-Jamie Fraser from Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. Young, rugged, masculine, what's not to love? Plus he's Scottish, and that so totally works for me. No metrosexual is our Jamie, and thank the Lord for that.

-Sam Starrett from Suz Brockmann's Troubleshooter series. I don't know what it is, but I love this guy completely. Part of it was/is because he was just so into his heroine that I just completely fell for him. Yeah, he could be selfish, hot-headed, a complete idiot, but then he does something so sweet and sincere that I am toast. Another masculine alpha with an accent. Yum-mo.

-Zachary Bronson from Lisa Kleypas' "Where Dreams Begin". Yeah, yeah, yeah, there's Derek Craven, and Sebastian, and they are both totally hot, but Zach had me at that first kiss, when he becomes infatuated with Holly and starts a sneaky campaign to bed her. A blue-collar rich man, Zach is earthy, sexy, and arrogant, but when he falls, he falls hard and forever. Makes me melt everytime.

-Kenny "Wildcard" Carmody, another SEAL from Brockmann's series. The thing about Kenny is that he totally wears his heart on his sleeve, and yeah, he's a big, bad SEAL, but he's also prone to falling "in love" quicker than you can say "you had me at hello". There's just something so vulnerable, so sweet about him that I wanted to take him home. At first I didn't like the woman he ended up falling for, but she eventually won me over, and my Kenny got his HEA. Love him.

-Roarke. Come on, you know who he is, from JD Robb's "In Death" series. Roarke is like the ideal hero - rich, gorgeous, intelligent, sexy...and he has an accent. An Irish accent. Shiver me timbers. The man is not perfect, but that's what makes him so perfect. The biggest flaw that I see with Roarke is that he smokes. Huge turn-off, but for Roarke, I'd seriously consider him anyway. He's just too good not to.

-Zarek from Sherrilyn Kenyon's "Dancing With the Devil". He was literally one of the most tortured heroes I've ever read about, and he was so close to being inhuman, without emotion, until Astrid. Even then, he didn't change much, but his love for his woman gave him back some of his humanity. He holds a special place in my heart.

-Zsadist from JR Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series. True, Z is almost a carbon copy of Zarek, even down to being a vamp. The similarities are so startling, but Z made his own mark on me. That first kiss with Bella is enough to melt the coldest of hearts. Wowza.

-Simon from Jennifer LaBrecque's "Daring in the Dark". Quiet, intense, brooding, a photographer with a sexy accent secretly in love with his best friend's fiancee. But is he going to do anything about it? Of course not. The man has morals, and would have never gone near her, were it not for a black-out and a life-altering secret.

-Jamie Creed from Lori Foster's Visitation series. Jamie is mysterious, a bit strange, quite the loner, yet always shows up when he's needed. Always. He is like a wise old soul in the body of a man in his prime, yet he yearns for love for himself. Thank God he finally gets it. Who could resist?

-Joe Morelli from Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. He's a tough, sexy cop who is just crazy about that lovable, inept bounty hunter Stephanie. Italian and all about family, Joe is the guy you bring home to dinner, and she does. Quite frequently. And he rocks her world.

-Ranger, also from the Plum series. Sorry, it had to be said. The one reason Stephanie is not married to Joe, cuz see, he rocks her world too. Ranger has a thing for Stephanie, though he's not looking for forever. He's the ultimate mystery man: resourceful, connected, loaded, with a secret past that he doesn't share.

Who are your favorite literary heroes?

Why?

Labels: heroes, me, tagged