Favorite Heroines of 2009

One of the things I can count on? My shortlist of favorite heroines of the year always being my shortest. That doesn't diminish the characters that make it. If anything, that proves their worth all the more, because they stand that much higher above the rest.

4th Runner Up
Eleni Whitby in Texting Aphrodite by Amy Lake

Eleni is an excellent example of the type of heroine that gives me faith in the genre. She was fresh, vibrant, and delightfully intelligent. She proves a contemporary heroine doesn't have to be anything but real to be a joy to read. A character doesn't always need super powers or huge problems to make a reader care.

3rd Runner Up
Katya Ortaega in Lost Gods by Kim Knox

Of course, having super powers can still be a good thing. Katya had those and attitude to spare, and helped propel the taut action of this novel to its satisfying conclusion. Without her, it never would have worked.

2nd Runner Up
April Didrickson in Deja Vu Lover by Phoebe Matthews

April is the ditzy heart of this fascinating past-life romance. It's a delicately balanced characterization, one that could have become annoying and intolerable, but instead, April becomes the kind of character you can't take your eyes off, even when she's racing toward what seems like an awful crash.

1st Runner Up
Maddy de Victoria in Bound by Blood by Evie Byrne

Maddy. Maddy, Maddy, Maddy. To say I loved Maddy is an understatement. She's funny and strong, independent and yet somehow vulnerable. She's sexy, real, and absolutely amazing. I don't think I can say enough good things about her, or how much she really makes this book for me.

And my favorite heroine of 2009 is...
Morag in Selkie Island by Jorrie Spencer

Where Maddy made me laugh, Morag made me cry. Her loneliness was a physical thing, bleeding from every word. She made me believe in water shifters, and more, she made me care, where water shifters tend to leave me cold. The juxtaposition between her innocence of the world and her weariness of it gave this novella depths others could only hope for.