Jill Sorenson | Shades of Gray in Romantic Suspense

Hello Fresh Fiction! Thanks for having me.

Over-the-top alpha heroes are very popular in the romance genre. It’s not enough for a contemporary businessman hero to be a millionaire anymore; post-50 Shades, he must be a billionaire. He’s a Navy SEAL, a famous rock star, the starting quarterback, the most popular guy in school. He’s the best of the best. Whatever he does, he’s amazing at it.

There isn’t as much room for nuance or imperfection when you’re dealing with a fantasy-figure hero, but that’s part of the appeal. Readers are drawn to the take- charge alpha who never wavers, never second-guesses, never misses. He’s secure in every way. He makes all the right moves.

Of course there are quieter, less extreme types of heroes. There are hard-working cowboys, straitlaced sheriffs, brave firemen. Good guys. Not average, but more realistic. Most of my romantic suspense heroes fit in this category. They’re good men who don’t have superpowers. Basically, they’re fallible. They lose fights and make mistakes. They don’t mow down the opposition with a machine gun like Rambo. Sometimes they even get shot—and it actually slows them down.

When a hero is human and vulnerable to injury, he might not make the reader feel safe. And that’s okay. Real flaws and weaknesses create tension. Without fear, there is no suspense.

My MC heroes from the Dirty Eleven series are a little different from my traditional romantic suspense heroes. They’re more deeply flawed, and they do bad things. They’re in a moral gray area. They’re faced with difficult choices as the story progresses. In romantic suspense the reader should be worried about the safety of the characters and wondering how they will live happily ever after. The same question applies to my MC books, along with “Can these criminals become heroes?”

I want to highlight a couple of books with compelling characters that skirt the line between good and bad, right and wrong, cop and criminal.

The first is NO ANGEL: My Harrowing Undercover Journey to the Inner Circle of Hells Angels by Jay Dobyns. I found this a fascinating autobiography because Dobyns makes no attempt to portray himself as a hero. He gets addicted to over-the-counter drugs and enjoys the thrill of the MC lifestyle. He seems to care more about his undercover role than his family or the civilians he’s sworn to serve and protect.

The next selection is TRIPLE CROSSING by Sebastian Rotella. It’s straight suspense, not romantic suspense, but there’s a romantic subplot between the undercover informant hero and his female boss/handler. Like Jay Dobyns, Valentín Pescatore is no angel. He does drugs and fits in a little too well with the cartel. He’s a bantamweight fighter, brash and aggressive but also sweet. Valentín is a non-traditional hero in many ways, and hands-down my favorite character I’ve read this year.

GIVEAWAY

What do you think about morally ambiguous heroes? Do you prefer good guy Navy SEALs, bad boy MC members, or something else? Leave a comment below and be entered for a chance to win a digital copy of SHOOTING DIRTY.

About Jill Sorenson

Jill Sorenson is the RITA-nominated author of more than a dozen romantic suspense novels, including the Aftershock series by HQN. She lives in the San Diego area with her family. She’s a soccer mom who loves nature, coffee, reading, twitter and reality TV. Riding Dirty is her first erotic suspense novel.

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About SHOOTING DIRTY

She's his only salvation

Ace Clemmons has wanted Janelle from the moment he first saw her. Taking her captive while he carried out his last hit as a member of Dirty Eleven nearly broke him. Now that he's gone straight, he's back in her life, looking to stake his claim. He can't erase the past but he'll do anything to make it up to her.

Janelle Parker needs a new start, far away from the trailer park and the strip club. A down and dirty affair with a tattooed criminal is a step in the wrong direction, but she can't resist Ace's deliciously commanding touch, which has haunted her dreams for months. Soon they're both in too deep, falling hard and fast—until an old feud with a rival motorcycle club explodes into an all-out war. Dirty Eleven's enemies won't hesitate to hurt Janelle to get to Ace. She has to fight to survive…and for the fiercest love she's ever known.