~Blogger Bits~ Heroines

Blogger Bits is a feature that myself and a group of fellow bloggers will be tackling twice a month. Topics will vary, but will always have something to do with the book or blogging world.

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My blogging friends and I decided to discuss our favorite heroines for this edition of Blogger Bits to help celebrate International Women’s Day!

Rather than just listing out some of my favorite heroines, I really wanted to think about the qualities that I find make a great heroine.  The more I thought about this, the more I came to the conclusion that a book can have a strong female character, but that doesn’t necessarily make her a heroine.  

So, what qualities make a great heroine?  This is the list I came up with.

 

• A heroine needs something to fight for or champion.  She needs a reason to be someone’s hero whether it be fighting for a cause she believes in, her family, the man she loves or even her life.  Without this need to champion something, she has no reason to prove her inner strength.

 

• While our heroine needs to have amazing strength and perseverance, she also needs to be able to know when she needs help and accept it.  No one can stand completely on their own.

 

• A heroine needs to have some sort of a personal struggle.  She’s not perfect and yet she overcomes.

 

• Our heroine needs to be caring and empathetic, yet strong and independent when she needs to be.  She can offer you a shoulder to cry on yet also needs to be able to stand on her own when necessary.

 

I am sure there are many more qualities I am missing, and I’d love to know what you feel makes a great heroine so please shout it out in the comments below!

Here are a few of my favorite heroines!  You can click on the book cover to be taken to Amazon to read the synopsis.

 

      

  Susan Stoker writes amazing heroines.  Even in the face of danger, they never give up.  Even when they know their bad ass military or law enforcement significant other is on the way, they do everything they can to buy them the time they need until rescue occurs.  Some of my favorite Susan Stoker heroines are Caroline, Erin and Penny.

Caroline helps stop a terrorist hijacking on a plane in Protecting Caroline and earns the nickname Ice.

When kidnapped by a madman, Erin uses her fitness and survival skills to stay alive and beat him at his own game during a hunt to the death in Justice for Erin.

Penny may have been kidnapped by insurgents while deployed, but does everything she can to leave clues to her potential rescuers an refuses to give in to her fears in Protecting the Future.

      

Lexi Blake’s heroines may be submissives in the bedroom and at the club, but they are bad ass women who play a vital role in the McKay Taggart Security Firm, often assisting in life or death operations and bringing down the worst of the worst.  Some of my favorites are Charlotte, Erin and Penny.

Charlotte Taggart is the daughter of a Russian mob boss who faked her own death and knows at least 100 ways to kill a man without breaking a sweat. She’s helped her husband take down more bad guys than you can count all while being a mother of three and keeping the company running.  Her story is Love and Let Die.

Erin Argent is former military and not an operative for McKay Taggart.  When the love of her life is kidnapped by a psychotic doctor and left for dead, she never gives up the search and will fight with everything she has to bring him back home to her and their son.  Erin’s story is Submission is Not Enough.

Penelope Cash is a language specialist for M16, but immediately takes to the field to help bring down a covert agency that is threatening the world even though she’s never trained for anything in the field. Penny’s story is Dungeon Royale.

Elora Laiken is transported to a different dimension during an attack in her family, barely surviving.  Not only does she adapt to the strange yet familiar new world she finds herself in, she thrives and becomes the first female knight in the history of Black Swan where she uses her skills to hunt vampire and later goes on to assist with training new recruits.  You’ll find the start to her journey in Victoria Danann’s My Familiar Stranger.

 

Harley Hope Masterson is a mother who will do anything to protect her special needs child.  She’s run from an abusive husband so that she could protect her child and offer him the best life possible while also handling his severe medical issues.  Hope is also willing to put her own dreams and desires completely on hold in order to put her son’s needs and safety first, proving that this mom is truly a hero.  You can read her story in A.L. Jackson’s Follow Me Back.

Raven Blake is a believer in vigilante justice and hunts those who hurt innocents for fun.  When she’s recruited to join Keystone, she continues to protect the underdog and chooses to pursue cases that others feel are lost causes.  Raven can be impetuous and often acts before thinking everything through and has also been known to shun assistance thinking she can handle everything on her own, but her heart is always in the right place.  Dannika Dark’s Crossbreed series follows Raven’s journey. Keystone is book one.

These are just a few of the amazing heroines I have read.  I’d love to know who your favorites are!  Shout them out!

 

Happy Reading!

~Janine

 

Make sure to visit these blogs to see their posts as well!  If you’d like to post about your take on short stories and novellas, be sure to tag us so we can stop by!

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