I like strong male characters in my stories. Not so much the “alpha” male dominating type of man, but more a man who might struggle but ultimately seeks God and honors and respects the women around them.

When my editor, Joan Alley contracted my contemporary romance, Pesto and Potholes, due out spring of 2015 with Prism Book Group, she asked if my main man, Antonio DeLuca, was real. She wanted to give his number to a friend.

In reality I want my characters to be seeking to grow to become more like Christ. They are not God however, and make mistakes and mess up. But the love they show a woman and their overall respect for her, is what I would hope every man was like. In other,  older terminology–my heroes are gentleman.

I have prim and proper gentleman and I have cheeky gentleman in some of my stories. I have some that can whine and some that can be totally blind to the truth before their eyes. Some don’t like their life shaken up by love but eventually they understand the blessing of a relationship with a woman of godly character.

While all this is well and good, this is why I write these characters: Because I want my daughter and others like her to aim high in their choice of a mate. To look beyond the charm to the actions of the man they might choose to spend their life with. I don’t write men that are “too good to be true” I write godly men because I know there are men out there like that. I want one of them for my daughter.

Hard worker. Responsible. Respectful of boundaries. Honors a woman because she is God’s creation. Serves God. Seeks God. Asks forgiveness and is willing to change when he recognizes his wrongs.

I’m not talking a feminized doormat. Who wants that? Ultimately our lives are characterized by our growth in Christ and that is manifested often in our relationships with others. I want my books, yes even romance novels, to reflect that reality

And then there’s attraction too . . .<wink>