Heroines in Romance Novels

During the ‘Hero Blog Hop’ at the end of last month, someone asked me if there was going to be a ‘Heroine Blog Hop’. As I haven’t seen one advertised anywhere, I thought I’d take a look anyway at my heroines.

First of all, what’s my ideal romance novel heroine?

Gone are the days (thank heaven!) when heroines in romance novels were wimps, waiting for the alpha heroes to seduce (if not actually rape) and dominate them. Ugh, not my scene at all.

I want my heroines to be independent and intelligent women. They don’t:

(a) think they’re ‘incomplete’ without a man, but they do find joy in loving and being loved.

(b) want to dominate or be dominated, but consider themselves equal.

(c) think of themselves as someone’s ‘other half’ but want to bring to the relationship their whole self, and they want their man to do the same.

They want a relationship with mutual respect, caring, understanding and, of course, love. Of course, they’re not perfect – they may have their inner insecurities or they make mistakes, but they’re prepared to admit to these and do whatever they can to put things right.

In ‘His Leading Lady’, Jessica Harper is very much her own person. She understands her twin sister Lora in a way no-one else really does and her loyalty leads her to cover for Lora who’s gone missing on the eve of rehearsals for a new West End show (in which Lora has the lead role). Jess can hold her own with super-confident theatre director Kyle Drummond too, and overcomes her own lack of confidence about taking on a lead role in London’s West End. It’s her personality which eventually leads Kyle to show the tender, more compassionate side of his nature.

One reviewer wrote: Jess is by far my favorite character...strong willed, smart, and most of all REAL! You can really connect to her character.

In ‘Fragrance of Violets’, Abbey Seton is at a low point in her life. She’d had a successful acting career, but now she’s failed to get the role she’d set her heart on, so she’s suffering a confidence crisis. She’s also aware of her inability to ‘forgive and forget’ – first the father who abandoned his family when she was younger, and then her best friend Jack Tremayne who, in her mind, had ruined their friendship when they were in their teens. When Jack comes back into her life, she’s forced to explore her own issues of forgiveness and trust.

One reviewer wrote: Abbey's prejudice is cleverly explained and my heart went out to her. I felt her anger and disgust, her pain and disillusionment as she remembers how her father abandoned his family and let them down time and time again.

In ‘Changing the Future’, Lisa has made a new life for herself and her young son after Paul walks out of her life. When they meet again, she has to come to terms with her anger and resentment, and eventually with her realisation that Paul wasn’t the only one responsible for the break-up of their earlier relationship.

In ‘Her Only Option’ (my next release in November), Neve Dalton loves her life as a River Nile cruise ship tour guide. She loves her independence too, and isn’t ready to settle down with her Egyptian boyfriend. She’s not ready, either, to have her life turned upside-down by the compelling archaeologist Ross McAllister. But she then has to make a heart-breaking decision in order to protect the man who has set her soul on fire.

All my heroines commit themselves, heart and soul, to the men they love – and at the same time, they learn more about themselves as they struggle to overcome the problems which threaten to keep them apart.