Favorite Fictional Hero?

Oh man, asking me that is difficult.

There are just so many that I can't properly choose.

I just can't do it.

Especially when you're an author. I mean, how do you also choose from the heroes you write?

As a writer you have to love each character you write about.

In my upcoming Ellora's Cave book WILD RELEASE which is coming out January 22nd I pictured a big, brute of a guy, scarred up, shaved head and totally bad as Etienne.

For my Harlequin Medical coming out February 2014, I pictured Kevin McKidd from Grey's Anatomy to play the role of Dr. Gavin Brice. Who doesn't love a good looking Ginger man? I know Dr. Gavin Brice was very capable of Melting the Ice Queen's Heart. Dr. Virginia Potter didn't stand a chance.

I find when I'm working on a book I need visuals, so I create Pinterest boards to help me. It helps me visualize my characters more and they morph well beyond the actors I've chosen to be their own persons. Still each hero I write is different and in other books I've read, there are different reasons why I like a hero or even an anti hero.

I don't like just one flavor. ;)

I like Alpha's, Betas you name it.

I like them brooding and I like them joking.

So I can't really tell you who my favorite fictional hero is.

I like them all.

If you're interested in my Pinterest Boards you can find the board for Wild Release and Melting the Ice Queen's Heart by clicking on the titles.

Joe Who? Alcide that's Who

I rarely have a movie star in mind when I create my hero's. It ruins the fantasy in my head. And why I prefer not to have a 100% visible face on my covers - so you the reader can conjure up your own fantasy hero. But, my newest release that came out just last Wednesday with Ellora's Cave Four For The Show, was a little different.

The hero name Joe popped into my head and then along came Alcide right on behind. Perfect, I say to myself. He is one smexy dude. So I lay the tracks, without actually saying Joe Manganiello or Alcide, for the reader to picture him as my hunky hero. You'll have to read the book to see how I accomplish this.

In another story I'm working on, I picture the hero after a certain actor. One that I have adored for years. Not too well known, but I love him. Michael Biehn. You know, Kyle Reese from Terminator. Yes, him. They really do need to bring him back to the franchise in my opinion...anyway...

Blurb

 Spectator Sex. Intriguing. Risqué. The idea of watching other people have sex excites Tara to distraction. She hopes Joe is as eager as she to slip into voyeur mode so they can take another step in their sexual adventures. The last thing she expects is to evolve from watching ménages to being part of the show. Or for the two hot men who join her and Joe to not be able to keep their hands off each other.

Inside Scoop: In addition to being with three men, our lucky heroine gets a little foreplay of the female variety.

An Exotika® contemporary erotica story from Ellora’s Cave

Excerpt

I chewed my lip and read the tweet. Dare I?

I widened my eyes and read it again then sucked in a deep breath as I positioned the curser over the words. Before I could change my mind, I highlighted, right-clicked, saved and pasted it into an email for Joe.

Get hot and wet @desireafterdark Friday night w/#spectatorsex #sexclub #couples #singlewomen

My heart pounded and after just a nanosecond of hesitation I hit Send then laced my fingers together, clutching tightly, and rested my chin on them. How long would it take for a reply? Sure I had work to do, but right now I was dying to know what he’d say.

We were fairly new, a fresh couple who wasn’t really a couple. We’d met a few months ago and had jumped in the sack pretty much right away. Our chemistry was almost uncontrollable and the sex was great. No it was fucking unbelievable. We’d just clicked, both in and out of bed. But we were not a forever couple and had made it clear to each other right off the top. It wasn’t as if there were anything wrong with him. Joe was incredibly hot and knew all my buttons. He’d be a perfect forever partner, but I just wasn’t ready for that yet.

One thing we’d never discussed was going to a sex club. Hadn’t even talked fantasies or desires, or secret wants. Yet. Now was the perfect time to start. Holy shit. Well, this email would certainly separate the men from the boys.

Spectator sex. Now that was intriguing. I hadn’t really given it thought before, but a little twizzle of excitement made me catch my breath. It meant we could go without any self-imposed pressure of having to join into any groups. Sit in the back. Watch. Get hot, horny and wet. And fuck.

I sat up when a new message announced its arrival into my inbox with a ping. That was quick. It hadn’t taken Joe long to reply and if that were any indication, I knew exactly what his answer would be.

Clicking the message open, I smiled. Guess who’s going out to party tonight!

* * * * *

“Parking is a bitch here,” Joe said, without a hint of frustration. One of the things I liked about him—how he just goes with the flow. He wheeled the big truck through the cramped parking lot. I glanced around and couldn’t agree more.

“I bet I can squeeze this beast into that spot there. Hop out because the door will be up against that bush.”

I grabbed my purse and after a brief contemplation of bringing in our gym bag with our swimsuits, decided to leave it behind. We could always get it later. The chill of fall was in the air and struck me after being in the warm truck cab. The gravel parking lot was hell on my stiletto heels so I put my weight onto the toes and hurried out of Joe’s way. It was frigging cold and goose bumps rippled along my flesh. I wrapped my arms around my waist, trying to keep my body heat close.

I was definitely still in summer mode. The micro-mini and slips of fabric covering my breasts could hardly be called suitable for this brisk night. But I knew the unwritten dress code here, having been once a long time ago with friends for a pole dance night. Less is more. Skimpy is in. Exposure is key. So, with my pussy and ass almost hanging out of the mini, and my boobs pushing the limits of the top, I was set to blend in with the rest of the crowd.

Joe had the truck squeezed in and prowled to my side. The intensity in his eyes, dark and sensual, was enough to fire off all my nerve endings into a surge of awareness. I needed his arms around me, for both the chill of the night but also for the heat that flared deep in my belly.

“You’re shivering,” he stated. Always the practical one.

“Suffering for the cause.”

“When the hell did you buy that getup anyway and where have you hidden it?” He squeezed me and leaned down, taking the lobe of my ear between his lips. Gawd, I loved it when he did that. Heat bloomed in my already excited libido. “You’ll be the hottest bitch in the place.”

I moaned when his lips moved down my neck. “Hardly. Wait ’til, ahh shit…um, you see how they dress in there.” My legs wobbled when his hand swept down my back and squeezed my ass in a tight grip. “Joe, stop.”

He turned me and pushed me up against the cab of the truck. I yelped when the cold metal shocked my heated flesh.

“Do you really want me to stop?”

Mr. Darcy and Mr. Thornton - a throwdown - Favorite Fictional Hero

This month we're talking favorite fictional heroes. I have lots of heroes I love, but I keep coming back to Mr. Darcy from Pride & Prejudice and Mr. Thornton from North & South. Yes, both are British, and yes, the accent makes me swoon, but that's not why I love these heroes.

So why?

Their passion.

If you've seen these movies, you might be thinking, "Passion? These two are both stiff upper lip, not easy to know, pretty serious dudes." If you can think of men like Mr. Darcy and Mr. Thornton as dudes...

Bear with me here. If you've ever heard the phrase "still waters run deep", it perfectly describes these two. And really, their heroines, but who wants to talk about women when you can wax poetic about men? Moving on... These men don't wear their hearts on their sleeves.

Mr. Darcy is about as different from his best friend Mr. Bingley as night and day. Bingley falls in love easily and shows it. Mr. Darcy takes more persuading to really put his heart into it. In fact, it isn't until after he proposes to Elizabeth the first time that he really begins to realize this depth of feeling for her. When Elizabeth rebukes Mr. Darcy for behaving in an un-gentlemanlike manner, it cuts deep.

Likewise for Mr. Thornton. Yes, he's in love -- he thinks -- with Margaret when he proposes to her after the incident at the mill, but he really isn't. It's not until he loses everything that he finally faces what his heart knew all along but his head refused to believe - that he won't be happy without Margaret. You might be wondering why he went to Helstone rather than pursuing Margaret in London, but really, it's simple. Like Mr. Darcy, Mr. Thornton has a lot of pride. He's a failure, or so he thinks. The woman he loves is his landlord now. What can he possibly offer her?

Darcy is well aware of what he can offer Elizabeth in terms of money and property, but it isn't until he can offer her his heart without reservation that he proposes the second time.

Yes, both men are not ones to wow women with flowery speeches, but the passion is there. You can see it in their eyes. And when they do speak, it's obvious, moreso in Darcy during his first proposal than his second, and in Thornton in his proposal. Both raise their faces, both pace, both stare at their heroines. And both are devastated, not to mention humiliated, when their heroines flatly refuse their proposals.

You want an impassioned speech? Here's one, the proposal, and subsequent refusal, in North & South:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_FcSm1wUu0   (I would've embedded it but Blogger wouldn't let me)

I could link to Darcy's first proposal as well, but that one is better known, whether from the book or the BBC movie (the Keira Knightley one makes a mockery of the book IMO), so I decided not to. If you want to look it up, I'm quite sure YouTube has the proposal scene.

What am I getting at? Both men have passion. It may be lurking below the surface, but it's there. And that makes both of them drool-worthy.

To learn more about me or my books, you can check out my website at http://www.booksbycassandracarr.com.