Why Henley Is A Sexy Beast by Cynthia Sax

I'd like to welcome my friend, Cynthia Sax here today to talk about beastly heroes. I'm sold! You will be, too. Read on!!

I LOVE Beauty and the Beast stories. There’s something so very sexy about pairing a scarred primitive hero with a beautiful yet feisty heroine. He’s damaged and she’s the only one who can reach him, the only one who understands him.

Flashes Of Me, my most recent contemporary erotic romance from Avon, is a modern twist on the Beauty and the Beast story. Kat is a big breasted blonde, accustomed to being appreciated merely for her looks. She realizes she’s pretty and she also realizes being pretty isn’t always an asset. Because she’s often judged by her appearance, she rarely judges others by their appearances.

This is a good thing because Henley’s appearance scares the Nutella out of people. Henley is huge, scarred, and dresses all in black. He’s a formidable sight, striking fear into others, and he uses this appearance to help him in his job.

Henley is the head of cyber security at Blaine Technologies, charged with enforcing the rules and keeping everyone safe. No one dares break the rules around him.

This ability to frighten the pants off people isn’t always a blessing. It hurts Henley that everyone is scared at him, that coworkers avoid him, exiting the elevator when he enters, hiding from him when he stomps along the hallway. He’s traded the ability to do his job, to protect the people he secretly cares about, with a life of loneliness.

This inner conflict, the yearning for love coupled with the need to protect, makes Henley a very sexy beast. He willingly sacrifices his own happiness to safeguard others. When he meets the fearless, fun-loving Kat, he questions that he made the right decision.

What do you love about the beast hero?

Flashes Of Me
Pre-Order Link:  http://www.amazon.com/Flashes-Me-An-Erotic-Novella-ebook/dp/B00F2I2GXO

Blurb:

Henley, the head of cyber security at Blaine Technologies, is a man no one crosses. He watches employees constantly using his network of cameras and enforces his rules by any means possible. Rumors of his violent past, his scarred hands and huge size have resulted in him being feared by everyone… almost everyone.

Katalina, the new intern, worries about the revelation of her most painful secret much more than she fears her sexy boss’s wrath. She sees the loneliness in his dark eyes, feels the gentleness in his marred fingers, tastes the need in his kisses, and she knows he watches her. His silly rules about not stripping for the cameras and no sex at the office are destined to be broken.

Kat likes to be watched. Henley can’t look away. Will this beauty be able to tame her beastly boss?

Author Website: http://cynthiasax.com/

Blog: http://tasteofcyn.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cynthia.sax

Twitter: @CynthiaSax

Hunky Hero Time!

The hop is all about hunky heroes. I'll share one of my books that I think has my hunkiest (is that a word?) hero in it in a few, but here are some of my pics for hunky men.


And...


And one more...


Aren't they all yummy? I think so. And to add to the yumminess, my vote for hunkiest hero is Storm Richardson from My Immortal. It was hard to pick just one, but that's mine.

Who do you vote for your hunkiest hero? Leave that in the comments along with your name and your email and you're in the hopper for the pdf of My Immortal. I'd love it if you followed me on twitter, facebook, the blog, but I don't expect it for you to win. You do it because you want to. And because they are fantastic please stop by Riverina Romantics and so you can keep going, here's the linky code for the rest of the hop:

RELEASE DAY!!! PLEASE REMEMBER ME

This has been a long time coming. Please Remember Me releases today. I loved the book, had a blast writing it, and hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

What The? Wednesdays

This is a complaint pure and simple. Thought I'd better preface it and get that part right out.

This is also something I am terribly guilty of as well.

Characters that have a skill one moment, and then the next POOF! it's gone. You know what I mean? Example: my vampire, Storm. The guy has supercharged senses. Why not? He's my vampire. But my issue? Trying to REMEMBER he had the power he had. There's a lot to remember, I know.

So in all reality, I sympathize with the authors that forget or make the super all the sudden a little more human. It means the author is human.

Now back to my complaint. The books where the super gains a power in one frickin scene. In the beginning of the book, he can leap tall buildings with a single bound, but in the middle when she's stuck on the top of the Empire State Building with the monkey, he has to climb it like any other Joe.

Or, better yet, he DOESN'T have the power untilhe needs it, then all the sudden it materializes. To me, that's like the author said, oh crap, I wrote the hero into a corner and now I have to get him out. What do I do? INVENT A POWER! If he's psychic and that's the moment he accepts and USES his gift, but he's had it all along, that's one thing. Otherwise,--and I hate this word--it sounds contrived. I got myself into a jam and this was the only way I knew to get out.

And really? It short-changes the reader, too. If the only way he can save her is to snap his fingers and plunk them into a parallel universe that didn't exist up until that part in the book, then I want to toss the book across the room never to be opened again. And yes, it doesn't matter if it's a tried and true author or a new to me author. I'll pitch a book across the room.

My point? Take an extra moment, day, week, whatever... and let the character tell you what they want to do. Don't just make them. Trust me, that's fixing yourself up for a pissed off hero. Been there, done that. If you take the extra time and care, it'll pay off big-time.

Up or Down?

Sometimes you just gotta ask the dumb question.

Toilet seat up or down? Or don't you care...

Now the reason I ask is that I live in a male dominated household. (No not Megan's--don't let her fool you, she rules her roost.)

Every time I head to the loo, the seat is up. Early on in my marriage, I had a fit about this very issue. It drove me crazy.

What about now?

Meh. Doesn't necessarily bother me now because I'm conditioned to put the flippin' seat down. Don't get me wrong, I've fallen in enough times to count, but geez.

Now why do I bring this up? Because I've never seen or read a romance that wasn't a "comedy" (I'm talking film with that), where the man leaves the seat up and she falls in. I don't know about you, but I appreciate realism in my romance. Yes, I know the idea of romance (I don't subscribe to this totally, mind you) is to be a fantasy. The idea is to take the reader out of her/his normal life and show them something that's the stuff of dirty dreams.

Um....

I agree to an extent, but then again, I can respect the idea of the guy farting, burping (or her for that matter), snoring (and not lightly), and leaving the seat up.

Am I wrong? Yes and no. There are those purists who will say that a hero doesn't do anything that isn't heroic.

Thanks, but no thanks. I find that a tad stifling.

I'm going back to my snoring, burping, farmer who sweats cause he does work and isn't dainty.

So I Was Talking to a Friend...

My farmer was rejected finally by the editor. Somehow in the back of my mind, I saw it coming. Don't get me wrong... I didn't send something I thought was subpar. I thought the story was right on track. But, apparently the editor, tho agreeing that the story was great, wasn't what was wanted. Am I bitter? Heck no. I learned a while back that what isn't one person's cup of tea is another's. So I sent him back out again hoping that this time he'll strike gold.

But as I said in the title, I was talking to Megan yesterday (well, I would've today but she's sorta busy now cause her third cabana boy found his way home and they have to make up for lost time...), anyway, she suggested that even though farmer is sexy and hunky, he's a recovering addict and though he's brooding, he's not rock star brooding. She seemed to think and I agree that he wasn't flashy enough and that's why he wasn't appealing to the editor.

What do you think? Does the hero have to be flashy for you to like him? I mean, in farmer's case, he's a farmer. I don't know about you, but I don't know too many flashy farmers and beings that I come from a long line of farmers, I'd say I know what I'm talking about. Why can't Joe Ordinary be a hero just like Jumping Jack Flash?

Megan says it's a matter of fantasy--women want their fantasy man. A farmer isn't exactly the idea sexy man (so sayeth the woman who has three freakin vampire cabana boys...). I agree to a small degree. Yes, it's nice to read about the hunky doctor, or the studly actor, but I also want to read about a real person. There is a trend in romance to write larger heroines. BBW. So why can't the hero be average? Cause really, there are a lot of average guys out there who are pretty heroic without having to be the flashy type. I mean, where would you get your food if it wasn't for a farmer?

Just sayin'.


What do you think?

So I've been gone a while....

I got a new job and it's fun. I love it, but it consumes time. Yup, that means my blog hopping, site hopping, and twiddling around is at a serious low, but it's all good thing.

What am I up to?

Well, kicking nosy heroes out of my blog, dangged it.

Besides that, I'm kicking my butt to get that rewrite done. Yep, still at it. And I have at least three ideas rolling around in my head that need jotted down on paper before I forget them. Plus, I want to finish my NaNo... yeah, yeah, I conquered it, but I want to actually get to the finished state--where a publisher would look at it. And then there's this pesky Christmas story idea with a shifter...

I need more time in the day...

OH! OH! And I have a free read up on Thursday at Whipped Cream, entitled Don't Look Away... about an artist and his model... Can't wait to see my cover... since some know what it looks like... (insert big grin)

What's up with you? I'd love to know!

Toodles!

Where Do You Find Your Leading Men?

I wanted to post a short blog about where I find my leading men. Some get hung up on movie stars, others on television stars. Some find their man of the hour in music videos and up-and-coming bands.

Where do you get your ideas?

For me, my hero can come out of actors on television (Jeremy Sisto is a fave) and the occasional musician (Keith Anderson, anyone?). But I have found my heroes embodied in people I see on the street, like at the hardware store, at the Dairy Queen, or in the local hay field (did I mention my fondness for farmers?).

I use this rule, just because he looks yummy, doesn't mean his personality is. Just because his personality is stellar doesn't automatically cross him off the list of hero potentials.

Oh and one thing I love to do, is take the one character on a show or whatever and make him my hero. Is that odd? Probably, but sometimes the antagonist isn't the icky bad guy. I've seen some hunky baddies and I've seen some heroes that made me wonder how he got the job.

I guess what I mean is that a hero is who you make him into. One person can see the guy in a bad light and another can see him as a knight in shining armor. It's up to you to decide how you want to run with your hero.

How do you come up with your heroes? I'd love to hear your ideas and thoughts.

Toodles.