Hi, Tawney. I love reading and writing about bad girls. lol The sassier, the better. I think today (the here and now), woman relate to sassy, whether the reader themselves are sassy or not. Maybe it's what they want to be and reading a sassy heroine puts them there without being acutally naughty. Reform is so much fun, or is it? lol

Anne-Marie Carroll
www.anne-mariecarroll.blogspot.com
www.anne-mariecarroll.com

I think I instinctively like a heroine I can relate to. Not necessarily a heroine that resembles me, but mostly a heroine that represents what I would like to be. Hey, I’m a good girl but in my fantasy I don’t mind being the naughty one. Now a day, we all like a heroine who knows what she wants and stays in control. And we love to see her getting confused when she fells for the smashing hero, and do exactly the opposite of what she preached so far.

Mona Risk
www.monarisk.com

Oh, I definitely need to relate to the heroine in some way or the story just doesn't work for me, and I think we all have a secret little bad girl inside us somewhere. I like a heroine with some sass! *ggg*

Terri

Boy is it hard to concentrate with all the seriously HOT covers on this page!!! I mean, can I just crawl into FLYBOY's space suit?? And uhh...that studly BEAST WITHIN is so inticing me into that saddle ;-) Giddy-up :)

What were talking about again??? Oh, bad girls, yes--I'm all for them! EVERY woman has a little bad girl tucked inside her somewhere, I mean, THAT'S where the story is at. We all know we're supposed to be good, but it's when ya step off that straight and narrow path that things really get interesting. I loved watching Audra *try* to be good ;-)

Great post, Tawny.

I definitely need to empathise with the heroine. And heroines that are too sweet make my teeth ache *grin*. I like 'real' heroines - women who have faults and foibles and who do their best to survive in today's world. Does she have to be like me? No. Do I have to want to be like her? No. Do I want to be able to laugh with her, cry with her and cheer for her on her journey to love? Absolutely! (And if she has great shoes ... *grin*).

Anna - a good bad girl ... or should that be a bad good girl?!

I do like to relate in some way too, but not completely, or that would put me to sleep. lol I think we all act "good", but have alittle wild side hidden away. I think that's why I like to read about it,so we can kind of live through them while we're reading. I have read some though that I thought the girl was just nuts. When they are way to forceful, it leaves nothing to mystery. I want to feel that the guy had to work for it alittle bit. I do tend to root for the shy girls, or the ones that are alittle insecure. When they finally get the guy, I'm really happy for them.

Hey folks -- welcome to Cigars and we hope you'll stick around, but I see a lot of great posts with (not verified) which means you aren't registered on the site, and you have to be registered to qualify for giveaways -- it's easy! Just sign up in the boxes up in the left (make sure you change your password once you're in) and you're all set! This helps us cut down on spam, sweeps, and other bad blog behavior, so I hope you will join us. :)

Will comment on this very fun post later...

Sam

I can relate to bad girls more easily.
Its too hard to be that good.
My favorite bad girl or reformed bad girl was actually a secondary charter in the book Born to be Wilde by Janelle Denison

I like reading all different kinds of heroines. If she has done some things she shouldn't have in the past I really don't think of her as bad because it just means she's human. No matter what she's done in the past I like a heroine who deals as best she can with her life.

Hi Tawny,

I love bad girls. And I mean really bad ones. I wrote a very bad female vampire once, that I wanted everyone to hate. As it turned out she stole all the scenes, and everyone loved her more then the heroine. Of course like so many, my favorite bad girl is Scarlett O'Hara..She's smart, she's savy and not above doing what it takes to get what she wants. Although, she lost the man in the end, it would have been wonderful to see what might have transpired as she worked to win him back.

I need a heroine I can relate to. Sickeningly sweet is not my cup of tea. Give me bad boys and bad girls!

I think I like a good girl who can be bad when she needs to be. I guess I see this as most well characterized by heroines like Buffy and Brenda Lee in The Closer. These are both really good women, trying to do the right things, they have strong moral codes, but they screw up, or get muddled, and have to learn in life.

Bad girls, for me most typically Faith in Buffy (what can I say? They have it all...), but also Edie on Desperate Housewives, Kate on LOST. I think to be a bad girl they really have to do bad things, or have confusion about what's good or bad. But they aren't bad to the core, they aren't evil, they are just a little more morally loose, I suppose. ;)

I would characterize most of what we see in Blaze or romance novels, the sassy heroines, as "naughty girls" -- whole different category, LOL. They are good women, have good intentions, good hearts, they wouldn't hurt someone for fun, but they can definitely get naughty, often on the way to finding out something about themselves, and growing -- a *must* for me in any character is that they grow in some way.

I know, I'm such a pain in the butt. :)

I suppose to an extent I like the same qualities in a heroine that I do in a hero: confidence, integrity, kindness, intelligence, humor -- but in human doses, not perfect people, you know? I tend to relate to earthy, normal women who are facing normal problems in life, I suppose.

Sam

While I like reading about heroines I can relate to, it is nice to read about heroines that are different from me as well. A good writer can make me care about and empathize with a heroine regardless of her similarities or differences from me.

I think all heroines regardless of their obvious differences all share some common traits...a desire for love, happiness, etc.

I need to relate to (and empathize with) the heroine, whether she's good or bad. I don't like a heroine who is sickeningly sweet - but in some stories, a good girl works very well. Especially if she's strong and smart and a total equal to her bad-boy counter part *g*

There have been some bad girl heroines that have grated on my last nerve because I couldn't understand why anyone would want to be around them. But for the most part, I love a bad girl - even though I'm a very good girl myself :-)

I definitely like so much more bad girls than the wimpy ones. And do I empathize with the heroine... Well, I suppose it depends on what kind of a bad girl she is. But I certainly can't empathize with a complete wuss.

I think that if the chemistry between the characters is well written................... whether they are good or bad girls they can be quite entertaining. If I had to chose a favorite though I would say bad girl....I always wanted to be a bad girl but never could quite pull it off..it is just not in my nature.

Kendra

I really like reading about Bad Girls. I like them to have a good heart underneath it all, but being bad can be lots of fun, especially for us readers to live vicariously through. I think as long as the character has some aspects of her personality that we can relate to in our own lives, then I can feel as if I really "know" the character and feel a kinship with her. I think the character needs to be fun and deep down has a heart of gold, as long as she has a good heart underneath it all, she can get away with some bad things and we can still relate to her.

like Sam said, maybe just a little naughty :)

As some other commenters said, I think I relate better to the "good" girls, but would love to be able to be a little more "bad," and characters that are either both or can successfully pull off the "bad, but has a good heart, or is overcoming terrible circumstances or something like that" are great to read about.

And as someone else mentioned, I do have a soft spot for heroines who are on the shy/reserved end who fall for someone who draws out their inner vixen ;)

I think the best part of being a reader is that we are exposed to different types of characters than our own.

If I only read about women like myself, I'd be dead bored.

I'm a reformed naughty girl but I still enjoy reading about them. Equally, though, I can read about an innocent and cheer them on their explorations of self.

The only bad characters I can't read about are real life ones: Hitler and Jeffery Dahmer, for example. But Dracula (Vlad the Impaler) or Countess Elizabeth of Bathory (the Blood Countess) I have no problem reading about because it was so long ago that it seems removed.

I'd love to read a good biography about Mata Hari but have never come across one.

ani