I have a new release, “Tantalizing Secrets,” a historical set in the Georgian era. In it, the reader meets people from previous Secrets books, and gets to know what Peter gets up to in his own book (I’ve put the blurb and a brief excerpt below for you, but the book is only the springboard for the Pondering).
In the Secrets books, Peter has a mistress, Elizabeth Wisheart. She’s a widow, rich enough to not worry about getting another husband, but she sets her sights on long term lover, Peter, and she throws a few hurdles in the way. She’s beautiful, seductive and a strong character. But when I asked my editor if it were plausible for me to make Elizabeth the heroine in another book, she was doubtful. Thought the reader wouldn’t want her. She’s probably right, she usually is (sigh) but after you’ve read the book, I’d love your opinion. Would Elizabeth make a historical romance heroine? And the wider question – can you turn a villain into a hero?
Several books have done it triumphantly. Think of Mary Jo Putney‘s “The Rake” previously published as “The Rake and the Reformer.” In it, Reggie, the boorish drunk of “The Diabolical Baron” is turned around into an alcoholic in an age when everyone drinks. We come to feel sorry for Reggie, and love his resolve when he moves to the country to kick his habit. It’s on many people’s keeper shelves.
Another favourite is “Devil in Winter” by Lisa Kleypas. How many people wondered how Sebastian, the kidnapper from the previous book in the series, could be turned around? Well Kleypas did it and this is often cited as the readers’ favorite of the whole series.
It seems that the villain-turned-hero has to be a strong person, with no little degree of angst. Tortured, enough that it drives them to do Bad Things. But this sometimes adds a fascinating depth of character.
And sometimes it can be done in one book.
Liz Carlyle‘s “The Devil You Know” features the feckless wastrel Bentley, who isn’t the brightest bulb in the basket, or so it seems. How can we love him, especially after what he does to poor Freddie (Frederica). But by the end of the book, we’re in love. At least, I was.
There are some borders a villain cannot cross. Rape, betrayal that doesn’t have an explanation later, or if my heroine had succeeded in separating the hero and heroine, or stormed off vowing revenge, maybe.
And that’s another thing. I want to turn my villainess around. Are there any books that do this?
So here’s the blurb for Tantalizing Secrets:
Arabella Mason is too busy investigating her brother-in-law’s “accidental” death to entertain thoughts of love. She’ll go to any lengths to ease her sister’s grief, even accept the help of the distressingly attractive Viscount Bredon, Peter Worsley. Instead of answers, the trail of clues only leads to more questions. Who was her brother-in-law, really…and why does Peter, who poses as her brother in public, make mincemeat of her resistance in private?A successful politician and confirmed bachelor, Peter has bedded the loveliest women in society. He never imagined he’d wind up in a Leicester backwater, helping a pretty widow investigate his brother’s untimely death. As his suspicions of foul play grow stronger, the danger rises-and so does his desire for Arabella. One kiss, and she snatches away all his resolve, leaving him wondering which he wants more…
To find his brother’s killer? Or keep Arabella safe-and make her his?
And a teeny snippet:
the coach lurched to a halt and they were flung forward. Peter flung out a hand to stop Arabella hurting herself, and was rewarded by a handful of fabric and a brief contact with one soft breast. He took her arm and hauled her back on to the seat as the carriage pulled to a halt.
Breathlessly she stared at him and they both heard a gruff voice. “Stand and deliver!”
“Good Lord!” The gleam of battle sparked in him. Cautiously he settled the pistol in his pocket so it came easily to hand.
The door of the carriage was wrenched open. A heavily muffled figure stood outside. “Out,” the man commanded.
Peter descended and held his hand out to help Arabella. To his surprise, she wasn’t looking in the least shocked. If he didn’t know her better, he would have thought she was angry.
Lounging against the open door of the carriage, Peter stared at the highwayman. Their assailant was so muffled up it was difficult to make out much about him, but Peter noted the man was no taller than he was, and wasn’t grossly overweight. He’d pulled a cocked hat low down on his forehead and a muffler up over the lower half of his face.
Peter thrust his hands in his pockets, touching the rounded end of the pistol. In the other pocket, he had a knife, usually carried for more mundane purposes but it might come in useful too, given the chance. He kept Arabella in view, prepared to push her to the ground. Some highwaymen wanted more than jewelry and cash; he wasn’t about to allow that.
Arabella lifted her chin and glared at the man. There was no doubt about it now-fire flashed from her dark eyes. She was angry. Peter hoped she wouldn’t do anything foolish. He wished he could see the coachman but that was impossible without turning.
Their aggressor swore, fluently and, much to Peter’s surprise dropped the hand holding the pistol to his side. “Jewelry. Money.”
Then Arabella did something that took Peter completely aback. She put her hands on her hips and thrust her face forward in the age-old position of the fishwife. It said a lot for Peter’s newfound attraction that he found her pose delightful. “And who do you think you are threatening? Get in the carriage this instant!”
You can buy Tantalizing Secrets from Samhain here:
http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/tantalizing-secrets
Or you can win a copy (download in the format of your choice) by commenting here. How about it, should I put Elizabeth down on my list of future heroines? And can you think of any turnaround books that worked for you? Or ones that didn’t? What do you think it needs?
Lisa Kleypas also did that with Only With Your Love. The evil twin brother becomes the hero in that story.
Let’s not forget what Kenyon did with Stryker. ARGH!
Karen Moning did it with Adam in her Highlander series. I mean, the guy practically raped the heroine of one of the other books (would have had he not been interrupted) I believe he also nearly killed a couple of heroes from other stories, yet she redeemed him and made him my favorite of the Highlander series heroes.
Hmmm…in Savage Thunder by Johanna Lindsey, there was a man named Angel that was sort of a villain. He did good things, but he was technically a bad guy. Then he got his own book (Angel) and was an amazing hero. It totally worked for me.
Laura Kinsale did the villain-turned-hero thing in one of her Medievals. In For My Lady’s Heart, Alegretto was a nasty guy. In the next book (Shadowheart), he’s the hero. I haven’t read it yet so I don’t know how well it works, but I know Sybil has been bugging me to read Shadowheart for weeks now, so it must’ve worked for her. 🙂
OH! Forgot about the heroine thing…Meljean Brook did it. Lilith is a nasty demon in Falling for Anthony (in the Hot Spell anthology), but she becomes the heroine in Demon Angel.
I prefer a villain who’s three-dimensional and not all bad, anyway (although granted, in my first published book, the villain is definitely “all bad”). Stands to reason if the guy isn’t 100% evil, there should be some way to redeem him.
Maybe there needs to be a “truth and reconciliation commission” for fictional baddies?
I don’t see any reason why Elizabeth can’t change her spots; people do it in real life every day.
I think Elizabeth can probably work as a heroine of a future book. It all depends on the motivations behind her actions and what exactly those actions were that make her a villain. I love redeemable villains – especially when it’s finding that one person who really matters that eventually redeems them.
The villainess has been done by — of course! — Mary Balogh. Though she doesn’t actually appear in the book, the hero of A Precious Jewel has considerable psychological damage caused by his stepmother coming on to him when he was quite young. She is the heroine of A Christmas Bride.
Balogh has also done villain to hero many times – see this page listing her series books for examples: http://www.marybalogh.com/series.html
Shadowheart is wonderful. Allegretto is pretty nasty for some of that too, but we really get to see what makes him tick and feel for him.
Another Kleypas, also – Nick Gentry was a villianous sort in Lady Sophia’s Lover, then the hero in Worth Any Price.
Many of us go for those reformed rakes and villians not so evil who redeem themselves, so why not a heroine, too, depending on how evil (or not) she was.
I don’t know that I’ve ever seen it work with a woman before. Another villain turned hero I’ve seen it work with was Magnus, the villain in Love According to Lily. He was really a horrific person in that book, and Julianne MacLean did what I thought was a masterful job in turning him into the villian of the next book, Portrait of a Lover.
I think it would be possible to turn a woman villain into a heroine, but it would have to be masterfully done. Romance readers are much more willing to forgive a man his issues than a woman, I think. We’re a fickle, bitchy lot. LOL!
*SMACK* I mean the hero of the next book. Doh!
I think Elizabeth could definitely be a heroine in a future book. Everyone has a chance to redeem themselves. I love Lisa Kleypas’s books. She’s wonderful at turning villains into heroes. I haven’t read Sherrilyn Kenyon’s book yet on Stryker but I definitely need to get to it. If Stryker redeems himself anyone can. LOL!
Yet another Kleypas book … Hardy betrayed Liberty in Sugar Daddy, but came back and was the hero of Blue-Eyed Devil. Not a huge villain-to-hero turnaround, but it does seem to be a theme with Kleypas — which is why Devil in Winter was my favorite Wallflower book. 🙂
Ah, the “evil” experienced woman who wants to marry her lover. A rather stock character in Cartland. I’ld love to see what could be done in turning her into a heroine. I never felt the Countess in the Sound of Music was an “evil” character and wanted her to have a HEA as well as Maria. Though she didn’t particularly want a huge family of resentful stepchildren she did want the Captain and seemed to care about his happiness. I’m all for more Happy Endings. Let an experienced woman as well as the virgin wind up with a hero.
OH! and has anyone talked about Shannon McKenna yet? Jami Alden soooooooooo should have brought her up.
Shannon has a character, Tamara, who is just all sorts of shades of bad girl in many of her McCloud Books. And she is the heroine in her lastest book ULTIMATE WEAPON.
speaking of shannon, she also did a great job in Return To Me with a side character. One of the guys, Brad, was a total dick for most of the book, but by the end he had a great side romance with another character which was awesome. sadly, shannon says she won’t write them their own story because technically she gave them their HEA in that book. .hmph. like she can’t just find a way to break them up!
Tragedies have changed people. So it is possible.
Yes I think that Elizabeth should become a heroine.
Oh I have to agree with Fae, if Adam can be turned around and was he ever. Here’s someone who went from unrepentent villain into a her who you just love when he makes his turn around. KMM did a great job with him.
Carol L.
I do believe that most villians can be turned around. It’s the reforming of them that can make a great story.
I think it would be interesting to see Elizabeth transformed from a villainess into a heroine and get a HEA .
Huh. Maybe I ought to stop killing off all my villains, eh?
I gotta pick a winner!
Thanks for all of your comments, you’ve given me great food for thought and some great examples of villains-turned-heroes! It would have been nice to hear from someone who’d read the book, to see if they thought Elizabeth could be turned, but I daresay I’ll hear about that as time goes on!
I gave all the commenters a number, then asked my daughter to pick a number. So the winner was chosen blind.
And it is…..
Annalisa!
Please contact me, Annalisa, and tell me what format you’d like your prize to be in and I’ll get it right off to you.
Meantime, keep chatting!
What would stop a villain becoming a hero in your eyes? What would mean that you hate them so much, they couldn’t be turned around? Or is there no limit?
A villain who is stupid or pathetic can’t be turned in my mind.
He can pretty much DO any nasty, horrible, evil thing, but I think there has to be a part of him that doesn’t enjoy it, or that rails against the necessity of it. In other words, he has to be as three dimensional a villain as he would have to be as a hero. If he’s 100% bona fide evil, there’s nothing to work with.
Sebastian did not turn around for me. I don’t feel his actions were redeemed in Devil in Winter. He is by far my least favourite Wall Flower Hero.
He is the only ‘bad turned good’ hero I have read, and no, I don’t think he was ever really turned good, so for me a hero once bad is always bad.
It would be nice to see a bad guy turn nice, though.
I don’t see why you can’t turn a villain into a hero – if the author is clever enough! I think that’s the trick.
Plenty of reviews I’ve read lately have bemoaned the villian’s one dimensional character. Perhaps a villian who has some nuance would be a good start. Then, (perhaps) something happens to change the villian in some way – some tragedy, or some great responsibility (like parenthood or becoming the head of the family, etc).
Personally, I don’t like stories where the only reason there is a character change is because the “hero” meets “the One”. I think its too much responsibility on “the One” and I like to see maybe that person inspiring the change but the hero taking the ownership of it, or, “the One” meeting the hero in the midst of or after the change in character. Because, at the end of the day, if the villain turns hero , I want to be sure that he won’t turn back into a villain again.
Maybe all Elizabeth needs is to meet someone who finally understands her and won’t let her cheat herself…
I don’t think one could make Hannibal Lecter a hero though. Ever.