Happily Ever After Cafe discussion

While my second book contains one who is wealthy & handsome, and my third contains a hero who is closer to average on both counts, you may want to take a look at this one...my first. Not exactly the stereotype either, but a beautifully romantic individual.

Interesting question. I don't think the hero has to be described as gorgeous and with the perfect body for me to get into a story. But he has to have attractive qualities.

Bald? Yes, please. I think bald men are sexy.

Overweight? Sure...if he makes me laugh and doesn't have double standards for his women. I was in love with Seth Rogan in 'Knocked Up' and he was overweight, living paycheck to paycheck, but funny as hell.

Old enough to be my father? Yes, if he's in a relationship with an age appropriate woman. I don't want to read about a 65 year old man with a 20 year old woman. Ick. I enjoyed 'Somethings Gotta Give' and that was a relationship between an older couple.

There are a lot of personality traits that make men attractive which have nothing to do with their physical features. So, yes...bring 'em all on. If it is a compelling story, then I will read it.

R.C. wrote: "Interesting question. I don't think the hero has to be described as gorgeous and with the perfect body for me to get into a story. But he has to have attractive qualities.

Bald? Yes, please. I thi..."

I agree! Romance is a form of fantasy fulfillment, so my female characters come in all shapes and sizes, because as a reader I like to see someone I recognize. I vary my heroes, too. They are all strong in their own way, but not all are handsome or wealthy - one is nicknamed Griz because he reminds the h of a bear. As long as the H meets the needs of the h, I think any type of guy can work.

Studies show that women find a sense of humor and a supportive attitude sexier than good looks or wealth and there's a definite difference in who they'd like to spend the night with versus who they'd like to build a life with. As a reader, that's true for me, too, so I guess the type of hero I'm looking for depends on my fantasy mood of the moment! Does that mean I don't like handsome, wealthy heroes? Absolutely not! Who doesn't dream of that at one time or another? But sometimes I want a guy who's closer to the reality of my life.

If the story/romance is compelling, if the author makes me sigh with satisfaction, I'll fall in love with any guy.

I always visualize my own idea of a hero no matter what the book tells me. It helps if I know hair and eye color but as long as the heroine thinks he's handsome then I don't care what the rest of the world thinks. I have noticed you rarely if ever find a short hero though. Is short considered unattractive? My hubby is 5'10" and that's taller than my short 5'3" so it works. I can't think of any books offhand where the hero was under 6'.

Pamela(AllHoney) wrote: "I always visualize my own idea of a hero no matter what the book tells me. It helps if I know hair and eye color but as long as the heroine thinks he's handsome then I don't care what the rest of t..."

TRUEEEE! I can't picture Colin of Berhamshire in other than a adorable guy that is not that stinky hahahahaha :P I keep thinking it is pheromones

I don't need them handsome or having a to die for yummy delicious body....do I picture it anyway even if the description says they aren't. Yeah because their personality is handsome. That's what matters to me. Most of the time, even with a description, I make my own picture in my mind.

It's funny you mention height Pamela(AllHoney) because I don't think I can recall a short guy in any book I've read either. And it brings it to my attention that I never mention my guys heights in my books when I write. I guess that trait isn't a concern for me. I'm more into their eyes and smile:) That speaks to me romantic heart!

You're right, Pamela, in 99.99999999999% of books the hero is at least 6 foot. I do remember Stephanie Laurens had a hero in the Bastion Club series that was shorter. I think it was the final book, about the leader...and he was smarter than everyone else.

Here is a short hero (that is if I remember correctly)

I was thinking of all the over 6 foot heroes in books a couple of days ago.I was sitting somewhere and lot of couples were passing by and all the men seemed shorter than 6 foot. What's the authors' obsession with 6 foot men ?

I think authors think we women want the tall ones. And I do want taller than me but it doesn't have to be huge. I'm only 5'3" so most guys are taller than me anyway.

I don't particularly care I suppose. However the author wants to make him. But, like someone else said, no matter how he's described, in my mind they're all always like this vague, dark-haired, strong, tall hot guy. Always dark-haired. Even if the author says blond, my mind always sticks dark hair on him. Have to be strong, nicely built. I don't want to read about scrawny little men, though like the hair, I'd probably just imagine him my way anyway, lol. And tall. Have to be tall. Definitely taller than me. I'm 5'7" so they have to be taller than me. Always been a sort of 'requirement' of mine, wrong-headed though it may be xD

If is books heroes I always I always picture them how they describe them on the books... It does really bothers me when I have an image of a character an they transfer the book to a movie and is not like I imagine it to be... A lot of times I'm really disappointed.

Michelle, you are spot on. Jack Reacher is as tall as a tree. Not as short as Tom Cruise.

I am not very picky when it comes to the hero's physical appearance. So long as he has some admirable qualities, he can make an impact on me. If he's described as gorgeous, yet acts like an ass, then I have no interest in him.

Yep, personality trumps looks for me.

I always make my guys a little bit more rugged than most authors write them if they write them as more glossy pretty but normally I don't mind what they look like.

I am a sucker for the smart, kinda geeky cuties, (especially with glasses).

Pamela(AllHoney) wrote: "I always visualize my own idea of a hero no matter what the book tells me. It helps if I know hair and eye color but as long as the heroine thinks he's handsome then I don't care what the rest of t..."
When I read, I may see a hero in the general way that the author has written him, but I pretty much make up my own image of him. I think many readers do this and trying to force the readers into seeing them in only one way sort of insults their intelligence.

When I'm writing, I try to make my heroes realistic. A few are the classically handsome guys, but a lot of them are handsome in different ways. One of my favorite heroes is a paraplegic man who's kind, witty, and determined to be as independent as possible. So he's attractive in a different way. I make my characters as true to life as possible: all shapes, sizes, colors, flaws, and strengths.

I like a few descriptors-- like hair/eye color, build, and a predominant feature, (great smile, long hair, etc.)-- and then that's about all I need/want. If I don't get these basics then the character is really fuzzy for me and I can't see them for a while-- dialogue, plot, and action usually help fill in those blanks- assuming the book is reasonably well written. But there is also the risk of having too much detail, and then it's hard for me to get into the story/develop a picture on my own. I don't need to be told this guy looks EXACTLY like Brad Pitt- just give me a couple lines of sexy description and I'll get there on my own-- let it happen organically. I do like sexy main characters- but "sexy" is different for everyone. I think it's great to have variety-- in looks, ability, age...and ultimately, a wicked sense of humor or a really good attitude are the most sexy.

I agree with the last post. I like a few descriptors, so that I do get an idea of what the writer intended, but I also like there to be enough ambiguity so I can fill in the blanks. When I read romance, I like to identify with the people in the books, and sometimes I do that by imagining men I find dreamy when I read them. It sounds silly, but it's true.

I agree to having a description of what the hero looks like so that in my mind I can picture him. But as to if it matters whether they are described as handsome, for their personality on page jumps out. If I am finding the hero to be witty, kind, sweet, etc I tend to picture him as handsome. Sometimes even with description I'll still picture him in my own way depending on his personality.

Kit★ wrote: "I don't particularly care I suppose. However the author wants to make him. But, like someone else said, no matter how he's described, in my mind they're all always like this vague, dark-haired, str..."

I'm laughing at this cause I just put my first romance novel out there. The hero is blonde. Really blonde, like I keep going on about how blonde and how kind of striking it looks with dark eyes and blah and blah. (He's blonde. Did I say? :- D)

Chat going on with one of its first readers and I pass some crack about little blonde babies.
REALLY??? she says, I've always seen Russell as dark!

Ayyyyyy!!!!

lol

I read once in a writer's advice column to not describe the characters in minute detail because the readers tend to visualize what they want to anyway. I know I do.

As far as the origonal question, if looks matter... yes and no, depends on the type of story. I like handsome, who doesn't, but I can even handle an ugly, Beauty and the Beast thing, if well done, like Ambrose in Amy Harmon's Making Faces.

A man has to have attractive qualities to be the hero, and looks is only part of that equation. I find the billionare thing totally overdone along with the duke...aristocracy thing. I'd prefer a man of wiles and intelligence to money and social standing any day. I kind of like my heroes a little dirty and damaged frankly.

The biggest turn off on a hero is not his looks but his chauvanism...to me Christian Grey was a total turn off. I skimmed the first book only because my niece raved about it. No desire to read the rest. I want alpha but there is a fine line where he becomes a jerk.

To chime in on the height discussion...I always make my heroes tall, simply because I like it. I think most women want to feel safe in a man's arms and for me that means him being larger than me. Of course that isn't hard since I'm 5'2". But I still go for the 6' hero.

I don't need a detailed description of the hero either. But there have been a few times where the description actually put me off. I recently read Dark Lover and I hated the description of the hero. Legs the size of tree trunks isn't sexy for me. Black hair with a widows peak doesn't do it for me either. I like it when the hero has flaws - even physical ones - like a scar or crooked nose.

R.C. wrote: "I like it when the hero has flaws - even physical ones - like a scar or crooked nose..."

Me too. ☺

I'm quite heavily influence by the cover image. If the hero on the cover doesn't do it for me, then I usually pass the book over. He doesn't have to be perfect - in fact too perfect just isn't believable - but he has to have appeal. Personally, the recent cover trend of putting a bare chested, six-pack, muscle bound man on the cover is a big turn off. If I see one more cover like that I think I'll scream!

Oh absolutely, we all have very different ideas of our dream blokey.
I do try to leave my descriptions vague, but it can be quite tricky to do that.

My book covers only feature faces, and not the entire body, and even then I try to leave them as an indication only.
The weird thing about ebooks is that you rarely see the cover once you've bought it, so I think this approach is OK. :-/

And what's a hero without a flaw? Nobody's perfect, right?

So, imagine what you want, dear reader.

I have found it hard to read with the TV on. I found myself reading and suddenly the characters look like whatever TV show is on. Really difficult when my daughter was into SpongeBob. So I won't read in the living room when my family is watching TV. lol

Pamela(AllHoney) wrote: "I have found it hard to read with the TV on. I found myself reading and suddenly the characters look like whatever TV show is on. Really difficult when my daughter was into SpongeBob. So I won't re..."

Tee hee

**chuckles**

Of course, we've all got a different idea about what the word 'handsome' means, so a VERY detailed description of the hero in a book, even though the author thinks he or she is describing the perfect man, might put quite some readers off. Yes, we should definitely leave most things to the readers' imagination - but the trick is to make the heroine fall in love with him head over heels and start loving EVERYTHING about him, so that in the end we really don't know if he's really that perfect or if it's the way the girl sees him. Anyway, we should ALL see our own boyfriend/husband/partner as the perfect man!

Do I care what the hero looks like? Not really. The author provides the description, but the reader is the one who really imagines what the hero looks like, most likely based on whatever type they find attractive. I think the personality is what matters. That's what's going to get the heroine to fall head over heels.

As long as the hero is tall, dark and handsome - that's all I need to know! My mind will do the rest of the inventing.

Most books do seem to have really tall guys. I am short and, in reality, there is no way a 6ft guy would appeal to me. In a book, it matters less although I don't think a specific height needs to be mentioned.

Marie wrote: "As long as the hero is tall, dark and handsome - that's all I need to know! My mind will do the rest of the inventing.

Most books do seem to have really tall guys. I am short and, in reality, ther..."

Well,, I guess we gals all like a tall man, that's why the heroes in most of the books are tall. I'm short myself, but my sweetheart is 6'4", and I LOVE it! And I see him in all those tall, dark and handsome book heroes, of course...

I like a tall, dark and handsome hero too. But, I really like it when the heroine is just as tall and buff as the hero. More a match of equals rather than the dominance of bigger over smaller.

Anita wrote: "I like a tall, dark and handsome hero too. But, I really like it when the heroine is just as tall and buff as the hero. More a match of equals rather than the dominance of bigger over smaller."

That shows you can't argue about taste... I must say that, though I like equality as much as the next gal, in a relationship I'd always dreamed of a 'dominant' man - not only taller than me, but also a good deal older; and that's what I've finally found now...
So I guess it's a good thing that the book relationships concerning height, age and all that vary greatly - there's something for everybody!

Marie wrote: "I am short and, in reality, there is no way a 6ft guy would appeal to me."

Marie, I just read and the hero isn't that tall. Of course, the heroine is a petite little jewel, and he has many other assests and abilites. Excellent story. Especially how he deal with his size and equalized the playing field while growing up.

Since this thread is active right now I'm going to post this here:

Carol [Goodreads Addict] added a status update
You guys! There's a new batch of spammers out friend requesting you. They have no profile pic and 0 books. They have links on their profile to their sex sites. You have to be so careful and check the profile of every friend request and every follower. Flag and Block!! Be careful!

Thanks Anita

Yes, I've been getting some. I don't accept friend requests of someone who has no books. Why bother? Thanks for the heads-up, Anita.

Thank you. Not got any spam as yet though I would check the profile out first.

Thanks Lisa. Unusual for an author to buck the tall hero trend! Personality should always win out.

Hi All!
Do any of you have a certain person you picture as the hero? And actor or whoever? Whenever I read a historical romance, I always seem to end up visualizing a young Timothy Dalton, no matter how the author describes him. 😂

For the longest time my heroes were Channing Tatum and my heroines were Rebecca Romijn.

occasionally, I will have a certain actor in mind but it changes. Chris Hemsworth comes to mind as well as a young Sam Elliott (although the older Sam is not bad). Too many to really list.

I have never had an actor come to mind when reading a book. I seem to have more of a shadowy image of the characters, with certain features coming out more prominently (Roark's smile, hair and eyes are very much set in my mind as is Jamie Fraser's shoulders, how he holds himself, smile and hair).

It is more there tone of voice that comes through for me and once it is set in my mind I can recall it easy. That may be why I cannot seem to like the audio CDs of books I have read, they never can get the voice and tone right in my mind.

Looks matter, but they aren't everything. I don't think of an actor/actress when reading. What really matters is how the author develops the character. I'm actually not fond of when authors opt out of developing their character's looks and just say he looks like such and such actor.