LisaDaleBooks.com. Or you can join the conversation on www.BookAnatomy101.com, a blog where Lisa dissects, scrutinizes, and otherwise tinkers with "how books work." Lisa loves chatting with readers and writers, so log on and say hi!

[becke_davis]

I've been thinking about this, and I keep coming up with "chick lit" books that have wonderful heroes. Here are a couple:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=bc6RqrwBIn&isbn=141650334X&itm=3

And I'm a HUGE, HUGE fan of everything Melissa Nathan wrote in her tragically short life. As I recall, all of her heroes were amazingly good guys:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Persuading-Annie/Melissa-Nathan/e/9780060595807/?itm=2&usri=melissa...

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Nanny/Melissa-Nathan/e/9780060560119/?itm=5&usri=melissa+nathan

[VanessaKelly]

One of my favorite decent guy romances is Mr. Impossible, by Loretta Chase.  Rupert Carsington is supposed to be the epitome of the reckless rake, but he is really a thoroughly decent and kind man.  Right off the bat, he gets thrown into prison because he intervenes when a group of soldiers are beating a cripple.  And he's willing to do just about anything to help the heroine, including play the dunce because it makes her feel more in control of her situation.  That, and he can't stand to see her upset!

I also love JAK/Amanda Quick's heroes, many of whom are not rakes, and are strongly motivated to defend the weak and fight injustice.

One of my favorite decent guy heroes is Rafe, from Eloisa's The Taming of The Duke.  He's very flawed, but a totally, totally good guy.  He so deserved his happy ending.

[becke_davis]

---

VanessaKelly wrote:

One of my favorite decent guy romances is Mr. Impossible, by Loretta Chase.  Rupert Carsington is supposed to be the epitome of the reckless rake, but he is really a thoroughly decent and kind man.  Right off the bat, he gets thrown into prison because he intervenes when a group of soldiers are beating a cripple.  And he's willing to do just about anything to help the heroine, including play the dunce because it makes her feel more in control of her situation.  That, and he can't stand to see her upset!

I also love JAK/Amanda Quick's heroes, many of whom are not rakes, and are strongly motivated to defend the weak and fight injustice.

One of my favorite decent guy heroes is Rafe, from Eloisa's The Taming of The Duke.  He's very flawed, but a totally, totally good guy.  He so deserved his happy ending.

Vanessa - I'll second all of your choices! SUCH good books, too! I'll add Nora Roberts' Devin MacKade to the list:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-MacKade-Brothers/Nora-Roberts/e/9780373285808/?itm=1&usri=devin...

[Cheyenne_Catina]

carter from the first of the bride quartet...alot of nora roberts book have stand up guys for heroes

[cheri2628]

When I think of good, decent heroes, the first to pop into my mind are the Bridgerton brothers from JQ's series.  I also loved the brothers in Jodi Thomas' Whispering Mountain series.  Another good man was Quinn Fortesque in Sophia Nash's The Kiss.  Oh, and Camden from EJ's Duchess In Love.  All of these were GREAT guys!

[Eva_Gale]

...You know, I can't remember the last time I read a decent hero. 

[dhaupt]

The last decent hero I remember was from Roxanne St. Claire's book Hunt Her Down where Dan was the ultimate good guy. A Bullet Catcher, second in command to the organization who had a thing for Maggie since his previous life. I'm sure there are more. But I think it's a rare author who can pull that off because rouges and rakes are much easier to write about and to fall in love with when these types of rascals finally find themselves brought to their knees by love.

[becke_davis]

I hesitate to mention this one because you'll think I'm getting kickbacks from Jodi Thomas, but I'm going to toss in her book FINDING MARY BLAINE again. As the book begins, you don't get the impression Mark is going to win any decent guy awards. But by the end of the book, he is.

[EloisaJames]

I want to chime in and agree with Cheri -- thinking of Julia Quinn's heroes, I can't think of a single one who <i>isn't</i> a decent guy.  She says that she tries to write jerks, but it never works.

Eloisa

[PrincessBumble…]

Eloisa, I have to agree with you on that one. Even when Julia Quinn did the one about the highwayman, he was still totally a good guy! And I can't wait to read more about Dev Santos of Nalini Singh's "Blaze of Memory". He's supposed to be a good guy, too!