Special Treat! Ashley March is here to chat about her Hero List! But first, I want to tell you a little about Ashley’s latest book, SEDUCING THE DUCHESS!
It was just another scandalous night…
Gambling. Carousing. Flirting. Charlotte, Duchess of Rutherford, will do anything to create a scandal large enough to force her husband to finally petition for a divorce. Once madly in love with Philip, she is now determined to escape from their less than civil marriage and the reminders of his betrayal.
Until he stole her away…
Philip Burgess, Duke of Rutherford, is not a man to tolerate regrets. He wed Charlotte for revenge, not for love or convenience, knowing she would come to hate him. But he never expected he would one day find himself craving her attention or desiring her company….
And gave her something more…
Philip is no longer the cold, deceitful man she married years ago. And when he promises Charlotte a divorce if she will help him become a better husband for another woman, she wonders if she truly wants to lose him—and if Philip may still possess her heart after all…
“March’s debut novel glows with its fresh take on a traditional theme, a second chance at love. Her sprightly characters and snappy dialogue set the pace for a delectable, sensual, love story.” –RT Book Reviews
PURCHASE: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Borders, Indiebound, Powell’s
And now, in Ashley’s own words…
***
The Hero List
First—thanks so much to Elisabeth for allowing me to come visit today, and congratulations on the new release of BODYGUARDS IN BED. I can’t wait to read it!
Now to the hero list. Admit it, ladies, we all have one. I’m not talking about the list of qualities we want in our ideal romance hero—which for the most part would probably be pretty standard: tall, dark, handsome, knows what he’s doing in the bedchamber, has a great sense of humor but a stare that makes your knees week.
No, I’m not talking about him (although, wow—I really want to read about that romance hero now ;).
I’m talking about the hero list so many women create before they meet “the one”. Because we might not know what “the one” will look like or what his name will be, we create a list of qualities that we decide we will look for in this perfect man, qualities we hope that “the one” will have.
My list was created sometime during the summer between the 8th and 9th grades. (Note: If your 14-15 year old daughter gets bored during the summer, tell her to create her own hero list. 😉 ) If I remember correctly, the following comprised my standards for my own ideal hero (In no particular order, mind you…after all, he’d have to have all of them to be perfect):
1) Sense of humor (definitely had to make me laugh and be fun to hang around)
2) Hot (although I could live with cute)
3) Intelligent (needed someone to keep up with me)
4) Christian (had my own values)
5) Played the drums (because drummers are HAWT)
6) Played the guitar (because drummers who also play the guitar are SUPER hawt)
7) Lifeguard (I believe my thinking on this was that this would ensure he’d be hot or at least have a great body…yes, I was somewhat of a superficial 15 year old)
I probably didn’t think of this back then because my ideal hero might not have been able to drive yet, but as a bonus…a motorcycle would have scored major points!
Either way, I created the list, just to give myself an idea of what kind of guy I was interested in. To be honest, I never expected to find someone who met all of these requirements. But if I met someone with three or more…well, I would consider myself fortunate and start planning the wedding immediately.
I kept my list in 9th grade. Didn’t find anyone. 10th grade. Still nothing. I moved schools for 11th grade, and that first semester I found him. The perfect hero.
He had EVERYTHING. Cute, intelligent, sense of humor, played the drums AND guitar, was a lifeguard during the summer, and was a Christian. I wish you could have seen me as I discovered each of these one by one, mentally checking them off on my list. On the outside I tried to be nonchalant, but inside I was squeeing like mad—simply because he was the perfect guy for me.
Or rather, he should have been.
Because the sad truth is, ladies…There was no chemistry between us. Zippo. Nada. In fact, I developed a crush on his best friend and tried to hook Perfect Hero up with my best friend. Perfect Hero and I were friends, but never anything more.
I have to admit that this was a crushing blow to the romantic inside me. It felt like serendipity. We were MEANT to be together…weren’t we?
Instead, four years later, at the age of 19, I married someone else. Someone I was crazy in love with. He was cute, intelligent, had a great sense of humor, and shared my values…but he didn’t play the drums or the guitar (although he did make an effort by strumming it some ;)) and he certainly wasn’t a lifeguard (no Michael Phelps here, ladies). He didn’t even have the bonus material; he was convinced that he would get in an accident and die if he ever rode a motorcycle.
But we’ve been married almost 8 years now and I fall more in love with Mr. Imperfect Hero every day. He cooks, he cleans, he’s a terrific father, he still makes me laugh, and he takes the very best care of me. Also, I’m really excited to tell you that he’s now agreed that he’ll try riding a motorcycle…someday.
As a romance author, this experience has taught me two things. 1) This is a fantastic story line and I’m definitely going to have to use it for a future book; and 2) I don’t want my romance heroes to be perfect. I want them to be perfect for the heroine, even if she has a hero list. I want him to surprise her and make her open her heart and eyes to something so wonderful she would never have dreamed of it on her own. Because I’ve lived that experience, and let me tell you, ladies…it’s the greatest feeling in the world.
Although I urge you to go out and buy BODYGUARDS IN BED and read it first, then I’d love to give away a copy of my first book, SEDUCING THE DUCHESS. It’s about a woman who thought she married the perfect hero and then found out he wasn’t so perfect after all…until he becomes the perfect man for her.
To enter to win (open to US and international), all you have to do is tell me 5 things that would be on your best-of-the-best real-life hero list. (And no, you can’t base it off of everything that’s wonderful about your significant other. 😉 ).
(Note: This drawing is open internationally.)
June 2nd, 2011 at 8:51 am · Link
1. Strong character
2. Average looks
3. Has to have something he is passionate about
4. Has family
5. Out going
June 2nd, 2011 at 8:58 am · Link
1. Tall (yes, he must tall, LOL)
2. Older than me
3. Have sense of humor (life will not be boring)
4. Have same belief and religions
5. Faithful (the most important,I hate cheating)
June 2nd, 2011 at 8:59 am · Link
1. Kind heart
2. loyal and faithful
3. good sense of humor
4. hard worker
June 2nd, 2011 at 9:12 am · Link
The best of the best real hero list for me is as follows:
1. Tall – can’t beat tall
2. Loving and Gentle
3. Protective
4. A bit of a Rogue
5. Loyal and in need of lots of hugs
June 2nd, 2011 at 9:15 am · Link
1. Loyal and truthful (nobody likes a cheater or a liar!)
2. Aims to please (me of course.. hehe)
3. I’m his main priority 😀
4. Taller than me
5. Christian (same basic morals)
June 2nd, 2011 at 9:29 am · Link
1. Sense of humor
2. Caring/compassionate
3. Tall
4. Strong, broad shoulders
5. Loyal
June 2nd, 2011 at 9:40 am · Link
1.) Intelligent (Smart guys are soooo hawt!)
2.) Long hair (I have a fetish)
3.) Good in bed
4.) Sense of humor
5.) Likes cats
June 2nd, 2011 at 9:51 am · Link
Smart, sense of humour, loving (ESP. With me!), good-looking (or at least a good smile), kind
June 2nd, 2011 at 10:02 am · Link
1. Tall & well-built
2. Intelligent & thoughtful
3. Honest & Loyal
4. Highly trained or skilled
5. Protective & Brave
June 2nd, 2011 at 10:11 am · Link
1. honest
2. loves animals
3. loyal
4. protective
5. loves me for being me
June 2nd, 2011 at 10:30 am · Link
1) Honesty, loyal 😉
2) 😳 Sexy body language
3) Sense of humor, humble 😀
4) 😮 Absolute confidence in his beliefs
5) Strong shoulders 😉
And not fair to demand we dont base list on our significant other. If they are a significant other, doesnt it stand to reason that he would have the lions share of our list? 🙄 LOLOL
June 2nd, 2011 at 10:50 am · Link
1) Funny
2) Strength of character
3) Strong morals
4) Tall
5) Confident
June 2nd, 2011 at 11:04 am · Link
1. Sense of Humor
2. Loves Animals
3. Adventurous
4. Intelligent
5. Older than me
June 2nd, 2011 at 11:55 am · Link
1. Sense of humor
2. Loyal
3. Intelligent
4. Must love reading and travel
5. Appreciates my independence in certain things!
June 2nd, 2011 at 11:58 am · Link
My top 5 best of best are:
1-Intelligent
2-Loyal
3-Honest
4-Compassionate
5-Confident
June 2nd, 2011 at 12:02 pm · Link
I enjoyed reading your post, Ashley! 🙂
Hmmmm…. Here are mine:
1: Intense, but–
2: — knows how to laugh.
3: Sweet, yet–
4: — protective.
5: Honest.
Now there’s a guy I want to find
June 2nd, 2011 at 12:56 pm · Link
1. sense of humour
2. honest
3. intelligent
4. loyal
5. confident
June 2nd, 2011 at 1:12 pm · Link
My Top 5
1. Honest – ALWAYS
2. Humorous – Has to have a personality
3. Intelligent – but not to that annoying level
4. Loyal and Protective – sometimes the possessiveness is way sexy
5. Kind hearted
June 2nd, 2011 at 1:32 pm · Link
1-Tall (I’m 5’10”)
2-Strong/protective (I like to dream about my hero carrying me)
3-Similar (wicked) sense of humour
4-Honest
5-Good in bed (but not necessarily in this order, LOL!)
June 2nd, 2011 at 1:46 pm · Link
What fun reading these answers! Five ideals:
1. Loves me no matter what!
2. Good with his hands
3. Reasonable wealthy
4. Easy on the eyes
5. Built like a brick – house
😎 😎
June 2nd, 2011 at 1:49 pm · Link
I have a list but the requirements tend to be of the “he will not have any qualities that will drive me crazy and vice versa” sort.
1. relatively tall (over 5’10”)
2. intelligent
3. sense of humor
4. nice and sweet (bad boys need not apply)
5. strong understanding of family dynamics/family values
June 2nd, 2011 at 2:54 pm · Link
Hi Everyone!
Thanks so much for visiting with me today! I love these lists–they may be for your perfect real-life hero, but I’m getting some great ideas for heroes I want to write. 😀 Also, for Lisa–I wanted to prove my point that the “perfect” man might not be the perfect man for you. 😉
June 2nd, 2011 at 6:07 pm · Link
1. Tall! I wanna feel like Kim Kardashian standing next to Kris Humphries-in heels.
2. Sense of humor.
3. Good with his hands. Take that for what you will.
4. Aims to please. As in “Anything for you Kati…”
5. Intelligent. Wears glasses, a plus.
Oh Ashley, I can’t wait for Romancing the Countess.
Please don’t enter me for this giveaway. I’ve already got Seducing the Duchess. I just wanted to comment.
June 2nd, 2011 at 6:30 pm · Link
1. Humor – has to have a great sense of humor
2. Has common sense (Some of the smartest people can lack common sense)
3. Good with kids (nothing is hotter than seeing a man taking care of his kids)
4. Good cook
5. Lets me control the remote. 🙂
June 2nd, 2011 at 9:07 pm · Link
1. loyal
2. trustworthy and finds me trustworthy
3. loves me for me
4. loves animals
5. protective/Alpha
June 3rd, 2011 at 3:55 am · Link
1. Good looking – preferably drop dead gorgeous
2. Rich
3. Thinks I’m drop dead gorgeous (kind of like Gideon in Anne Gracie’s The Perfect Rake – possibly this means he might have some kind of vision problem, although not necessarily the Shallow Hal type).
4. Likes animals
5. Great sense of humour.
Thx Ashley! Your hubby sounds lovely 🙂
June 3rd, 2011 at 6:48 am · Link
I’m seeing a definite theme here for a guy with a sense of humor. Makes me wonder whether we should balance out the alpha heroes with more humorous beta heroes. These are so much fun to read–thank you! 🙂
June 3rd, 2011 at 10:22 am · Link
I haven’t read this book yet!! Sounds Great!
LOL! I actually seen mine a couple weeks ago while i was doing some major cleaning!!
1. Christian/went to church
2. Handsome
3. Charming/ makes me laugh
4. Don’t Smoke
5. Drives a BIG 4~Wheel Drive TRUCK!! LOL!!
Yes I’m A Country Girl!!
June 3rd, 2011 at 10:54 am · Link
1. Honest (this is a big one for me as my ex couldn’t tell the truth, EVER)
2. Older than me by at least a year or two
3. Intelligent
4. Sense of Humor
5. Not a push-over (strong-willed)
June 3rd, 2011 at 12:44 pm · Link
1. Has my sense of humor, or at least gets it. Snarky.
2. Is attractive, but isn’t arrogant. I hate arrogance.
3. Thinks I am the most beautiful woman on the planet, and even makes me believe it.
4. Likes to take charge once in a while. I don’t mind being told what we’re going to do. Sometimes.
5. Honesty. I am brutally honest, and I don’t like someone who isn’t.
June 3rd, 2011 at 4:43 pm · Link
1. Honesty
2. Humor
3. Intelligence
4. Loves animals
5. Tall
June 3rd, 2011 at 8:47 pm · Link
I am seriously loving these! I never would have thought someone wanted a guy with a big truck, Kristin Nelson–awesome! And Sarah Benefield, I think your Mr. Perfect might be new Mr. Perfect. 😉 *scribbles additions to hero ideas*
June 4th, 2011 at 2:01 pm · Link
sense of humor
sense of family
goals
protective
loyal and honest.
That’s off the top of my head. Not bad eh?
Lisa B
modokker at yahoo dot com
June 4th, 2011 at 2:31 pm · Link
Must be stubborn, honest, have great body, ride a horse, sense of humor
Thanks
Hollybwright at comcast dot net
June 4th, 2011 at 9:42 pm · Link
1. Brave
2. Has sense of humor
3. Honest
4. Soft heart
5. Tough
June 5th, 2011 at 9:39 am · Link
1. Sense of humor (bonus points if he is sarcastic)
2. Must love kids & animals
3. Tough exterior but a kind heart underneath
4. Green eyes & dark hair
5. A sexy accent
June 7th, 2011 at 9:57 pm · Link
Thanks Ashley!! I cant wait to read your book!! LOL When I was a teenager I didn’t date a guy that didn’t have a truck bigger than mine!! lol! I still drive a big truck and so does my hubby! lol!