Reader confession time. Oh yes. This is a given for SO MANY of us. The majority of us, I think.
And it’s obvious that I can TOTALLY relate to this one. Travis and Christian, and well… Kellan, anyone? 😉 I, too, love my heroes bad-ass but broken. Gah. WHYYYYYYYY???!!!
Why do we want it so difficult? It’s hard. It’s tumultuous. It’s angsty. It’s addictive. AND. IT. HURTS!!!!!! But it’s fun and it’s real.
And therefore… it’s fulfilling, and titillates all of our book-romance needs.
Lisa: Definitely forbidden. And broken, but I only like my Heroes broken. Or brooding, or sullen, or damaged or quiet/uncommunicative, or…is it getting hot in here? And if you put the word angst, ansty, angstier, angstiest…or that it will break my heart, I’m all over it like a crack whore!!
Jean: Magic word there…..broken! They need me! Lol.
That’s the thing, right? WE are the ones for them. We can be patient for them. We can understand them. We can be their very best friend. We can be their safety. We can let them be THEM. And we can love them the best.
And in turn… they can love US the best.
*swooooooooooon*
Oh sure, the process won’t be easy. In fact, it will be exhausting, but the passion. OMG. The passion. The intensity. The need. The want. The love.
THIS.
R: Probably my favorite trope!
Maryse: Mine too. To this day… I’m ALWAYS on the search for the next BIG book heartbreak/love affair with the most difficult-to-love (but oh so worthy in his own way) man.
Northernstar: Love ‘em so broken! And even better I love ‘em when they have withdrawn and are reclusive….sigh.
Probably my favorite trope!
Mine too. To this day…
I’m ALWAYS on the search for the next BIG book heartbreak/love affair with the most difficult-to-love (but oh so worthy in his own way) man.
Love ’em so broken! And even better I love ’em when they have withdrawn and are reclusive….sigh.
Two of my favorites to go along with the others are Gideon Cross and Jesse Ward. I’ll never forget them. Love these two broken alpha men!!!
Some of the best historicals have broken heroes as well. Mary Balogh’s Heartless. Lucas, Duke of Harndon, doesn’t have a heart……. But somehow or other he is falling in love with his new wife Anna, who seems to carry warmth and love with her wherever she goes. The melting of Luke’s heart as he finds love and finds his soul again…beautiful. *happy sigh*
Or, same author, Slightly Dangerous. Wulfric, Duke of Bewcastle, is known as a cold, cold man. Gorgeous, sexy, but cold and ruthless. Raised by an overly strict father, then having to take over the raising of his 5 younger siblings after his parents’ early death. He has never been in love. Until he meets Christine. Sunny, slightly untidy, fun, and sexy. Not Wulf’s type at all. So why can’t he stop thinking about her? Can the cold duke fall in love with a messy woman who is totally unsuited to be his duchess? Yes! (duh)
We love our broken men who just need to find that warm and wonderful woman to heal their lonely souls……… *sobs*
How about Joe from At Peace and all the Chaos MC guys. Love those broken screwed up guys!
You’ve hit the nail on the head, Maryse! When I say the angstier the better, THIS is where I want my angst to come from–an intense, broken, brooding man!
There’s just something about seeing a hero whose passionate anger and/or grief make him vulnerable and reckless to the point of losing control.Then we get to experience the explosion and the challenge of trying to put him back together. Ooooh so deliciously gut-wrenching!!
So many men to fix…so little time! Sigh!
I love a broken hero! Add in a heroine with a little bit of sass and that’s the perfect recipe for one of my favorite kinds of book! I’m going to add Colton Donavan from K. Bromberg’s Driven series to your list Maryse. I dare to say that he was even more broken than Christian Grey.
Totally agree Cristina! And “I race you Riley” OMG…
Oh, I loved those books too! There are several newer ones in the series that I still haven’t read yet, and I have no idea why!
You guys are giving me bittersweet tears flashbacks!!!
Jesse Ward & Colton Donovan?!?!
WHY CANT THEY BE REAL AND IN LOVE WITH ME?
I read the original trilogy. I think the newer ones follow different characters? I can’t remember, but for some reason I never move on with books that follow a new character.
Nay, I havent read anymore of K. Bromberg either. Sometimes I find it hard to read other things by an author when a series is so beloved to me. I just “know” it wont be as good and I cant deal with letdown.
It just happened to me with Amour, Amour by Krista & Becca Ritchie. 🙁
Oh, Leslie! I know how you love the Ritchie series! So the new one wasn’t up to par, huh?
I’m with y’all. I have trouble following new characters from a beloved series too. (But I’m so glad I did it with Tristan and Danika!)
Ooh, and there’s another majorly brooding hero that many of us love–Tristan Vega!
Wait, there’s a character jump with T&D? What book?
T & D are from Up in the Air series. Which is freaking awesome.
Nay, Amour Amour was a snoozer. 🙁
Some broken heroes that I dont think have been mentioned yet:
Loren from Addicted series (alcoholic & mental abused by his father)
Noah from Rush (blind from horrible accident)
Blake from Poughkeepsie (homeless with major tragic past)
Archer from Archers Voice (reclusive mute)
Duh!!!! How could I forget??
Our favorite sex-trafficker *snort* Caleb from Captive in the Dark
And bunny-walking, manny loving, dirty-talking, author recluse Matt from Night Owl.
I heart Caleb.
Love this post! A series I recently read which I didn’t expect to have broken heroes was the Heart Series by L.H. Cosway!!! So great!
I think maybe Jesse Ward was the most broken and I LOVED him!
And I hate to admit, I haven’t read the Driven series yet! I don’t know what’s stopping me!
OMG The Driven series!!!!!!!!!!!
I love broken tortured heroes! At least I thought I did but I haven’t read most of the books mentioned above. I have a lot of catching up to do. My favorite broken heroes are Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunters.
Jean! You HAVE to read those books RIGHT NOW!!!
Anna, I envy you! You have a lotta lot of GREAT reading ahead of you!!
OMG – who said Archer? Archer is my all time favorite!! “Don’t walk away from me. I can’t call out to you”. Swoooooon.
And what’s this Blake from Poughkeepsie? That sounds right up my alley. I’m pretty sure that’s on my TBR.
And now I have to look at Night Owl. You people are killing me. I’m going to have to live to be 300 years old in order to get in all the reading I want to do.
Z…. I cant think of a better one than Z…
The more broken — the better!
OMG Grey…..Z…….*sigh*, I love him!
Yes! Z!!! And you might as well include Vishous too! And Acheron and Styxx since Anna mentioned the Dark Hunters. I’ve never read about any heroes who were broken as much as those two!
Who is Z…and why haven’t I met him? Book name please?
Lisa, Black Dagger Brotherhood!!!!
Then you must read Delicate Love, and the follow on Delicate Lies.
Lisa. Wait. Wait. Wait…..
Back up.
You have a manatee, but you haven’t read Night Owl?????
I meant for these girls that want a broken hero. V is actually mine. I will throw down for him. Screw the licking for ownership business… Wait, that sounds really bad, right? *giggle*
Mmm, yes Lisa, Black Dagger Brotherhood by J.R. Ward, book 3 is about Z and 5 (my personal fave) is about V. And YES!!!! You really do have to read Night Owl!!
Oh yes, Julie o, how could I forget Joe from At Peace? I heart Joe……
Rhysand anyone?