Have you ever been to a Build-a-Bear store? You know, where a kid (or adult, I suppose!) gets to pick out a bear body and then take it to be stuffed and choose a heart for it and pick out a song for it to play and even choose a scent for it. When my kids were younger, they each got to do that—and they each ended up with quite different bears.
As I was brainstorming the hero for my next Hope Springs book, I started thinking about how it’s not so different from building a bear. I need to choose what he looks like, what his personality is like, what his backstory is, how he’ll relate to or clash with the heroine…the list goes on. And let me tell you, the hero for this next book was not very forthcoming! Fortunately, I think I have him pegged now (or as much as I can until I write him…I’m sure there are still things about him that will manage to surprise me).
Just for fun, though, I thought we could create our own hero. Answer the questions below about your ideal (book) hero. Who knows, maybe you’ll find him strolling through the pages of one of my books someday!
I know you’ll want to choose more than one answer for some of these questions (I know I want to), but our hero can’t be perfect, so we’ll have to content ourselves with one trait for each question.
And now for the giveaway! Obviously, I couldn’t include all the possibilities for our hero here. Feel free to chime in below with your version of an ideal book hero. Or if you’ve already met your ideal hero in the pages of a book, let us know so we can go meet him too! Comment by Dec. 15 for a chance to win a copy of the Hope Springs books 1-3 box set.
Valerie M. Bodden has three great loves: Jesus, her family, and books. And chocolate (okay, four great loves). She writes emotion-filled Christian fiction that weaves real-life problems, real-life people, and real-life faith. Her characters may (okay, will) experience some heartache along the way, but true to her tendencies as a hopeless romantic, she will always give them a happy ending. Valerie is living out her happily ever after in Wisconsin with her high-school-sweetheart-turned-husband and their four children. Visit her at www.valeriembodden.com to get a free story.
I love Clark Davis from Love Comes Softly, by Janette Oke!! Or does it have to be from a contemporary story?? If so, I have too many favourites to choose!! One is definitely Trevor from Becky Doughty’s Gustafson Sisters series, Phoebe and the Rock of Ages.
Love them all.
Hi Valerie! Even at seventy, it is fun to dream. If only life was as easy as Build a Bear or Build a Man. Happy Holidays and Best wishes.
I have read all of your Hope Springs and cannot wait for more!
Contemporary, historical–I’d say any ideal book hero counts. :) Having too many favorites too choose from is a good problem to have, lol!
Yay! That means authors are doing their jobs in creating heroes. :)
Haha! So true, Renate! That can only happen with books (and stuffed animals).
Thank you, Paula Marie!💜
I tend to like all the heroes in the contemporary romance stories I read.
I love mostly every hero in a book, or it must be a bad book. That means that almost every hero get the chance to win my heart! (And of course that the author has written a good book). For me is a bad book that after you’ve read the book you think, I shouldn’t have read this because for a reason that comes up then.. But I haven’t found any ‘bad’ book yet on this site, which means that the authors hereare very good in creating a good book! Thank you for posting this!
I love Clark, too. He might be the subconscious hero that all others are measured against. ;)
This was so much fun! After I finish my current series, I may come back here to flesh out my next hero!
That’s good to hear!
I’m so glad you’ve loved the books you’ve found on this site! I agree that if I don’t love the hero, I probably won’t love the book.
Love it! My problem is always trying to choose between two qualities I love equally much, so this was fun to create because I could list them all!
It was so much fun! Thank you!
Of course my hubby is my hero – loyal, compassionate, and funny :)
I can’t think of any hero off the top of my head. I really enjoyed the post! It was a lot of fun
I think one was from a Lori Wick novel the Californians. Marshall (not sure his last name) I think it was cos I identified with him at the time. He really wanted to be loved but had been damaged so to speak. (I could Identify cos I really wanted to find someone but also had problems with letting someone in due to being sexually harrassed and bullied unrelentingly for a year at high school.)
That was fun! I can’t think of any off the top of my head, but I do enjoy the heroes in Susan May Warren’s books.
I like the strong, sensitive type but he also has a bit of a mischievous side. Witty banter is some of my favorite in a book :-)
I feel the same way about my hubby! Definitely hero material (the problem is I can’t make all my fictional heroes the same as him, lol).
Glad you enjoyed it! I had fun writing it!
Heroes you can identify with are ideal, especially as you see them work through their troubles and let others in.
I just finished Susan May Warren’s Knox and really enjoyed getting to know the hero!
Strong, sensitive, and mischievous–a little bit of everything! Witty banter always makes for fun reading.
This was so much fun, yep, I think I have the perfect or almost perfect Hero. :) Have a Great rest of the week and stay safe.
Love the build a bear analogy! And fun categories to vote on. I love Melissa Tagg’s heroes. They’re all pretty swoon worthy.
Aww, I’m so glad to hear that! And I feel the same way about my hero. :)
Glad you enjoyed it! I love Melissa Tagg’s heroes too!
Well, I definitely approach this from a different perspective, being a man who reads inspirational romance! I connect with the heroes through identification. Does he have the same attitudes or points of view that I do? Is he struggling with the same problems that I do? Is he longing for the same kinds of things in his heart that I value in my relationship with my precious one? If you flip the coin over, I look for the same kind of character elements in a heroine. Is she creative? Independent? Compassionate? Open to friendship and partnership? Does she have a sense of humor? The physical attributes really don’t come into it for me. She can be full-figured or athletic or skinny as a rail. Long flowing tresses or a short wash-and-wear coif. I guess what matters in the end is not whether the hero or heroine is a head turner or not, but are they a heart turner?
Good points, Lincoln! And although it’s fun to figure out all these characteristics, I agree that in the end it comes down to a character we can connect with, whether that’s the hero or the heroine. And as much as some things don’t matter as much (appearance is never a big deal for me, for example), when creating a character out of thin air, there has to be at least a little bit of thought about what they will look like, dress like, etc., if only for the sake of consistency throughout the story. But I agree that the most important aspect is that they’re a heart turner. :)
Mr. Darcy
I’d love it to be a best friend who met in a small town camping & become soulmates. He’d be her hero for sure.
Oh yes! The quintessential ideal hero (with his faults too, of course)!
That sounds like a great premise for a story!
I think I am a little late in ‘chiming in’ here, but I am already falling in love with him…ooops, I have been married for 52 years now, I better stay with my man, but as I noticed how many of us voted for the same type of man, I am thinking he is going to be a DREAM.
The hero is a middle child. I think the family dynamics and relationships with siblings is good to see how they shape the hero.
I love the hero in Charissa Stasny’s book, “The Package Deal”. Hudson is has a checkered past, and is considered the black sheep of the family, but he has changed and has hidden depths and turns out to be such an amazing man!
If I don’t like the hero, I am not going to enjoy the book. I like heroes who are not perfect, have problems to solve and are willing to be a little vulnerable when the right person comes along who is open to really listening and observing.
Choosing the different physical & personal characteristics of the hero was fun! I’d want my hero to be a faith filled man, who wrestles with life’s challenges & God always knowing where his strength comes from.
My favorite hero is dancing with Fireflies by Denise hunter
I love a book about a hero who overcomes something from his past with a good woman at his side who will balance him n be very patient n loving while he works at being the man she needs in her life.
I have met and married my everyday hero, he is kind, fun loving, compassionate, has a faith that can move mountains but is not immune to having his faith tested by life’s challenges. He is everything I would ever want in a soulmate and God did an outstanding job sending him in my direction.He helps keep me grounded in my faith which has had its moments of falter over the years.
Haha! It is interesting how many of us want the same type of ideal hero! I’ll get right on creating him for a future book (although heroes who are too perfect can be a problem too, lol!).
That’s a good point! The hero’s relation to others in his family is important too, especially siblings.
I love black sheep who turn out to be more than they appear! I’ve been trying to figure out which of my future stories will have a hero like that. :)
So true! An unlikeable hero makes it hard to enjoy a book–unless the book is about how he changes. And even the best hero can’t be too perfect–otherwise, what would the point of the story be. :)
Oh yes! The faith aspect is so important–a hero who relies on God through all of life’s challenges!
I think I’ve loved every one of Denise Hunter’s heroes I’ve met. :)
Yes, I love watching a hero overcome something from his past too (with the heroine’s support and love, of course)!
Aww, I love this! 🧡 It sounds like you and your hero are perfect for each other. Being able to be there for each other through those faith-testing moments is such a blessing.
My favorite book heroes are loyal, compassionate, and funny. :)
That was fun. Too bad we can’t do that IRL.
I married my hero 46 years ago! Even though this year has been hard it’s been nice having all this extra time hanging out with my husband.
Yes! All wonderful traits (in real life too!). :)
Haha! Not quite how it works IRL. But fun to imagine!
Aww, so sweet! I agree that extra time together has been a blessing of this strange and often difficult year.
You are right it was hard to just pick one in some of the categories. When reading I have gotten to where it is almost a movie playing out for me to watch. I love when the author gives enough details for this to happen.
This was fun! Thanks!
Glad it wasn’t just me who had trouble picking just one. :) I love seeing a book play out almost like a movie and feeling like I’m right there with the characters!
Glad you enjoyed it!
This sounds like a great way to make a book. He would be a great hero!!
Now I just have to bring a hero like this to life in one of my books! :)
One of my favorite hero’s is Boone in Jo Grafford’s Wanted: Bounty Hunter. Of course, I’ve read your Hope Springs series and love those guys, too!!
Aww, thanks, Trudy! 💗 I don’t think I’ve read any Jo Grafford yet…I’ll have to check her books out. Always happy to meet a new book hero. :)