Plus it is obviously part of a series and setting up the other men to be saved by love in later books. I can’t stand that! I’ve just started “Twilight” by Stephenie Meyer and IT IS A THING OF BEAUTY. So its not that I hate vampires…

There’s a movie that touches on this theme…except it’s the flipside…the hero changes. See Original Sin with Angelina Jolie and Antonio Banderas. Verra sexy.

K, I thought the same thing when I saw the title at first. I lurve those Supernatural Winchesters!

Maybe I mean something more like: I'm looking for a hero with balls (as Stephen Colbert would say). One who doesn't spend half the book whining about how unworthy his is, how damaged he is, or how he's unsalvageable.

Well then in paranormals I would definitely recommend Dream of Me (the hero is an incubus, and the book is both funny and dark). And I think The Smoke Thief might work for you as well.

For me, the PERFECT paranormal romance is Anne Rice's THE MUMMY (even though it's not published as a paranormal romance). I have yet to find anything else in the market that hits the same sweet spot as that novel.

Hmm. I read that book when it came out and was disappointed in it at the time. I wonder if I would appreciate it more now? I was a huge fan of Rice’s early vampire novels, and The Mummy seemed positively tame compare with something like The Vampire Lestat, or even Rice’s emotional BDSM romance Exit to Eden.

Now if Lestat were a romance hero, I would totally agree with you. Lestat knows he is bad, but he doesn’t angst over it like Louis does. To the contrary, he embraces his bad side and thrills in it. I think at the end of The Tale of the Body Thief, he concludes that given the choice, he would always choose to be a vampire. It was a great ending to a somewhat disappointing book.

I liked Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, and (to a lesser degree) Queen of the Damned best, and I’m always thinking that maybe I should reread one of them and review it here, but that TBR stack never gets any smaller…

I agree with you that the Buffy/Spike pairing was more adult, and to me it was also (becaue the age difference factor wasn’t there) a whole lot sexier.

But I’m sure my preference also relates to other factors like the fact that I loved James Marsters, and thought David Boreanaz’s performaces were wooden as Angel and over-the-top/scenery chewing as Angelus. And that the whole show seemed better written, filmed and edited to me in four of its later seasons.

It’s great to hear that you loved Dream of Me, too. Such an underappreciated book. It’s not flawless (I wish the historical and setting details were more developed) but I adored Theron too. And you’re right, he’s a hero unlike any other.

I don’t like angsty heroes, regardless of subgenre, but they seem to be a common feature of the paranormal books that I’ve tried. They crop up a lot in other subgenres too (lots of angst-ridden Regency Dukes and Navy Seals in Romancelandia; I don't much care for them either). Maybe angst isn't even the right word? Maybe I mean something more like: I'm looking for a hero with balls (as Stephen Colbert would say). One who doesn't spend half the book whining about how unworthy his is, how damaged he is, or how he's unsalvageable.

Maybe what I'm looking for is an anti-hero romance? Maybe it doesn't exist. Maybe it never will (unpublishable comes to mind). It just seems to me that the real freedom of the paranormal subgenre is that BIG BAD LOVE should be possible.

For me, the PERFECT paranormal romance is Anne Rice's THE MUMMY (even though it's not published as a paranormal romance). I have yet to find anything else in the market that hits the same sweet spot as that novel.

Maybe because Buffy was still a teenager, and Angel looked too old for her, I just couldn't take that relationship seriously and angst about it along with the characters.

I think this is at the core of why it does work for me: her age. For me, teenage relationships and melodrama go hand-in-hand, and anything more probably wouldn’t work for me, just because it doesn’t fit. Like, if Buffy’s (or any other teenager’s) relationship had been as layered and interesting as hers and Spike’s, I couldn’t maintain that suspension of disbelief. I’d be like: this is a teenager? Pfft. But for a teenager looking to define herself and find out how strong she is, the melodrama completely works for me (and his age, too).

Teenage relationships are hard for me to take seriously or believe in a HEA — but as a step along the way, I did think it was compelling.

Spike/Buffy comes at a point when I feel she’s already established who she is and her strength, so the relationship as a whole just feels more adult (and any melodrama there would have just felt wrong, like it was a kiddie relationship). And (to bring it back to the main topic) in romance, this is definitely the type of relationship I prefer to read about. A little bit of over-the-top melodrama and angsting is fine, but I like two characters who are coming together as equals (even if they are opposites), and where their relationship is funny, hot, and complex.

So both relationships still work for me (and I see something similar to the first type in, say, a Harlequin Presents, which are a huge guilty pleasure of mine) but the other types of romances aren’t a guilty pleasure at all, more just a pleasure.

Also, I secretly belonged to that tiny minority of Buffy/ Xander shippers… the anti-supernatural boy.

Meljean, I can like melodrama too, when it’s more than just melodramatic. Then it doesn’t seem over the top to me, but in the second season of Buffy, it did. Maybe because Buffy was still a teenager, and Angel looked too old for her, I just couldn’t take that relationship seriously and angst about it along with the characters.

I try REALLY hard not to talk about specific books, unless I have something nice to say, cause I cross paths with–or share friends with–so many of the authors under discussion (romance is SUCH a small pond when you get right down to it).

I’ll add the Adrian book to my TBR pile . . . she’s an author I don’t know and haven’t yet tried.

Spike and Buffy were hilarious as well as hot. Angel and Buffy? Their angst just seemed like so much melodrama to me.

And after Buffy ended? Hell, I’m all about the Spike/Angel, then.

I hate to bring it all round to Buffy, but I think it comes down to are you a Spike girl or an Angel girl? An Angelus girl or an Angle girl? I always thought that the Darla/Angelus romance was way hotter than the angst-driven wounded-soul romance of Angel/Buffy.