#virgin heroes

[jyushimatsurepliez]

Homura: Jyushimatsu-kun, our wedding~🎄🎄🎄❄️❄️❄️☃️☃️☃️⛄⛄⛄💛💛💛💛💛

{Merry Christmas @stupendousichigirl! This isn’t much but I hope it made you happy… TwT I’m really sorry for being annoying, but I’m gonna have to keep the wedding and the love hotel parts in the non-sequitur category of this blog, as in not part of the “continuity” per se… Like that time Jyushimatsu got pregnant for instance. The thing is I’m afraid if the yellow boy stops being a stay-at-home NEET and more importantly a virgin, I may be straying way too far from canon TwT I WILL admit, I’m a dork for this ship so I’m always super-down for interactions and them being lovey-dovey, though I also appreciate the idea of them moving slow (even if at times it seems despairingly slow)… I hope it’s understandable! TwT Either way I hope this has been fun, and I look forward to interacting with your Homura asks or asks overall some more in the future! èwé}

[ichimacchus]

Did I mention I loaf monster ichi?? Bc I do Anyways this is f2u, like if you save, rb if you use (credit is not required but INCREDIBLY appreciated,,)

[romancepodden]

Virgin heroes and why I love them

I’ve made no secret of my appreciation for virgin romance novel heroes on this blog and I have no intention of that ever changing. But, you might wonder what it is I love about the virgin hero and therefore I’m going to beat you to your question and simply offer you a bunch of reasons completely unprompted. Now, I don’t have anything against experienced heroes - I appreciate sluttiness wherever I can get it - but virgin heroes just provide a freshness that you don’t see much in romancelandia. It forces the author to deal with our conceptions of what makes a man, what masculinity is and, more importantly, what it can be.  It usually involves a sexually experienced heroine (which I also love) and it sort of follows naturally for the hero to be more fleshed out and realized as a person when he can’t use his sexual prowess as a crutch. The author also needs to find other solutions to the heros feelings other than “maybe if I fuck her these feelings I can’t name will go away?” You still get the “this is a brand new and exciting experience” BUT we get to experience it through this person’s POV but without all the baggage of the last millennia of controlling women’s sexuality. So - neat! It also (usually) makes the woman lead the dance between the sheets, which is also something you don’t see every day if you mostly read historicals (like yours truly). It’s not about dominance, it’s about guidance and taking the lead and more often than not - that sexy communication.  The author is forced to seek out another source for the hero’s confidence  and it’s always exciting to see where the author draws that from. It’s also fun how sexual inexperience can stump the heroine and force her (and us as readers) to question our own ideas of what masculinity is, what our own biases are and so on.  And this is why I love virgin heroes.

[respectingromance]

I'm sure you've answered this before, but you mentioned liking Beauty and the Beast stories and virgin hero stories. Could you recommend some books in each of those categories?

Sure!

Now, for Beauty and the Beast, I’m strict. I don’t like to include books where the hero is just kinda rude. The hero needs to be 1) seriously impacted by a physical, mental or psychological impairment and 2) a recluse. 

So that punts out books like Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase. That book is on both Goodreads lists that I found and come on! Lord Dain gallivants around Paris, happy as a syphilitic clam! Just because he’s a jerk doesn’t make him a Beast. Boo to that. Beauty and the Blacksmith by Tessa Dare is also not a BatB story, despite the title. Being a blacksmith doesn’t make you a Beast.

Anyway, my favorite Beauty and the Beast stories are:

Beauty by Robin McKinley. Not a romance novel but satisfying in a similar way. So magical. (Historical/fantasy)

When Beauty Tamed the Beast by Eloisa James. The hero is based on Dr. House, as in the television show. A really smart retelling. (Historical)

The Bride and the Beast by Teresa Medeiros. A village in Scotland believes a virgin has to be sacrificed to a dragon in a castle. They pick Gwendolyn and suddenly the “dragon” is presented with the tricky problem of how to handle the woman in his home who he can’t let go or let see his face. (Historical)

Demon from the Dark by Kresley Cole. Malkom thinks he’s a literal monster and he hides out in a cave on a hellish world. Carrow is a beautiful witch sent against her will to seduce him. This book is deep into a paranormal romance series (Immortals After Dark) so if it’s read out of order, some of the details might be confusing.

Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale. Christian starts out a brilliant duke. Then he has a stroke. He’s trapped in an institution and Maddy Timms, a Quaker, might be the only one who can help him. An absolute effing classic and pretty much the only book I think every romance reader should read. (Historical)

The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley. This is a little strange because people consider this a BatB but not Flowers from the Storm, even though the two books are compared to each other? Anyway, Lord Ian would probably be diagnosed with Asperger syndrome if he was alive today, but he’s trapped in a historical romance novel, so instead he’s just dismissed and shunned as mad. Then he decides he wants Beth Ackerley, a widow, and it’s just... all kinds of good.

I haven’t read it yet, but another popular rec for this trope is To Beguile a Beast by Elizabeth Hoyt. There’s also Romancing the Duke by Tessa Dare, but I personally find it far too light-hearted to qualify for Beauty and the Beast. Where’s the angst?!

As for virgin heroes... man, that’s like finding a... well, a male virgin in a genre where men are still weirdly judged by their number of sexual conquests. I have far fewer recommendations.

There’s Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, obviously. Jamie is kinda the gold standard in virgin heroes. (Historical)

There’s a few virgins in the Immortals After Dark series I mentioned earlier, including Malkom from Demon from the Dark, but also Conrad from Dark Needs at Night’s Edge. 

I’m probably just forgetting others but that’s all I can think of right now. 

[ichimacchus]

Watch out, he bites

[romancepodden]

I was shocked – SHOCKED – when Reader Jessica left a comment about virgin hero recommendations and my deep dive through the SBTB archives turned up nothing. Of course, there are some obvious choices and probably a handful of lists on Goodreads, but personal recommendations of books you’ve loved and why go much further, don’t you think? Redheadedgirl: There’s a virgin hero in one of the stories in the Rogue Desire anthology . Amanda: Also…the … Continue reading The Rec League: Virgin Heroes →

[romancepodden]

When the hero who has chosen to stay a virgin for whatever reason finally pops his cherry

[jyushimatsurepliez]

My Nii-sans and Totty too actually...

Maybe we are? =D Anyway we survive a lot!!