Why I Love a Hero With Sand Between His...Toes


I have a new cover! Isn't it pretty? *pets* My second book with Crimson Romance, The Saint's Devilish Deal, is through galley edits, I have a cover and a release date. And I couldn't be more thrilled. Saint is the story of my heart in a lot of ways - it pits an ex-surfer-bad-boy against a by-the-book B&B manager. They have a history but to get to their happily-ever-after future? Well, there are going to be some obstacles.

Obstacles that only an ex-surfer might handle, which brings me to my topic: Heros with sand between their toes...And in their hair. Catching the sunlight on strong, tanned shoulders. Defining his chest. It's a sickness. sigh. A beautiful sickness, and it goes back to my teenage years. Nope, I wasn't raised on the beaches of California or Florida. I was a mid-western girl who hated the muddy sand at the lake and burned just thinking about the sun.

That changed during the summers, though. For two weeks during the summer we would visit my great-grandmother on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. As I hit my teen years collecting shells from the golden sand took a backseat to blatantly panting after the surfer boys, staring at them down the pier or holding my breath while they surfed the deep waters.

You know what's funny? Those waves are nothing like the waves in California, Hawaii or Indonesia...and yet I would've bought the Golden Gate Bridge from any of those boys had they tried to sell it to me. I can only imagine what would've happened if I'd seen them surfing Pipe. But that is another blog.

Why did I love those surfer boys? Definitely because of their bodies - those wet suits don't hide anything - but also because they seemed so apart from everyone and such a huge part of the water itself. I listened to them talk about protecting the beach, water and wildlife from pollution, encroachment and global warming before those things were buzzwords that everyone was supposed to care about. I watched them slide through the waves as if they were a solid mass. I saw them mystified that everyone else was leaving the beach when a storm raged into the area. They wore $5 flip-flops to $100 dinners and usually looked better doing it than the rich boys wearing Calvin Klein.

Those boys probably don't remember even a glimpse of me from those days, but I see each of them when I'm writing...because I can't stop writing about men who care so deeply about the environment, who are separate from the crowd, who know there is more to life than work but who know how to work when the time comes.

What I find really sad, though, is that surfers are portrayed in movies and television shows as either druggies/burn-outs (Spiccoli, anyone?) or super-macho-idiots (Warchild, Bodhi, etc. from Point Break). When, from my experience, they are simply loners. They like people, but they'd rather be doing their own thing than running with some crowd. I like that, too.

Over the next month I'll be sharing a little more about my Saint. We'll be on blogs, on Twitter and Facebook...and you'll be able to buy your own part of my favorite place (the beach) on October 1, 2012. 

But in the meantime, what makes up your favorite hero?

Comments

  1. Kristina, I totally understand. I'm going through a surfer thing right now myself. I actually ordered the classic surfer movie Endless Summer on Netflix and watched it - twice. It was great! I've got the son's movie coming up in my queue next and I'm one of the few who actually bought the movie Blue Crush. I love it. Yep, there must be a screw loose in me. Now, thinking about all of this, I'm suddenly in the mood for Bob Marley.

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  2. Great post, Kristi. I like a hero who's at home in himself--kinda like those surfers you remember from NC.

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  3. Tara, love the ES flick...and Blue Crush...and Soul Surfer (the bio-pic that came out last year). Such great films!

    Liz, yes, that's it - a hero who is at home in himself...there is something verra sexxxxy about that!

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  4. Wonderful post Kristi and I love your cover too!

    I love all types of heroes and wouldn't be able to choose just one. It so depends on the storyline and the heroine and the setting...it's all gotta blend together. But there is one requirement I truly love in a hero...even if it's just a hint of it, I love a sense of humor. If he can make me or the heroine smile...I'm a goner!

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  5. sense of humor - YES! Needed in both the hero and heroine, I think! Thanks for sharing, Christine!

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  6. Loved your post, Kristi. I love heroes that are blue-collar/men who work with their hands and are happy with that.

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    1. Yep, Jerri, there is something sexy about a man working with his hands!

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  7. Congrats on your new release, Kristina. I like my heroes with a sense of humor, sharp wit and although an alpha male, has the tender side of a beta. Wrapped up with a little tall, dark and handsome...YUM!

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    1. Witty and humorous...and able to be tender (when needed)...Yep, I'll take a little of that, too, Elke!

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  8. Roxnne11:00 AM

    is that why we listened to Beach Boys all the way there and back...

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  9. Fabulous post, Kristina! My favorite heroes are alphas :) Love writing and reading them!

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  10. I like tragic heroes. LOL. Dark humor, a tragic past, scarred in some way. I want the reader to read that first chapter and wonder how in the heck this guy will ever be redeemed.

    I love the pictures you painted of surfers. I could so totally imagine him.

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    1. Love to see the journey of a tragic hero (or heroine), Sharon!

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  11. The closest I've ever come to a surfer is the TV. Never been to a beach like that. Well, twice, in the fog of San Francisco. You know, surfers and cowboys have some things in common, the enviroment being just one.

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    1. Yes, they do! Probably more than we know!

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  12. Kristi, I adore your cover! My favorite hero? I'm an alpha girl all the way. Muscle bound and cocky, but with a sense if humor. A little sarcasm doesn't hurt, but I not for the sake of being cruel. Gets me every time.

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    1. Yes, sarcasm with humor is *much* more attractive than sarcasm for the sake of meanness!

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  13. Their passion for what they do is so incredibly HOT...Can't wait to read your book.

    www.lynsiebuchanan.weebly.com

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  14. Oh Kristina!!!! I'm speechless!!! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your new cover!!! And the book sounds uber yummy!!! There's something about a surfer, lifeguard type hero. Can't wait to see what's in store for your heroine at the B&B. Woot!!!

    What makes up my favorite hero? Well, he's got to be an alpha male unafraid to move heaven and earth to please his lady love. But most of all, he protects her at all cost. And if he has a tiny chink in his chain mal, the better!

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    1. Protective... love a protective man! Thanks, Katherine - I'm a just *eversoslightly* partial to that cover, too!

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  15. Loves me a man who's hard on the outside, and soft on the inside, like a crusty dinner roll! Sure of himself for the most part, but adorably knocked off balance by the woman he loves! Yes!

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    1. Yes, yes, yes! That hard/soft combo is irresistible, MJ!

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