the ask@AAR: Who’s your favorite heroine in romance?

Grace St John from Linda Howard’s Son of the Morning. She starts as an academic with a happy and ordinary life, then has to use all her intelligence and resourcefulness to survive against the odds. I love intelligent heroines.

And I second Cordelia Naismith – it’s so satisfying to see a good heroine well past her twenties.

Most heroines run into each other in my mind and I find it hard to remember distinctive things about them, but a few who stick out are: Elissande Edgerton from Sherry Thomas’ His at Night, Cassandra deWitt from Mia Vincy’s debut (for their courage and resourcefulness) and Sophy in Heyer’s The Grand Sophy (for her jawdropping capability in any situation).

I have a few heroines I always really enjoy revisiting.

Most people favor Annique from Joanna Bourne’s Spymaster series but my favorites are:

1.) Jess Whitby of My Lord and Spymaster (The Mastermind behind her and her father’s shipping company and former “Hand” to Lazarus the Crime Lord of London -who holds the strings to all major business, crime and enterprises in London). Bourne does an amazing job of SHOWING that Jess is incredibly quick and intelligent by her wit and strategy not just telling the reader over and over that she is. One of the great ways Bourne subtly convinces the reader how Jess and Captain Sebastian Kennett are perfect for each other is in the similar way they evaluate everything they see based on its “trade value” – When she wakes up in a strange room after being knocked unconscious they first thing Jess notices is “The curtains were the sort of pretty chintz that sells for six shillings a yard” then evaluates the sights and sounds out the window to deduce she is somewhere in Mayfair. Sebastian is even more smitten with her when she mentally calculates his “shipping loss” on one blanket is “A third of a percent” and well within the accepted parameters.

2.) Marguerite de Fleurignac ( of The Forbidden Rose ) and Doyle are another perfect match. A French Aristo who runs an underground network that smuggles condemned aristocrats and their families out of France during the Reign of Terror meets her match in the English spy masquerading as a French peddler wrangling two ornery mules and an un-housebroken 13 year old Adrian. First Doyle protects her, then she pulls off an impossible scheme saving him from the guillotine. He frequently thinks of himself as a big clumsy lout and she wryly admits her grandmother referred to her as “monkey mouth” and they are one of the most attractive and charming pairs in romancelandia.

3.) Genevieve Pasquier of The Oracle Glass by Judith Merkle Riley is another clever, wry and courageous heroine I admire and enjoy. How she uses her “supernatural” gift and the extraordinary education her beloved father allowed her to change her life and her fate is an amazing story. Her romance with the brilliant, romantic, former clockmaker and reformer turned gambler and spy Florent D’Urbec is full of heartbreak, twists, turns, mutual admiration and finally a phenomenally happy ending.

4.) Honoria Todd of Bec McMaster’s Kiss of Steel. Maybe because it’s the first book of McMaster’s that drew me into her world of Blueboods ,but the starchy bluestocking Honoria and Blade the cockney vampire head of the slums of London are one of my favorite pairings. Honoria is secretly trying to carry on her father’s scientific work while keeping her younger siblings alive while Blade is hoping to use her to draw out his mortal enemy. She’s clever and cool and sharp tongued and he’s cocky and brash yet kindhearted. McMaster has an entire host of heroines I enjoy and admire but Honoria is a sentimental favorite,

5.) Miss Elizabeth Bennet- I don’t think there is one original thing left to be said about Austen’s witty and charming heroine (whom we all secretly long to be). She and Mr. Darcy set the gold standard for what a romance based on real affection and admiration could be and launched a million imitations. It’s a near flawless story.

6.) Several Carla Kelly heroines such as Hannah Whittier from Miss Whittier Makes a List, Susan from The Lady’s Companion, Lydia from With This Ring and probably a dozen others. Sometimes these ladies help save England, sometimes their family or a poor orphan, sometimes their hero- but always themselves. They do it with a quiet confidence, a kind heart and a undefeatable sense of self. In a genre filled with master spies, martial arts experts and supernaturally enhanced warriors, oftentimes their victory is just surviving what would flatten another person spiritually as well as physically -yet its emotional impact for me can dwarf some of the other books with more boom and flash.

I could go on all day so I will cut myself off here. I will say in closing that a great heroine is ESSENTIAL for me to enjoy a romance. It cannot be completely lopsided with just a great hero or a heroine doing all the heavy lifting. They must be great partners.

I like thoughtful, intelligent heroines who find themselves at a crossroads in life and love. Also I tend to like older heroines who have a little more emotional mileage on them. Favorites include Lacey from Anne Calhoun’s LIBERATING LACEY, Erin from Cara McKenna’s AFTER HOURS, Aspen from Katie Wilde’s GOING NOWHERE FAST, and (a new favorite) Brooke from Kate Canterbary’s FAR CRY (and, speaking of Canterbary, I also really like Shannon, the older sister in her Walsh Family series).

She’s not a romance heroine, but I adore Lois Lane. She’s smart, tough, resilient, and doesn’t let Superman get away with anything (So you saved the world. That does not mean you get to be late for our date!). And she’s a hero in her own right, fighting for truth, justice, and the American way with that mightiest of weapons….the pen!