Making your man...

Creating a sexy, appealing man is an integral part of a good romance. Successfully blending character traits to create a man who is desirable to a broad demographic can pose something of a challenge to any author.

One author who I believe has perfected this art, is Karen Marie Moning (my favourite author). All her men (even the baddies) are incredibly sexy. Her character from the Fever Series, Jericho Barrons, however, is the one who takes the cake. He is, (in my eyes - and many other's I suspect) the most desirable male character of all time. It's a good job he's fictional - because my husband would be in real trouble if he weren't!

So, what makes Barrons so delicious? On the face of it, he's dark, controlling, secretive, possessive, and has no sense of humour. How could this character be attractive then? Well, apart from his incredible body and breath-taking beauty, his charm and desirability lies in the subtleties of Ms Moning's writing.
When Jericho Barrons looks at his heroine - Mac - the gesture and its meaning is much more important than what he actually says about her. The way Barrons notices small things about Mac and the way he reacts to them - is charming, beguiling and absorbing. His appeal also grows through the often understated way in which he expresses his care and concern, and the way he protects her even when she doesn't know it. All this makes for magic reading.
Additionally, the reader actually knows very little about Barrons which firmly slots him into the "tall, dark and mysterious" category. Simple questions like where is he from? What exactly is he? What exactly does he want - remain unanswered, and I, like all the other Fever Fans, wait with baited breath for the final installment in the Series.

Basically, choosing your hero's character traits and blending them with your story to create something that is engaging, desirable and believable is an absolute art, and one worth perfecting.

If you want a rollicking good read, I recommend the Fever Series (Dark Fever, Blood Fever, Fae Fever, Dream Fever and Shadow Fever coming January 2010!) by Karen Marie Moning. Also, if you're into the semi clad Scotsmen with broad accents and even broader... whatever... get into Ms Monings Highlander Series, they'll put the wind in your bagpipes for sure! ;)