Real
Life Heroes by Lee Brazil
Pick up a romance
novel. Any one. What's that hero look like? Bet you he's tall, handsome, either
strikingly blond or broodingly dark. His eyes are imbued with magical
qualities, his lips divine. Odds are
he's disgustingly rich, sought after by women (or men) everywhere.
His character is
noble, intelligent, and arrogant possibly, but always deservedly so. He's the
top in his career, the bravest, the strongest, the cleverest man around.
He's hogwash. He's
no hero. He's a myth, a fantasy, a veritable cartoon of a real man.
I like the trend
toward real heroes in romance. You see firemen, and policemen, and even shop
keepers as heroes these days. Of course, they're still perfect. They might be geeks, but by God they are
handsome geeks! They might be forty-five
years old, but gosh darn it, they've got all their own hair!
Women in romance
have become real. They are buxom, glasses wearing kick-ass ladies who tote guns
and wear martial arts garb. They are real.
Where are the real
men?
The heroes who
need glasses, whose hair is thinning prematurely, whose muscles aren't well
defined, who stutter, or sweat, or sell insurance for a living?
When I go down to
my local fire station the men there aren't model perfect beauties. They're
handsome men, in their character and their appearance. Some have gap teeth,
some have beards, some have more gray than color in their hair. They are thin
and gangly, lanky muscled men who can pass that hose quickly and wriggle in and
out of tight spaces.
There are portly
gentlemen there, with bald pates and thick mustaches. They coax kittens out of
trees and comfort elderly women. Their smiles might be crooked but they are
sincere, and when one of them raises a hand in greeting, I know he's genuinely
happy to see me.
The police men at
the local station, they talk to kids every day, they issue warning when tickets
might have been called for, they counsel families, and they are occasionally
called upon to fight crime. Not often, it's that kind of place. They do a lot
of paper work, and they keep the cars clean.
None of them are perfect specimens of masculinity either. They're all
nice looking fellows, some who could use a few rounds of exercise, some who
could probably do with a personal shopper.
They're awesome.
Why aren't they in
your book?
Why not the farmer
with his sun burnt neck and wind chapped cheeks? In his John Deere cap and his
Carhartt jacket? Or the squinty eyed pharmacist who works behind the counter
and fills your prescription? He explains the difference between aspirin and
ibuprofen day after day with a tolerant grin.
We've accepted
flawed heroes, if the flaw is in their personality, like...impatience,
arrogance, etc. But can we accept as our hero a man who isn't handsome?
Is it that to be
loved you must be handsome?
Or...
Maybe...
If we love
someone,
It doesn't matter
what they look like.
You agree that is
true, yes?
Is it too
difficult to take a beast and make him beautiful in the eyes of his lover?
My imperfect heroes, Val and Adrian,
are delighted to make your acquaintance.
The Librarian
Valentine Michaels
has just taken a vow of celibacy. Adrian Grey intends to take full advantage of
that vow to re-create his relationship with Val.
Val is at a
crossroads in his life. A college dropout, he's gone as far as he can in his
career as a cosmetologist, owning his own style salon. He no longer finds
satisfaction in it, though he's put years into proving to his bigoted parents
that a college degree and the veneer of straightness aren't the only roads to
success. They'd turned their backs on him, and he proved he didn't need them to
make it.
His love life is
no better than his working life. His relationships always start with a bang and
fizzle into boredom, or worse, anger.
Adrian has his own agenda for helping Val:
he's been in love with Val since they were freshmen. The intervening years of
listening to Val's gossip about his lovers and relationships have taught Adrian
just what it was he did wrong all those years ago, and he thinks this time
around he now knows exactly how to get—and keep—his man.
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2 comments:
I believe that if you love someone, they are the most beautiful person in your eyes. Who cares what others think - your eyes are the ones you look through...*blushes* Okay - that was a tad bit hokey...but you get my meaning...lol
Great blog, Lee!
Thanks, Havan! And Thanks for having me on, Dawn!
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