Romantic Suspense heroes

» Posted on Mar 8, 2007 in Blog | Comments Off on Romantic Suspense heroes

I am moving from writing my Love Inspired romance to a romantic suspense for Love Inspired Suspense and the transition takes a little time to make. Besides the obvious reason that the focus of the two different types of stories is different, I’ve come to the conclusion that the types of heroes are different, too. Now this is always the case but generally I find when I write a romantic suspense, the hero is an alpha hero (occasionally a gamma type hero). I don’t think I’ve ever written a beta hero in a romantic suspense. They just don’t fit the story.

As I was thinking about the different kinds of heroes, I wondered why an alpha hero is so popular. Many women love reading a strong alpha one, but when it comes to marrying one, they prefer a beta or gamma hero. So why do I feel this way? What is a beta hero? I think of one as a best friend, the boy next door type. What is an alpha hero? I think of one as the loner (the bad boy), the warrior, capable of taking care of you and himself in any type of situation. The gamma hero is a cross between those two.

In order to write a romantic suspense I find it is hard to do it with a beta hero. I want a take charge kind of hero like Slader in the Heart of the Amazon. In Buried Secrets I have another hero that is a modern day warrior—Zach Collier. When faced with life and death decisions, a heroine wants a man she can depend on.

But after saying all that, I have to admit that I’m married to my best friend, a man who is a beta and I wouldn’t trade him for all the alpha men in the world. What is your favorite hero? Is that different from who you married or want to marry? What kind of heroes do you see in a romantic suspense story.