By Narelle Atkins
If you browse a number of romance titles, you’ll find the bad boy hero is a popular story line in the romance genre.
Why is the bad boy hero appealing to romance readers?
I confess to having a soft spot for the bad boys in romantic fiction. They’re far from perfect and have made their fair share of mistakes. A bit rough around the edges, they’re not afraid to take on the challenges of life and they exhibit many heroic traits. I’m an Aussie and it’s a national sport to back the underdog. In a romance the underdog is often the bad boy hero, fighting seemingly insurmountable obstacles to achieve his goals.
In a Christian romance, it is God’s redeeming love that saves the bad boy hero and enables him to form a lasting and loving relationship with the heroine. Of course, the heroine will usually play a role in helping the hero in his spiritual journey, but it’s his faith that gives him the strength to become a better person.
The Christian romance genre, and Christian fiction in general, has been criticized for having characters who are too perfect. Iola Goulton wrote an excellent response to an article that claimed Christian romances feature Mr Perfect. You can read Iola’s thoughts here.
We don’t need to read very far into the Bible to discover that many of our Biblical heroes were far from perfect. King David is a good example, and one of my favorite heroes from the Bible. David was a mighty warrior and a man after God’s own heart. He was also human, like the rest of us, and made his share of mistakes including an adulterous affair with Bathsheba that had deadly consequences.
My new release, Winning Over the Heiress, features a former bad boy hero. Sean has made plenty of mistakes in his life, and you can see his bad boy past in full flight in Her Tycoon Hero, the previous book in the series. Julia, my heroine, is the good Christian girl who has mostly done everything right. Sparks fly when she ends up becoming Sean’s boss in the church office. Sean’s very aware of his need for God’s grace, and he challenges Julia’s thoughts and ideas on many levels.
His new boss, Julia Radcliffe, isn't so sure. A year ago, Sean walked out on his brother's wedding—and her. Now the bad boy with the surfer good looks is back and determined to make a new life with Julia. She wonders whether she can truly trust that he's a changed man.
It took time and faith, but Sean is finally on the right path. And his feelings for Julia have only grown stronger. But when Sean's past threatens to jeopardize their future, can he convince Julia they both want the same thing—a love that can overcome every mistake?
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I’m giving away a print copy of Winning Over the Heiress (worldwide, wherever The Book Depository delivers) to a reader who leaves a comment on this post and enters the Rafflecopter giveaway.
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