I never thought much about POV (point-of-view) and the enormous difference it could make in a book until I began writing in earnest in 2007. It was only when I was going back and revising Sinful Surrender that I finally ‘got it’–POV can make or break a book.
As a reader, I loved it when Harlequin started including the male POV back in the… early 80s I wanna say. It could have been a little sooner, I’m not exactly sure. Before that, everything was in the heroine’s POV. I could never go back to that. Not ever. To me, I’d rather have the book slanted slightly more to the hero’s POV than the heroine’s. I’m not exactly sure why. I think it’s because I am a woman. I know how women think, so when I’m reading romances, I more interested in the male perspective. Yes, I do realize I’m usually getting a female’s perspective of a man’s way of thinking but I’ll take it. For me, a great romance novel is about me falling for the hero. If I fall for him, it will make sense to me why the heroine does.
One of my favourite heroes, Sebastian St. Vincent from Lisa Kleypas’s Devil in Winter, always had wonderful things going on in his POV:
“I…I’m sorry, but I would pr-prefer not to have intimate relations with you again.”
Stunned and offended, Sebastian set down his comb and turned to face her. Women never refused him. And the fact that Evie could do so after the pleasures of this morning was difficult to comprehend.
“You told me that you didn’t like to bed a woman more than once,” Evie reminded him half apologetically. “You said it would be a crashing bore.”
“Do I look bored to you?” he demanded, the towel doing little to conceal the outline of a roaring erection.
~~~
Marcus, the Earl of Westcliff from Lisa Kleypas’s It Happened One Autumn, is another favourite hero of mine. In this excerpt he’s hiding with the heroine, Lillian Bowman so she won’t be discovered out of her chambers by her father. He doesn’t like Lillian but his thoughts and action prove otherwise.
Holding her, breathing against her temple, Marcus became aware of an elusive scent, a faint flowery overture that he had vaguely registered at the rounders field. Hunting for it, he found a stronger concentration of the fragrance on her throat, where it was blood-heated and intoxicating. His mouth watered. Suddenly he wanted to touch his tongue to her tender white skin, wanted to rip her dress down the front and drag his mouth from her throat down to her toes.
His arm tightened around Lillian’s narrow frame, and his free hand compulsively sought her hips, exerting gentle but steady pressure to bring her closer to him. Oh yes. She was the perfect height, so tall that minimal adjustment was needed to match their bodies in just the right way. Agitation filled him, igniting sensual fire in the pulsing pathways of his veins. It would be so easy to take her like this, just pull her dress up and kick her legs apart.
And I certainly can’t forget Camden Saybrook, the Marquess of Tremaine from Sherry Thomas’s Private Arrangements. What Camden said and sometimes even how he acted were truly at odds with what he was thinking. Being in his POV was pivotal to understanding him and his feelings for his estranged wife, Gigi.
He checked his watch again. Fourteen hours and fifty-five minutes before he could have her again.
There are a slew more heroes whose POVs, to me, made the book. Made them heroes to truly be adored. The best are the cold, stoic kind. The heroine might see a flicker of something in his eyes but I need to get inside his head and read this thoughts.
What about you? Whose POV do you most connect with, the hero or the heroine?
[poll id=”25″]
I love Lisa Kleypas’ wall flower quartet. I think quartet, anyway. I love Lisa Kleypas and you chose excellent examples.
I enjoy the POV from both the male and female side. I think that it’s sometimes necessary to have both so that as a reader, we don’t totally discount the male character as a character having emotions, thoughts, etc. By having both, the reader is able to have “the full story” from both characters. I agree with Monica, great examples Bev! 🙂
Rebecca
I think I’d like a 60/40 or 55/45 split in favour of the hero. I always want to know what the men are thinking. More so than the female.
I’m always drawn to the hero’s POV more for some reason. I think because i like to get into men’s head to find what they’re thinking about.
definitely 50/50. I avtually hate books that has one POV..usually is always the female.
I’m right in line with you on this one, Bev. 🙂 It’s probably one of the main reasons we love Kleypas so much. Not many writers draw male characters like she does. Even her contempories have great men!
As for the POV question, I need to know what’s driving the heroine, BUT I need those sigh-worthy moments that can only come from the hero when he gets it–he finally gets it. Knowing what’s in a man’s mind and not having to guess . . . especially when he realizes his feelings are more than just lust. Sigh . . . 🙂
I think a good book needs both POV’s but the parts I tend to focus more on and re-read most are generally male POV oriented.
I would recs from the hero’s point of view if anyone has any.
Good poll. I voted for prefering more of the males POV.
I’ve read each example and the male POV added to the story. I really don’t care about the percentage, just as long as we get a glimpse into the hero’s thinking.
I love my romances to include both POVs. Sometimes I feel like something is missing if both aren’t included. That said, if it came down to one or the other I’d choose the female POV.
If I’d answered this question two days ago, I would’ve totally agreed with you, Bev. But I just finished an ARC of Kristan Higgins’ All I Ever Wanted, which is first-person exclusively from the heroine’s POV (something I normally wouldn’t read) and she does a great job of making the hero come alive. Watching the hero change in the heroine’s eyes – I’m not sure how she does it, but I fell in love with him too. Maybe it’s because her heroine was so authentic and contemporary that it felt like a romance I could relate to. One I’d lived myself. After all, I have very limited access to the inside of my husband’s head. (he breathes a sigh of relief!)
I like seeing both the hero and heroine’s POV. I think it lets us know more about both of them if we knew what they were feeling and thinking.
I am soooo glad I read your post today, Bev. I love writing from inside the hero’s head, and now I know I am not alone or that I am not weird…my current wip won’t get out of the hero’s head and now his hunky cousin shows up out of nowhere and I thought “So, what’s the heroine feeling?” A part of me didn’t care, because those two cousins are too darn hot to ignore and I can guage exactly what the heroine is feeling by said male persectives. Well, gotta go, their waiting in the sidelines for me…pant, pant. 🙂
oops, last line should read: ‘They’ are waiting for me in the sidelines, not ‘there’ waiting fot me. lol
You know, Katrina. You bring up a VERY good point. Lisa Kleypas’s contemporaries are in 1st person pov from the heroine’s perspective, but I still feel like I “know” her heroes and how they tick. And these men are definitely sigh-worthy. Maybe it just comes down to the skill with which the writer weaves the story. Hmmmmm . . . you made me reconsider my choice. 🙂
I enjoy both POV’s.
I’m not saying I don’t like the heroine’s POV. Have both, to me, is essential for a really great story. I just like reading the hero’s more.
I can definitely say I’m not a first person person but I have read the odd book in first person when I thought, that was pretty good. It will never be my first choice and I generally stay away from them. I feel ‘trapped’ only seeing things from one person.
Janet Mullany does a great job with male POV in ‘Improper Relations’. Highly recommend.
This is a really great topic Bev! I prefer my POV’s split down the middle, even though it’s fun sometimes to have more of the hero’s POV. (I also read many old Harlequins that only had female POV’s and it was SO NICE later when Harlequin started to add the male’s POV. (The Presents I read, the hero was pretty much a mystery till the end of the book when he finally told the heroine how he feels.)
I actually remember the first male POV book that I took note of – it was Nora Robert’s Northern Lights. It just caught me off guard, because I’m so use to either having it neutral or from the girl’s perspective (I think I read this novel right after reading all of the Stephanie Plum books that were written to date).
I adore the hero’s POV. And (dating myself here) I think it was more like the late 80’s before the male POV became used. Now when I read a book and it doesn’t have enough of the hero’s POV, I find I don’t care for the book as much. Which may also explain why I don’t like 1st person as much – you really only get one POV.
I like both the hero and the heroine’s POV. I don’t like getting only one perspective in the story.
Really for me, the story makes the POV work when I’m reading it. I’ve always read it either way and seemed fitting when I read it so I never had any preferences. So I let the story do it and just flow with it!
You said it perfectly when you mentioned that if you fall in-love with the hero you can understand why the heroine loves him. I live for falling in-love with the hero! To me, he makes or breaks the novel. You can have a heroine who so unbelievably beautiful inside and out but if the hero is a dud there is no way I’d even consdier re-reading the novel or believing that there is HEA between them. By the way, love the scenes you mentioned regarding the Wallflowers.
I love having both POVs. Then I an love both characters. I recently read a book with an imperfect hero. While many of the 50/50 books have imperfect heroes I still loved them. This other book only showed her view. So I only saw what she did & thought & was told. I couldn’t love him. I didn’t care much for the book but didn’t think of the way Most books I read & enjoy have more than one POV. I couldn’t really go back to just hers.
I voted for a 50/50 split, but that is a little rigid. I want the story told from the point of view that is most appropriate . Sometimes that will be the male POV and sometimes the female. It really depends what works best for the story.
I like both POVs and most stories can benefit from a split POV. After all, isn’t two sides to every story?
I’m slightly more for the hero’s POV because those bits in the book are what touch me the most. This is especially important if the hero is a scoundrel, a rake, or like Marcus in Lisa Kleypas’ “It Happened One Autumn” who resists the heroine. I usually want to hear their POV more and take a peek at their feelings.