Luke Buckton is one of the most stubborn heroes I’ve ever written. In some ways, his bull-headedness is what made him a successful rodeo star. He was more stubborn than the bull—until he wasn’t. The bull that injured him had the last word on Luke’s career. Or so he thought.
Stubbornness is required to heal, too. To dig one’s heals in and declare that an injury will not win is necessary to endure a long healing process like Luke does. His therapist and old love Ruby turns out to be a stubborn as Luke, determined to move past the wounds Luke inflicted long ago to make her own future.
As a reader, I love a stubborn romance. I love knowing two people are perfect for each other if they’d just get out of their own way. I love romances where I want to take the hero and shake him by the shoulders, shouting, “You foolish man, get over yourself and go get this woman you love!” I’ve shouted at a book or at the television set for a heroine: “He’s worth the risk, so just take it, why don’t you?!”
When stubborn characters finally come to their senses and open their hearts, it’s a marvelous payoff. We don’t want them to change the essential nature of their strengths—nobody likes wimpy characters—but we want them to tear down the useless walls keeping them apart.
I had great fun writing The Bull Rider's Homecoming and taking this stubborn cowboy to the place where his walls finally come down I hope you’ll enjoy the ride, too.
What about you? What stubborn hero or heroine have you enjoyed reading about?
Posts
