Choosing the Right Hero for Your Heroine (and vice versa)

 

by Mindy Obenhaus

Take two stubborn people from completely different backgrounds, add one orphaned little girl and you just might have the makings of a happily ever after.

When I began writing my upcoming release, A Brother’s Promise, I knew my heroine because she’d appeared in the first book in my Bliss, Texas series, A Father’s Promise. Christa Slocum was a no nonsense, take-charge kind of gal who’d given up a high-power tech industry job to purchase a small-town hardware store. At forty-three, she was comfortably single with no desire to have a man in her life. So coming up with a hero who wasn’t afraid to go toe-to-toe with her was a challenge.

Enter Mick Ashford, a rancher who’s lived his entire life in the same small town and happens to be Christa’s neighbor. He was raised in the farmhouse she’s spent the last few years renovating, preferring to live in the rustic camp house he and his father built when Mick was a boy. Still single at age forty-five, he has no need for a woman in his life because, in his experience, women only wanted to change him into someone he wasn’t.

Though Christa and Mick cross paths frequently, often butting heads, they’re more acquaintances than friends, never taking the time to get to know one another. So how did I bring this confirmed bachelor and bachelorette together?

Common goal – Every h/h needs a common goal. Something that, inevitably, forces them to spend time together. In Mick and Christa’s case, it’s Mick’s recently orphaned, five-year-old niece, Sadie.

As Sadie’s legal guardian, Mick is determined to do right by her, even though he knows nothing about little girls or being a father. So when Christa offers to help him redecorate Sadie’s bedroom, he’s more than willing to accept.

However, Christa wants to help with more than just Sadie’s bedroom. Having lost her mother when she was five, Christa understands what Sadie is going through emotionally and vows to help both Sadie and Mick navigate the turbulent waters that lie ahead.

Overcoming misconceptions - The more the hero and heroine are together, the better they come to know one another, shifting their perception of each other.

While Christa is a well-educated, big-city girl, Mick is a country boy who makes his own sausage and lives a simple life. Yet as they become more familiar with each other, Christa realizes that Mick is anything but self-absorbed, not to mention more complex than she imagined. He learns that she’s down to earth and shares his appreciation for life’s simpler things. And they soon discover…

They complement each other – Where one is weak, the other is strong. Learning each other’s strengths and weaknesses is the beginning of a lasting relationship. In the face of adversity, they learn they can lean on one another. However, there is always one thing that stands in their way.

Fear keeps them apart – We’re all afraid of something. Things that might seem silly to others, can be very real to you and are usually based on past experience.

Every woman Mick ever dated has tried to change him. To turn him into something he’s not. Is he enough for Christa? What if she grows bored with him because he doesn’t challenge her the way a more educated man could?

Meanwhile, Christa’s had her own share of heartbreak. Everyone she’s ever loved has left her. What if Mick left her, too?

So will Mick and Christa overcome their fears to discover their happily ever after? Well, I can’t give everything away. 😉

Choosing the right hero and heroine is like building a winning team. You want diversity. Different backgrounds, different strengths and weaknesses. Things that, when put to the test, will challenge them, strengthen them, bring them closer together and, perhaps, give them the happily ever after they didn’t even know they wanted.

Writers, how do you choose your hero and heroine? Readers, what do you think makes a great couple? I’m giving away a copy of A Brother’s Promise, so leave a comment to be entered (US mailing addresses only, please). Oh, and if you’d like a sneak-peak at the first chapter, you can do that here.

He didn’t realize he wanted a family… Until he suddenly became a single dad.

After his sister’s death, rancher Mick Ashford’s determined to ensure his orphaned niece, Sadie, feels at home. And accepting guidance from Christa Slocum is his first step. But just as Christa and Sadie begin to settle into Mick’s heart, Sadie’s paternal grandparents sue for custody. Now Mick must fight to keep them together…or risk losing the makeshift family he’s come to love. 

Award-winning author Mindy Obenhaus is passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. She lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, two sassy pups, countless cattle, deer and the occasional coyote, mountain lion or snake. When she's not writing, she enjoys spending time with her grandchildren, cooking and watching copious amounts of the Hallmark Channel. Learn more at www.MindyObenhaus.com