The Romance Hero: Too Good to be True? by Elle Kennedy

In tight quarters, anything can happen.

It’s been a rough month for Navy SEAL Cash McCoy. Fresh off six months of celibacy during his deployment, he almost got into a hot blonde’s panties before they were interrupted. Since then, he still hasn’t gotten laid. The reason? He lost her number. And no other woman has replaced her face in his fantasies.

Then his CO asks him to keep an eye on his sister for a few weeks. Just until her psycho stalker ex is transferred. Cash’s new houseguest is none other than the same gorgeous, quirky blonde. And just his luck—his orders include an emphatic hands off.

Jen Scott is having none of it. Now that she has a second chance, she’s not letting Cash slip away. Orders be damned, he’s the one man capable of helping her explore her sexuality. She’s even willing to break her own rule—never date military men—to get the gorgeous SEAL into her bed.

Except Cash makes it clear he wants more than she bargained for. Much more. Not just her body, but the one thing she promised herself she’d never give to a man in uniform. Her heart.

Warning: Sexy SEAL? Check. Sassy heroine determined to seduce him? Check. Scorching hot sex bound to make you blush? Double check. A threesome and some man-on-man action? Triple check. You’ve been warned.

~~~*~~~*~~~

I think I need to stop reading romance novels.  Maybe even stop writing them too.  See, I have a problem: I have hugely unrealistic expectations of real-life men because romance-novel men are just so damn perfect.

Romance-novel men are always the perfect amount of alpha—dominant, strong, protective, but they also respect a strong woman, and when they show you that sliver of vulnerability every now and then, you just melt.  They have that perfect sense of humor, kinda sarcastic, a tad dry, always good-natured.  They’re gruff on the inside, but secretly sweet and generous on the inside.  They’ll totally call you out on your bullshit, but not in a mean way.  They challenge you, but never humiliate or belittle you.

Romance-novel men are sexy.  And awesome.

And fake.

Every now and then I have to remind myself of that.  Take a step back and say “romance heroes aren’t real, dummy!”  No man is that perfect.  No human being is that perfect.  People have flaws, and I don’t think you’ll ever find someone who meets every single item on that “perfect man” checklist.  Or if you do, they’ll end up coming with one deal-breaker you hadn’t anticipated…“hey, this guy’s strong but vulnerable, and he makes me laugh, and he’s sweet and generous, and he challenges me—oh, wait, but he’s also a serial killer.  Darn.”

This idea of perfection has been weighing on my mind, especially since the hero of my latest release, Feeling Hot, is pure perfection in my eyes.  Cash McCoy is a Navy SEAL with that aforementioned gruff exterior but a secret sweet side he doesn’t usually show.  I fell in love with Cash when I was writing him.  I usually have a crush on all my heroes, but Cash McCoy?  Head over heels in love with the guy.  Alas, he is not real.  But boy, how I wish he was.

The romance genre is filled with amazingly perfect heroes.  I think that’s why romance novels are so popular—they offer that escape readers crave, a glimpse into a relationship that thrives despite heartache or struggles, incredible men that readers can fall in love with.  But I wonder if there are some people who shouldn’t read romance novels—like me! I develop crushes on fictional characters—not just my own, but other authors’ characters.  I mean, I was pretty much planning a wedding between me and Rhage from JR Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series (not only is he not real, but he’s also a vampire, for Pete’s sake! Double unreal!)  And I would probably skip town and abandon my friends and family if it turned out Cash McCoy wasn’t a figment of my imagination, and he showed up at my door to whisk me away.

Is that healthy? Probably not.  Am I totally serious here?  Not totally.  But I have noticed that I sometimes seek out qualities in a partner that I’m not likely to find.

So…perfection. Does it exist only in romance novels, or have you found that perfect man you usually only read about?

 

Stop by and comment, and you’ll be entered into a draw to win an e-copy of Feeling Hot, the seventh book in my Out of Uniform series, which features super sexy SEAL heroes.  Who are totally perfect, of course J

 

Elle

www.ellekennedy.com