Tortured heroes… women love them. Maybe it’s something about their dark brooding nature. Maybe we want to be the one woman to save them from themselves.
Apparently I am not immune to the tortured hero myself since it seems I keep writing them into my books.
Jack Gordon from my Red, Hot & Blue series was probably the first one for me. He grew up with a single mother after his drunk of a father left, but he and his brothers kept themselves on the straight and narrow. Now, Jack is in the military, basically a happy guy, but circumstances lead to him still being tortured. He’s watching his best friend TREY hook up with the woman he loves and 
his older brother JIMMY is missing in action during an undercover op in Kosovo.
I torture my cowboys as well. Mason from ROUGH STOCK is the quintessential dark brooding cowboy, which made him the perfect counterpart for Clay, his happy-go-lucky best friend. When Mason and Clay find themselves both in love with same girl, Mason really has something to brood about until they try to figure out how to make this strange three-way relationship work.
Then there are those broody billionaire heroes. They’re handsome and rich, but not happy. He’s looking for the one thing money can’t buy—love. I’ve got one of those too! Keep your eye out in May for THE NAUGHTY BILLIONAIRE’S VIRGIN FIANCEE where I take the old classic Harlequin-esque billionaire/secretary trope and turn it on its ear.
There are too many more tortured heroes in my backlist, and in upcoming releases, to mention in one post. I do suggest you keep your eye out for “TWO FOR THE ROAD”, my novella releasing in the Kensington Aphrodisia anthology IN A COWBOY’S BED, on preorder now for release this July. There you’ll find another dark, brooding, but oh-so-sexy pair of heroes as I get back to my cowboy threesome roots with this story. Ben and Ned will capture your hearts, just as they capture the heroine’s.
So what say you, readers? Tortured heroes… love em? Hate em? Are we tired of them or will they always have a place in our hearts?
Note: The originally scheduled Tortured Heroes Blog Hop was officially canceled by the organizer however I’ve noticed some bloggers have still posted their hop posts.
3 thoughts on “Classic Romance Tropes ~ the tortured hero”
I love the tortured hero. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of them as long as they do not whine incessantly about their situation. 🙂 I can’t really get into a story if the hero is too perfect. Even those who appear to have lived charmed lives have struggled in some way at some time.
Tortured heroes are my favorite kind, Cat! I love to read about them and write about them. I especially love your tortured military heroes…and if he’s a cowboy too, well, that’s just icing on the cake!
I love me some tortured heroes. You write them very well. I can’t wait to read more of your work! Thanks for sharing.
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