Sunday, March 27, 2011

Spring Silliness eBook Giveaway

Everyone's talking about their favourite kind of hero this month, must be something in the spring air.

To celebrate every hero out there, in all shapes and forms, breathing and written, we're giving away 6 eBooks. All you have to do is comment on your favourite kind of hero and we'll pick 6 random winners.

To make it more fun, from the winners selected, we'll attempt to match the winner to a book we think they might enjoy the most, based on the favourite kind of hero from their comment.


What I love most about reading is the wide variety available at my fingertips, a hero for every mood and situation. I love 'em all. I often think a certain kind of hero is linked to the plot trope. For eg a Kidnapping the Bride is likely going to have an apha, a Friends to Lovers will usually have a beta. Because I read across all plot types, I'm happy enough to fall in love with all kinds of heroes.

Have you read books where the hero type defies the plot? The heroine having a male best friend who's uber alpha?

If I have to think of my favourite, though, it would have to be the alpha male. I love reading and writing Scottish medieval romances, and in the insane made-up-world that exists inside my mind, these are rough, tough kinda guys who live by the land, war, politics and surviving. They don't even know what true love is, let alone how to find it. They also deserve a heroine who is strong, who can outwit them and, before they know it, they're going soft on the inside and making all kinds of rash out-of-character decisions and don't even know why.

Why do I love the alpha male so much? I think it's the thought of him being brought to his knees, being tamed by love. Now, that's really a love you have to believe in, have to believe it will last through anything.

So, what's your favourite kind of hero? I can't wait to read everyone's thoughts :)

Remember to leave a comment for a chance to win one of our six eBooks up for grabs. The comments will stay open for 2 days and we'll announce the winners here on the 29th March.

39 comments:

Taryn Kincaid said...

Oooh. So excited. Can I play, too? (There are a few of those I wouldn't mind winning!)

Love the alphas, but not the brutal, old-school alphas with their over-the-top physicality and forced, er, "seductions". (Although, thinking back on it, I liked them at the time, even if I was always rooting for the heroine to kick them in the nuts!)

Love a guy who feels. Even if he doesn't think he can.

Judy Croome | @judy_croome said...

I'm a strong alpha hero girl all the way. I love the way they dominate their space (and the page) and oppress their emotions, only to have their vulnerabilities revealed by a gentle, but strong, heroine.

Judy (South Africa)

Marie Dees said...

I like my heroes tall, dark and dangerous. I want them so self-assured that love actually throws them off. Who is this other person making their life complicated. (Long hair is a bonus.)

Patricia Preston said...

Hey, Marie: Darlene says: That's what I'm talkin' about.

Claire Robyns said...

Yes, alpha but not brutal. Arrogant to the point that they have no clue what to do when this spirited heroine challenges them...except fall in love, of course :)

Katherine Bone said...

I'm joining in to say that the Alpha hero is my favorite. An Alpha hero is strong, intoxicating, everything about him suggests he's in control, that is, until he meets the heroine. She's savvy enough to call the hero on his bluff and astute enough to see the true man inside. Every rose has its thorn, as they say. And a strong heroine is just the right woman to pull a thorn out of the Alpha hero's paw. ;)

Cindy said...

I love the alpha hero with a tortured past. Strong, protective and loves with everything in him, even if he doesn't know its there. I'm partial to knights and cowboys in historicals, cops and millitary in contemporaries.

Claire Robyns said...

The alpha is streaking ahead, but I must say I also so, so love the beta guy who can be best friend as well as lover :)

Tara Andrews said...

I think I'm with the majority here - Alpha all the way. (And if they have thighs honed from hours of horseback riding, all the better!) I love when you take a strong alpha male and pair them with an unlikely heroine. Add a sprinkle of bad boy and a dash of ice around a heart begging to be melted and you have a recipe for one seriously hot hero.

Anonymous said...

I like a hero like The Marquess of Derrington in Miss Foster's Folly - an English lord, who wants an independent mate, passion, but for a lifetime.

Robin D
robindpdx@yahoo.com

Claire Robyns said...

Tara, love the way you put it... yummy

Robin, totally agree, however much they clash heads to arrive at their happy after, I like knowing they'll each be respected for their independence into the future

Danielle West said...

I love the alpha heroes. But a really funny Beta is also always appreciated.

StacieDM said...

I love an uber Alpha hero with a dash of bad boy on the side. I like them grumpy, maybe slightly tortured and very possessive. I like to see how the heroine breaks down his barriers and gets to the sweetheart underneath the gruff exterior.

Unknown said...

I love strong heroes with overdeveloped protective streaks. I also love it when they realize it's love before the heroine does.

Vivien Jackson said...

I like them bad, tortured, angsty, sometimes even broken. Alpha is fine, but I don't mind beta either, so long as the character isn't inconsistent or irritating.

Dana said...

Alpha heros are great, but there's a lot to be said for a great beta hero too. There is something very sexy and appealing about a man who allows the heroine to shine. And when it comes down to it, a man who easily laughs and smiles will win me over faster than the Alpha who tries to cling to his stoicism. (Now, if we're talking about an Alpha that likes to tease and smile and laugh as well as be his strong Alpha self, well...how do you resist THAT?)

Unknown said...

I am going with the very rare breed of alpha disguising himself as a beta. My favorite book this year had just this hero.

Pommawolf Emeraldwolfeyes said...

Oh yeah the alphas for sure. The he man who is strong enough to know what he wants, and isn't afraid to go after it. Anyone of Cherise Sinclair's character hero's in Shadowlands, but so many more...*S*

Darcy

pommawolf 2 hotmail dot com

Gabby said...

I think I love heroes of all kinds, but for a long while I think my favorite will be the kind of hero that has had a very rough start to life.

These kind of heroes are pretty self assured and hardly ever use any of the human emotions; a brooding hero if you will. A lot of the heroes I've read about are probably in this category, there reasonably sure of themselves, cocky, and very arrogant.

Deep down though most of these heroes are hiding a painful or dangerous secret or even a painful past.

I think these types of heroes are my favorite because I feel that they deserve and need the love heroine even more then most of the heroes that have talked about so far. I also think that they deserve love from they're potential mates even more because of the fact that some of them don't know how to express or give love.

I think that deep down, we all hope that the brooding hero will get their well deserved happily ever after!

Susanna Fraser said...

My favorite kind of hero is one who's secure enough in his own strength to not feel threatened by a strong woman--whether he's alpha or beta doesn't matter so much, but I don't like domineering heroes. Oh, and a sense of humor is also crucial, even when the book itself isn't primarily a comedy.

These aren't romances, but if I could pull a character out of a book to be MY hero, I'd pick either Lord Peter Wimsey from Dorothy Sayers' mysteries or Aral Vorkosigan from Lois McMaster Bujold's science fiction series. From romance, I'd probably pick Michael from Patricia Gaffney's Wild at Heart. And I wouldn't kick Jamie Fraser out of bed for eating crackers, come to think of it...

T.M. Lunsford said...

I love the Devil Cynster-type alphas. Marshmallows for the families, but the ultimate bada**es everywhere else.

Donna Cummings said...

I love all kinds of heroes, so I'm glad there's such a smorgasbord of them from which to choose!

I love the take-charge Alpha, but add to that a highly developed sense of humor and he's doubly scrumptious.

Kaylea Cross said...

I wanna play too!
I love alpha males that aren't jerks, and preferably have served in the military. But I'm biased :)

Julie Moffett said...

Me, too!! Like the strong, sexy but SMART hero. The one who uses his brain (among other things) to woe the heroine. Clever is my cup of tea!! :)

Susanna Ives said...

Hmmm...I like humorous, naughty alpha males.

Donna Caubarreaux said...

I married an alpha male.

He's humorous, hard-working, sexual and likes kids. Good thing, we have six!

But...don't get him mad. That's when you know he's a total alpha male. And I know that if anyone ever tried to hurt me, he would hunt them down.

Shoshanna Evers said...

Alpha males all the way! :) Yum!

Lindsay said...

My favorite hero is the heroine that puts the hero in his place and doesn't let him rule her

wanda f said...

I comepletely agree with Claire
Alpha but not brutal, Arrogant to the point that they have no clue what to do when this spirited heroine challenges them.Id also add a sense of humor maybe not everyone gets them but its definately got to be in there even if the heroine has to drag it out of them kicking and screaming lol

Annemarie said...

I love heroes with a huge inner conflict that determines the plot. Someone, for example, who is torn between an old oath and his just-discovered love. Or who has a mission, but the heroine gets in his way and he then has to decide what is more important. Or, he has to betray his own interests to protect the heroine ...

Lindsay said...

I've already and fell in love with Emma from Taryn Kincaid's 'Healing Heart' and gave it a fie star review but would love to win either 'A Sergeants Lady' or 'Of Dukes and Deception'

Zee Lemke said...

I'm with Susanna up there--Peter D. B. Wimsey has always been my ideal. He's not a romance alpha, at least not by Gaudy Night. He has his instincts to grab, protect, own--but he fights them with his brains because he believes women have the right to want whatever they want, even if it isn't him. I swoon for self-conscious heroes, not necessarily alpha or even beta. Outsiders. The ones who think about who they are and try to be better. The ones who listen to what other people say even when they don't agree. Complicated heroes.

Claire Robyns said...

Definitely a sense a humour as well!! I've seen another form of hero developing in these comments that I hadn't thought about... the beta hero who turns instantly alpha when his love is threatened, yummy

Morton S Gray said...

I like my men and my heros to be men! Strong, slightly aloof, keeps you guessing and preferably with longish hair and blue eyes. Yummy. Mx

Cynthia Gael said...

Oh, this does look fun!! Ok, my favorite kind of hero?? I like the alpha male (of course), but my absolute favorite would have to be a character whose imperfect(the antihero, if you will), but overcomes these flaws in some way or another.

For example, in Shelley Munro's The Spurned Viscountess, the hero Lucian has it all. Wealth, looks (aside from a horrible scar), but he can't remember who he is. Lucian is so focused on getting revenge for the murder of his first wife, he becomes cold, arrogant, and completely self-absorbed. So much so, he takes on the persona of a person he swears he is not in order to get what he wants; without any thought to how his actions will effect the people around him.

But he embodies the magic that comes with my fav flawed heroes because his imperfections become unraveled, one by one, by the woman who married him only to save herself. So why is this man one of my favorite heroes? Several reasons:

a) the flawed hero draws you into the story more so than the perfect Adonis character because he is relatable. He's more realistic.

b) there's just something special about a reformed sinner. Especially when it comes to changing for love.

c) the flawed hero always seems so unattainable until that one special love come into his life. This in itself is a double edged sword because we all want what we can't have and his reformation? That's the story. The whole point. Conflict and resolution all rolled into one single man.

And you can't help but want to picture yourself as that one special woman, that one special love, who comes along to save him.

Claire Robyns said...

...And you can't help but want to picture yourself as that one special woman, that one special love, who comes along to save him....

Yes, exactly this. That's what makes them so perfect together, the power this woman has to love him and save him like no other woman ever could

Fedora said...

I do like the alphas, but probably ones with a soft core ;) I do love that whole friends-to-lovers theme, too--that's one of my favorites. Or plots where the smart but not-so-beautiful heroine gets the guy. So for the hero, I don't necessarily want the most gorgeous, but I also want tough, smart, completely committed to doing the right thing (whether or not that always aligns with what the world sees as the right thing...), and ideally, with a sense of humor...

TxDee said...

Give me those rascally rakes every time...you know, the kind that ooze sensuality and wickedness but succumb to the love of a strong woman.

Claire Robyns said...

Thanks to everyone for participating, the winners will be posted soon