Emotionally Wounded Heroes = Hot Romance Reading - Elizabeth Amber

My heart goes pitter-patter over an emotionally wounded hero. One who has been tested by some terrible fire in his past and emerged as a strong, sexy, alpha male. Why do we empathize with wounded heroes? Because they harbor deep secrets and have dark, murky, mysterious pasts. Because they need a good woman to help them heal.
In my June release, Dane, The Lords of Satyr, Dane is such a hero. I like to write unusual situations and didn’t want him to have a problem I’d already read too often. When a friend gave me a stack of her Entertainment Weekly magazines, I saw an ad for The United States of Tara on Showtime. Tara has dissociative identity disorder, which used to be called multiple personalities. I’d read the book, Sybil, years ago about a woman with the disorder. I instantly knew this was what I’d write about and started researching.

My satyr novels are set in 19th century Italy, and I discovered there was great interest in this topic around 1880, the same year the Roman forum excavations were in high gear. It’s around this time that Jekyll and Hyde was written.

Dane is “missing” a year. When he was twelve, he and his younger brother disappeared. Although Dane reappeared a year later wandering the Roman forum ruins, his memories of that missing time are locked within an alternate personality named Dante. This personality only surfaces during carnal engagements, when he acts in Dane’s stead and usurps his enjoyment of them. Dane and Dante are one in the same. Fragments of a single mind. Possessors of one body. Dane trained as a tracker, and has defected from ElseWorld to join his older brothers in Rome. There’s more than one secret stirring inside him and there are pressing reasons he must know his past. His missing younger brother will soon turn 18, the age at which the satyr first change physically and are driven to take part in the ancient rituals dedicated to the Roman god of wine, Bacchus. The secret to his whereabouts is locked inside Dane. The clock is ticking.

To compound the complications in his life, the satyr who masquerade as human in EarthWorld are in danger of exposure, so Dane and his brothers are compelled to seek out human brides to further entrench themselves in Roman society. Eva, a matchmaker from ElseWorld, arrives to aid in their selections, and though she is far from human herself, she just might be Dane’s perfect match!

Five of my favorite wounded romantic heroes in fiction are:

Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice

Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre

Cam in Lora Leigh’s Wicked Pleasure

Gabe in Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ Dream A Little Dream

Edward in Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight
Who are your favorite wounded romantic heroes in books or movies? What is it about them that appeals to you? Why do they touch your heart? Would you want to be in a relationship with one of them?

Elizabeth Amber is the author of the popular Lords of Satyr novels, erotic historical paranormal romances published by Kensington Aphrodisia. Enjoy excerpts at www.elizabethamber.com

One randomly selected commenter will win a copy of Elizabeth Amber’s new erotic historical paranormal romance release, DANE, THE LORDS OF SATYR, which is an RT Book Reviews (Romantic Times) TOP PICK in the June issue (4.5 stars).