Since I blogged last time about Alpha Males, this time I thought I should turn my attention to the women. I have made quite a study of the characters in the romance novels, both male and female and, although there are a lot of stereotypes, some stand out from the crowd.
The romances with the most developed characters are the ones that work, the ones we remember. It isn't so much the plot or the luxury of the settings but the way in which the characters interact with eachother and the way in which they resolve the problems the author has set them.
There is little point in creating a wonderful world as a back drop for wooden, unconvincing characters. Women today are forceful, they know what they want and they go out to get it. Would they put up with man who was little more than a moody bully or would they tell him to take a running jump? I know what I'd do, no matter how darned good looking and rich he was.
Modern women deserve respect and I hope they don't settle for anything less? I know, as well as anyone, that love can make you do silly things, it can make you blind to a man's faults and there are plenty of us who end up with the wrong man the first time round; but I am not sure it has a place in romance.
If, at the end of a novel, the heroine ends up with a man who has bullied her and abused his power through out the story then, to me, it doesn't quite constitute a happy ending. I am too aware that leopards rarely change their spots and am left thinking, is this man going to revert to type? Are they really going to be happy? The author has lost me because she hasn't convinced me of her male lead's integrity.
If I reach the end of a novel where the male character is fully rounded, even if he goes through a period of seeming to be threatening, because i have been made aware of his good points and can believe that his redeeming features outweigh the bad, then it leaves me a happy bunny with a rosy glow. which is the author's intention, isnt it?
The romances with the most developed characters are the ones that work, the ones we remember. It isn't so much the plot or the luxury of the settings but the way in which the characters interact with eachother and the way in which they resolve the problems the author has set them.
There is little point in creating a wonderful world as a back drop for wooden, unconvincing characters. Women today are forceful, they know what they want and they go out to get it. Would they put up with man who was little more than a moody bully or would they tell him to take a running jump? I know what I'd do, no matter how darned good looking and rich he was.
Modern women deserve respect and I hope they don't settle for anything less? I know, as well as anyone, that love can make you do silly things, it can make you blind to a man's faults and there are plenty of us who end up with the wrong man the first time round; but I am not sure it has a place in romance.
If, at the end of a novel, the heroine ends up with a man who has bullied her and abused his power through out the story then, to me, it doesn't quite constitute a happy ending. I am too aware that leopards rarely change their spots and am left thinking, is this man going to revert to type? Are they really going to be happy? The author has lost me because she hasn't convinced me of her male lead's integrity.
If I reach the end of a novel where the male character is fully rounded, even if he goes through a period of seeming to be threatening, because i have been made aware of his good points and can believe that his redeeming features outweigh the bad, then it leaves me a happy bunny with a rosy glow. which is the author's intention, isnt it?
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