"🎯 Purpose
To explore how male characters in Mathes’s novels reflect and challenge traditional masculinity through emotional depth, vulnerability, and their role in healing.

🧩 Key Themes to Explore
Masculinity as Emotional Labor: How do male leads show love through caregiving, listening, and vulnerability?

Grief as a Catalyst: How does loss shape their identity and relationships?

Romantic Partnership vs. Emotional Dependency: Are these men co-architects of healing or emotional crutches?

Subversion of Genre Tropes: How do Mathes’s male leads differ from typical “alpha” figures in paranormal romance or gothic suspense?

🔍 Character Analysis
Which male lead felt most emotionally real to you? Why?

How do these men express grief differently? What does that say about their emotional maturity?

In what ways do they support—not rescue—their partners?

🧠 Thematic Deep Dive
How does Mathes redefine masculinity in each novel?

What role does caregiving play in shaping male identity?

How do supernatural elements (dreams, hauntings, inherited objects) externalize male emotional trauma?

💬 Reader Reflection
Did any male character challenge your expectations of masculinity?

How do these portrayals compare to men in your favorite genre fiction?

What emotional moment between a male lead and his partner stayed with you?

🎨 Creative Activities
Character Map: Trace each male lead’s emotional arc—grief, growth, transformation.

Symbol Sketching: Illustrate or describe symbolic objects (e.g., Gideon’s dreams, Gavin’s spider ring) and how they reflect masculinity.

Role Reversal Rewrite: Choose a scene and rewrite it from the male lead’s POV, focusing on emotional nuance.

🏆 Bonus: Legacy & Impact
Invite readers to reflect on:

How Mathes’s male leads contribute to a broader literary shift toward emotional realism.

Whether these portrayals influence how readers perceive masculinity in real life.

What kind of male characters they want to see more of in fiction."

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