Favorite Heroes for 2007

My list of heroes I really liked this year was the biggest list I had to narrow down to four. Seriously, I wondered how I was going to do it, and if I wasn’t doing four for everything else, I would have easily doubled this list. In the end, though, these were the guys who linger with me, for one reason or another.

3^rd Runner Up
Nathan Doyle in Snowball in Hell by Josh Lanyon

Nathan has a slight advantage since I just recently read him, but the dichotomy of his scarred persona with his current desire for Mathew still makes me ache for him. I felt his pain, believed his confusion, rejoiced in Mathew’s attention. Plus, it gave me a huge surge of faith in this particular author.

2^nd Runner Up
Kit Fitzgeorge in Twist of Honor by Karen Welss

This is one of those men I would have read about, even if there hadn’t been a romance. I can see him as the protagonist in a historical literary novel, or something action-driven, or even a tragedy. It’s a testimony to the author’s talent that he transcends romantic hero status for me. Kit is a prime example of just solid characterization.

1^st Runner Up
Marius Asher in The Average Girl’s Guide to Getting Laid
by Annie Dean

If you read my blog, you know I give out very few 10’s. To me, a 10 is perfect, can’t be improved upon, can’t make me feel any better about it. Ash got one of the few I doled out this year. While I was reading, I was all about Ash. He was hot, and he was dominating, and oddly vulnerable in spite of it all. He’s not perfect, but that just makes it better in my eyes. I don’t care if can come across as a player sometimes. He still makes me squirm.

And my favorite hero of the books I reviewed this year is:

Paul Graham in
Paul’s Dream by Rowan McBride

Unlike Ash, Paul didn’t get a perfect 10, but when I was thinking about this list – before I compiled my possibilities – he was the first name to spring to mind. I said in my initial review that this book would linger with me, and Paul is the biggest reason for that. The journey he took in the story was my single favorite character arc of the past year. The flashes of vulnerability masked within the icy exterior made me yearn for him even more. Even now, he resonates with me. I sincerely believe he’ll resonate with me a year from now, too.

Do you have as hard a time as I did in picking your favorite heroes of the year? Or am I just crazy?