Fans of Interracial Romance discussion

The hero of my story has done some pretty bad things in his life (and continues do so for a portion of the book). Much of this is due to manipulation by a father figure that has never loved or accepted him, and who was emotionally abusive during his childhood. While he's never actually hurt the heroine, his actions have caused her to be hurt badly. My question to the group is - as writers and readers, how bad do you feel a character can be before he's no longer acceptable to readers? What line would he have to cross before he becomes irredeemable?

Note: This is not a book about the Mafia at all.

I'm really not sure. I guess it would be depend on the type of back story that was given. Like, could his past really justify his decisions now, or at least help the reader say "It's not right, but I understand." You know what I mean?

For me, if the hero has done something that has indirectly hurt the heroine, I have to know that he feel remorse and wants to do something to make up for the hurt he has caused. If he continues to be manipulated, continues to hurt her and others, then I wonder why she stays with him and I lose any empathy I might have for the character.

Mstcat, some of my favorite novels " The Warlord" and "Whitney, My Love" both had tortured heroes who treated the heroine bad.

In The Warlord, the hero locks the heroine away while she is pregnant with his child, but he visits her every night and watches her sleeps. I guess because of the time period he couldn't show weakness and seeing her at night was the only time he could let himself be weak by just watching her.

With a tortured hero some will like it and others will not. I think what most readers will appreciate is, if you make the hero very tortured and/or cruel to the heroine you must also make him just as loving and passionate towards her. Swoon worthy momemts.....

I grew up reading a lot of books with tortured and cruel type heroes.....but even with that they were also very loving and you must balance the two even if it just later in the book.

As a reader, I look for characters to be realistic, not perfect. As a writer, I try to develop my characters how I envision them. Sometimes they're selfish, emotionally detached, promiscuous, devious, criminals, etc. I can think of something every character I've ever written has done or said that's made me cringe. As far as being redeemable, I would say that it's all in the way you present their faults that determines that. If their transgression/behavior is just swept under the rug and never properly dealt with, I could see that not sitting well with your readers. However, if the character owns up to their faults and if the time allotted for the healing process between the hero and heroine is realistic, I believe that the readers can fall back in love with him just like the heroine can. Does love conquer ALL? Probably not, but I believe that there're very few things that it can't :) Good luck!

Exactly, when the hero owns up to his faults, the reader can feel empathy for him and rekindle the bond they've established. :) If he never owns up to what he's done wrong, we lose respect for him.

I prefer realistic characters, which means by definition they will have flaws. That's what makes their journey to love so memorable.

There's an old saying that when you first fall in love, you think your beloved has no flaws. When you grow to love him/her more, you love him/her despite any flaws. But when you grow to REALLY love someone, you love that person BECAUSE of their flaws, because without those flaws he/she wouldn't be the person you love.

I am a huge fan of the anti-hero, coming from a fantasy background. Flawed characters are great as long as the people surrounding them keep them in check and that I see them grow organically. A flawed hero paired with a doormat heroine makes me facepalm.

I think my biggest deal-breaker is cheating. I hate infidelity and it's very hard to get past that. I don't care for physically or emotionally abusive heroes either. I don't count if they were originally enemies and they had confrontations as a result. I think I can deal with most kinds of flaws so long as the writing shows a change in the person and that they have genuinely showed they were sorry for what they did to the other person.

I would have to say it depends on context and what the character's motivations are.

I only have a couple of hard lines in the sand with the major one being I will not accept a hero who is physically or intentionally emotionally abusive.

When it comes to old skool bodice rippers, I have made an uneasy peace with my nostalgic enjoyment of some of the dubcon sexual stuff. But for books written these days I would give "forced seduction" a major side eye.

But more than not I want a flawed character. I don't like shiny people. They make my teeth ache. I don't necessarily need to like everything the character does, but I need to understand -- and in some cases -- condone what they do/are.

Thanks everyone for the input! This was very helpful in alleviating the concerns that I had for my character. He's very dark and violence has been a huge part of his life. That said, he isn't personally violent or abusive towards the heroine. He definitely feels remorse for his actions and wants to be a better person.
I wholeheartedly agree with you @TheFountainPenDiva about the flawed hero and doormat of a heroine pairing - it just doesn't work for me either.

Danielle The Book Huntress (Angels Weep For Goodreads) wrote: "I think my biggest deal-breaker is cheating. I hate infidelity and it's very hard to get past that. I don't care for physically or emotionally abusive heroes either. I don't count if they were orig..."

Me too. There are a few IR's I won't read because one of the characters (more often the heroine I've found) is knowingly in a relationship with a married man then gets a clue that he's not leaving wifey so she finally moves on. So sorry but a hero/heroine like that doesn't deserve a happy ending.

In RL, I abhor the idea of infidelity, but when I write I really like exploring what makes people unfaithful. I also find myself reading a lot of books about people who are cheating. They make for interesting character studies.

A few years ago read a book about a woman who was knowingly having a sexual relationship with an underaged boy. That book was hard going. She had no remorse, she knew what she was doing was wrong and she just didn't give a damn. I wish I could remember the title of the book...I just remember thinking this woman disgusts me and yet it was such a compelling read I couldn't put the book down.