Favorite Heroines for 2008

I'm starting out my week of bests with probably my leanest category - favorite heroines. My shortlist in this category was less than half any of the others. That's likely because it's a lot harder to please me when it comes to heroines. It's easier to fall for men, but that's because I'm not one. I find myself less forgiving when it comes to female characters, one of my reading foibles I've just had to come to accept over the years. That being said, here they are...

4th Runner Up
Daisy Leaf in Perfect Timing by Barbara Elsborg

The joy of Daisy in this erotic romance is her sharp sense of comedic timing and the awareness on the part of the reader that this is a woman not to be trifled with. She more than holds her own against a romantic hero, and in fact, provides the strength necessary to pull him along when her characterization is clearer.

3rd Runner Up
Jillian Descharme in Heart of the Winter Wolf by Dani Harper

Though I enjoyed this novel as a whole, by far my favorite aspect of it was Jillian. She is a woman who took tragedy and made herself stronger without turning into a cold bitch or withdrawing from the world. Independent, strong-willed, and still manages to be feminine.

2nd Runner Up
Amelia Tucker in Highlander's Challenge by Jo Barrett

The fact that this woman goes by the name Tuck says something about her. She's self-sufficient and spunky, and though she hardly considers herself feminine, she is the perfect woman for Colin.

1st Runner Up
Gianna Randazzo in A Little Slice of Heaven by Gina Ardito

Gianna is one of those characters that I can see in my everyday life. A woman I'd value as a friend. A woman like so many women I already know. She reacts like the women I know, takes care of herself like the women I know. I like her in ways that I don't necessarily like other heroines. She's the girlfriend I'd call with good news or bad, and in the end, she's the heart of this warm book.

And my favorite heroine of 2008 is...
Arden Black in Like a Thief in the Night by Bettie Sharpe

Arden is the black soul of this dark novella. She ripples with violent tendencies and questionable morality, existing within the sharp prose as effortlessly as a single breath. Her momentum drives this story as much as Sharpe's gorgeous prose, and is one of the clearest, most sympathetic anti-heroines I've read in either print or e-books in a long time.