by Kaily Hart
Anyone who has read any of my books knows I like my heroes big, tough and oh so bad. Of course, the ‘badness’ really only goes so far. Deep down each of them has a core of integrity that’s unshakeable, a code of honor that’s unquestionable and a willingness to sacrifice anything for the woman, his heroine. Sigh… I love to play to the edge of ‘redeemability’ with my heroes. I love to push it to the limit to see just how bad they can be, how far I can take it while still ensuring the reader doesn’t give up on him completely. Of course, they have to fall in love with him too, right? And they have to buy into the heroine falling for him. No one is perfect and I think the best 
books are those that really showcase characters that don’t have it all, don’t act with control all the time, have faults, weaknesses, eccentricities, characters how are human, while still maintaining that fantasy element, especially the hero.
Of course, this badness comes in many forms. It could be his attitude to woman and/or sex. It could be his personality, perhaps he’s rude, obnoxious, arrogant. It could be his mindless determination, his unwavering focus on a goal, ruthlessly pushing aside anyone who gets in his way. It could be something unsavory from his past. Or maybe he just personifies those attributes we associate with the typical bad boy; tattoos, piercings, long hair, a blatant disregard for social conventions J. Regardless, as an author, it’s fun to leverage these types of scenarios to really amp up the badness of my hero because for a hero at the end of the day, being bad can be a really, really good thing. 🙂
So…what do YOU think? Do you like a ‘bad’ hero and just how bad do you think he can be? Is there anything that would be off-limits in your mind? Comment and enter to win a digital copy of any book on my backlist.
About Kaily
Kaily Hart, a seemingly straight-laced mother of four, left corporate America and a high-powered, lucrative career to be a stay at home mom. Right… That lasted about four weeks, during which time she realized she had a deeply repressed dream—to write. And (gasp) romance at that! Who knew? By day, Kaily plays conservative wife and soccer mom, but at night crafts hot and steamy tales of romance and love with gorgeous heroes who wouldn’t dream of leaving the toilet set up. Ever. She’s smart and sassy, at least in her own mind, and is creating as many happy ever afters as she can, one hot story at a time. Kaily never would have thought she’d be doing this, but now that she is? Well, you couldn’t pay her enough to do anything else.
You can find out more information about all Kaily’s books here and read more about her latest release, RISE OF HOPE here.
If anyone would want to contact me (which I would love by the way) or just keep up with what I’m doing, you can find me all over:
Web – www.kailyhart.com
Blog – http://kailyhart.blogspot.com/
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/kaily.hart
Twitter – http://twitter.com/kailyhart
Pinterest – http://pinterest.com/kailyhart/
Yes I like a bad and emotionally wounded hero!!! Thanks for the giveaway!
I love to read romance books that have bad men in them. I believe that it makes the story more exciting. I draw the line at beating. I just like the thought of a sexy bad guy.
Yes, I like a bad and/or emotionally hurt hero who is redeemed by his heroine. The line for me is rape or physical or emotional abuse.
I love reading about bad boy heroes and I agree with Cathy in that I won’t tolerate physical or emotional abuse. And while I recognize that bad boys have a certain arrogance about them, past a certain point it’s a real turnoff for me. I’m not able to articulate what that point is though.
I love a bad boy. It is the author’s ability to make him redeemable that is soooo appealing to me. I like to see how far he can push the heroine (not in a physical way) and how she can break him down. I don’t like physical abuse so that would be my limit. However, if he is a tortured character or a rebel, I love it.
Oh yeah, Mary, me too!
Crystal/Cathy, totally agree!
Karen, that’s why as a writer it’s challenging to achieve that balance. I think it can go too far before the guy just looks like an *ss permanently.
Samantha, I love that too and I ADORE the rebel :). I think Nalini Singh said it well when I talked to her at a conference last year about bad heroes. She said that the hero can never be truly cruel to the heroine. I think that’s true. He might push the limits of that, but really wouldn’t be cruel to cause her distress on purpose :).
I love all types of heroes. Bad ones are always fun, because they have so much to prove. I haven’t found one I haven’t like. Love them.
Great post, it is true we can’t resist the bad boy. But the bad boy who really is a good boy deep down. If he crosses the line into cheeting territory I am done, I have no amount of forgiveness for that. There are lots of other dangerous, immoral things a bad boy hero can do to push the limits. And I love reading about every one of them.
I like reading about bad guys. Any cheating would be off limits.
Hi Kaily, welcome to the blog. 🙂
I love a bad boy–who doesn’t right? But I do have my limits: physical abuse, emotional abuse, cheating on her in their current relationship and the regular stuff like murder etc.
I love a hero with an edge but not too much. Essentially, at heart, he’s a good guy who love the heroine like crazy.
I love to read about a bad boy! I do draw the line at cheating, and any kind of abuse.
I think bad hero’s hit it off well with readers, we have to remember that Judith McNaught has been doing this for years. Her hero’s are blatantly human and make lots of mistakes, and yes it gives the novel an edge and adds to the alpha male persona that allot of women love. Way to go Kaily!
I love reading about unrepentant rakes and knights in less-than-shining armors, but the story must always remind the readers that there’s some good in the hero — I think there’s a point when redemption becomes implausible for a “bad” hero.
Favorite “bad” boys:
Christian Montcalm from Anne Stuart’s The Devil’s Waltz
Con Huxtable from Mary Balogh’s A Secret Affair
Yes, the Bad Boys are always WAY cool – and that, for the most part, the Bad Boys have hearts of gold.