I hate your heroine

Elle Kennedy, author of One Night of Trouble (out this week!), explores readers' negative reactions to some romance heroines …

Elle: Did the title of this post get your attention? Because it definitely got my attention when it showed up as the subject line in my inbox. I dreaded opening that e-mail, because truth be told, I knew exactly which heroine this reader was about to rake over the coals.

Confession: I loved the heroine. When I was plotting out the book in question, I knew this particular hero needed to meet his match. He had showed up in previous books as a cocky womanizer, a total bad-boy manwhore who was up for anything, anytime, anywhere. I could have written a good girl to complement this bad boy, but my gut kept telling me, Nope, this woman needs to be the female version of HIM. She needs to be equally bold, equally adventurous and equally up for anything — because it takes one to know one, and only this woman was going to be immune to my hero's charms.

And she was. She drove him nuts because she didn't fall for any of his usual lines, and when they eventually did get together, he was the one who began to reconsider the love 'em and leave 'em lifestyle, while she needed a little more convincing.

I was very happy with how the book turned out … and then the reviews started coming in. I usually avoid reviews, but I never avoid readers' e-mails, because I love hearing what they think about my stories, and it's their support and encouragement that makes this crazy-stressful career worthwhile. Now, I don't expect everyone to love every book I write, but I also wasn't expecting all the negative responses to this heroine. The e-mail mentioned above was brutal. I won't give any quotes, but let's just say that the reader didn't enjoy the heroine's open attitude toward her sexuality, or the way she kept the hero at arm's length at the end. OK, maybe I'll quote one line — "How dare she break up with such a great guy?"

Ever since that, I found myself being so careful about how I present my female characters. I also started to notice just how hard readers can be on a heroine, while forgiving a hero almost anything. But why is that? We gripe about double standards all the time (men sleep around = high five! Women do it = for shame!), yet as readers, we end up bringing those same double standards into our reading experience. And that "grrrr, this heroine!" happens so often, that as writers, we go out of our way to make the heroine as likable as possible. If there's a black moment involved, the hero's gotta be the one who screws up, because if the heroine does it? Unforgivable!

This heroine question is always in the back of my mind when I'm writing. My latest Brazen release, One Night of Trouble, features a bad girl who has made some very stupid mistakes in the past. She's in the process of cleaning up her act, yes, but I was still so worried that readers might hate her, or judge her for wild, partying ways.

So while I was stressing, I decided to pick the brains of some other Brazen babes to see if they've had the same worries and responses, and it turns out — yup. I'm not the only one who thinks about this. But I'm pretty sure my fellow writers are a lot more articulate about the topic than I am … : )

Katee Robert, author of Betting on Fate: "All my heroines are super polarizing, but the best example is Regan from Seducing the Bridesmaid. A good half of my readers despised her. They called her a b*!@* and vain and horrible to the hero. The funny thing about it is that one particular review got her — she's a lady rake, complete with ennui. The very same qualities that readers despised in a heroine were the same ones that would make them throw their panties at a hero. It was actually kind of amazing to see, because if she was a man, I think most of the readers who hated her would have adored her."

Samantha Beck, author of Falling for the Enemy: "One of my Brazen releases, Private Practice, features a bad boy who drinks and sleeps his way through life. And yet most of the negative reviews were about the heroine's type-A personality and how she never heard the word chill ... and not a single bad comment about the hero's manwhoring."

Nina Crespo, author of Naughty Little Wishes: "I'd like to think we've created the ultimate, sexy alpha hero, that despite the angst and pain-in-the-ass tendencies, the reader can't bear the idea of him not being redeemable so they give him a pass. On the other hand, if as a reader we're putting ourselves in the shoes of the heroine, we can't imagine or accept that we could be so full of drama or fail to see the obvious."

Karen Erickson, author of Game for Tonight: "I've been judged for my heroines' behavior more times than I can count. I really think they hate any sign of weakness in a heroine or if she's too much of a b*#@$. It's a delicate balance, because so many times, the readers put themselves in the heroine's shoes and I'm sure they think, "Well, I would never do that," or "OMG, why the heck did she do that??' "

Tessa Bailey, author of Riskier Business: "Heroines are definitely held to a higher standard. We're harder on other women in real life, too, in my opinion. Of course, every reader is entitled to their respective feelings, but I was surprised when Caroline from Owned by Fate got such a bad rap for being judgmental (initially) of the BDSM lifestyle. I wrote her a better grovel than any of my heroes have ever performed — ever — but I'm not sure anything could have dug her out of that hole with readers."

So there you have it. Are we judgmental readers? Is it a case of putting ourselves in the heroine's shoes and wanting her to respond the way we would? Are we just hero-biased in general because romance readers are typically female and we'd love to have that smokin' hot, alpha bad boy for ourselves so therefore he's perfect? I still don't have a clear-cut answer to the question, but I do know this: They might be a little b*#@$y, or sarcastic, or too sexually primed, but I still love each and every one of my heroines! : )

Here's the blurb about One Night of Trouble (courtesy of Entangled Brazen):

No More Mr. Nice Guy…

The moment AJ Walsh sees the sexy, tattooed pixie walk up to his bar, it's lust at first sight. He's always been labeled the "nice" guy―opening doors, buying flowers, and never, ever having one-night stands. But with this wicked little angel with red lips and unfathomably dark eyes? Oh, yeah. Tonight, "nice" has nothing to do with it...

Brett Conlon is trying to convince her family that she's put away her reckless wild girl side for good. Nothing―and no one―could be better for her reputation than golden boy AJ Walsh. So they make a deal: if he plays The Good Boyfriend for her family, he can be a very, very bad boy with her. Now their one naughty night is about to turn into a whole lot of trouble...

Find out more about Elle and her books at www.ellekennedy.com.