tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-630346294397505634.post7891560334824805097..comments2024-03-29T06:43:19.987-04:00Comments on Romance Novels for Feminists: Romancing the Nice Guy: Molly O'Keefe's WILD CHILDJackie C. Hornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04146684628443152376noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-630346294397505634.post-22365670930523170382013-11-05T16:57:44.076-05:002013-11-05T16:57:44.076-05:00Although sometimes I wonder if we're a little ...Although sometimes I wonder if we're a little too quick to assert we like nice guys, maybe in response to the sexist notion that "girls don't like nice guys," which seems to pressure women to like nice guys or else, be like Them, those other women.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-630346294397505634.post-458910034719803382013-11-03T01:15:48.806-05:002013-11-03T01:15:48.806-05:00My favorite nice guy heroes in romance? Any Crusie...My favorite nice guy heroes in romance? Any Crusie's heroes. To mention one, Alex from 'Anyone but you'<br />And I think that's the way they are, not a phase in their personal development or anything. <br />IMO, JAK's 'Dangerous men...' has got a few outdated ideas. For instance, this idea that the heroe must be in some way dangerous for the lady, or the 'forced seduction' or the purple prose as 'a code of the genre'?. No, sorry, it's a book badly written, you can write great love stories using a correct language.<br />The thing is that I found some of the first nice guys in the genre precisely in JAK's novels.Joanenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-630346294397505634.post-67309551108590172522013-11-02T15:20:11.220-04:002013-11-02T15:20:11.220-04:00Nice post! I like the nice guy heroes too. Christy...Nice post! I like the nice guy heroes too. Christy from Patricia Gaffney's To Love and To Cherish fits the bill, although his foil (the heroine) was really obnoxious to me, much as I hate to contribute to the hypercriticism of female protagonists in literature.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-630346294397505634.post-15014511665088519382013-11-02T13:17:13.611-04:002013-11-02T13:17:13.611-04:00I love nice-guy heroes (not that I don't also ...I love nice-guy heroes (not that I don't also love bad-boys or alpha-jerks or villains-turned heroes as well.)<br />Some of my favorites are: <br />Marcus from Kleypas' "It Happened One Autumn" as he is genuinely kind and trying to do the right thing, but is a bit naughty on the inside.<br />Joe Travis from Kleypas' "Smooth Talking Stranger" who might be just a tad bossy, but still goes way out of his way to help out Ella and her nephew.<br />Phin from Crusie's "Welcome to Temptation" -- I love the nice-guy, straight-laced hero who meets the wild-child heroine.<br />Adam from Julie Anne Long's "A Notorious Countess Confesses" -- what a great character he is! I love how he has to navigate the faith/love/public opinion tangle in the book.<br />I also love two of Kristen Ashley's "nice guy" heroes: Mitch from "Law Man" and Hank Nightingale from "Rock Chick Redemption" -- both are cops and both are bossy, but they are both very NICE as well. mepameliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05967521027234468350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-630346294397505634.post-25239764042379593452013-11-02T07:16:15.785-04:002013-11-02T07:16:15.785-04:00Jess in Pamela Morsi's Simple Jess is a lovely...Jess in Pamela Morsi's <i>Simple Jess</i> is a lovely person, and Jedwin, in her <i>Wild Oats</i> is also a good person. Georgette Heyer's Freddy in <i>Cotillion</i>'s a nice, helpful person and her little Duke in <i>The Foundling</i> is very sweet.<br /><br />I don't remember coming across any characters who use niceness as a shield.<br />Laura Vivancohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00906661869372622821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-630346294397505634.post-63690466869050957082013-11-01T17:07:34.980-04:002013-11-01T17:07:34.980-04:00Ah, yes, Quinn's my favorite Dahl hero, too (a...Ah, yes, Quinn's my favorite Dahl hero, too (and the subject of one of the earliest posts on this blog!). Do you think either of them uses niceness as a shield? Jackie C. Hornehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04146684628443152376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-630346294397505634.post-77170779828313139532013-11-01T17:03:05.990-04:002013-11-01T17:03:05.990-04:00Jen:
Yes, I'm a big nice guy fan, too. And you...Jen:<br />Yes, I'm a big nice guy fan, too. And you've mentioned two of my favorites, both by what I think of as a newer generation of romance writers. Are younger women more accepting of the nice guy hero that were women who grew up under stricter patriarchal norms, do you think?Jackie C. Hornehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04146684628443152376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-630346294397505634.post-79572076205538699842013-11-01T12:33:44.229-04:002013-11-01T12:33:44.229-04:00A male reader here, who loves "nice guy"...A male reader here, who loves "nice guy" heroes. So many others aren't men whose company I'd like to keep, in fiction or in real life. Dahl writes wonderful heroes of that stripe (Quinn's my favorite); Crusie's Cal, from Bet Me, is another. E. M. Selingerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00426524354823232002noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-630346294397505634.post-54938947439987807882013-11-01T11:24:10.912-04:002013-11-01T11:24:10.912-04:00I admit I love the nice guys. I especially love th...I admit I love the nice guys. I especially love the nice guy betas. It's not that I can't enjoy any other kind of hero, but my favorites are always the nice ones. Probably top on my list is David from Meljean Brook's Riveted. Smart, kind, considerate, respectful....love him! Another favorite is Jamie Donovan from Bad Boys Do by Victoria Dahl. Sounds like a funny choice because he's supposed to be "bad" in the book, but I'd argue he's very nice, always doing for others, always friendly, trying to do the right thing, etc. (He actually uses his bad reputation to push others away from the real him, who is just a normal nice guy.)Jenhttp://readingforlove.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.com