Best of 2014: The Heroines

Posted January 5, 2015 by Rowena in Features | 14 Comments

best of 2014 heroines

Rowena: I read about some pretty kick ass heroines in 2014. Some were grown women and some were teenagers or young adults just starting their lives. The one thing that they all had in common were, I loved them to pieces.

  1. Natalie Clayton from The Best Kind of Trouble by Lauren Dane. Natalie was an independent woman that I really enjoyed getting to know. I thought she was refreshingly real and just freaking awesome. I loved seeing her fall in love with Paddy and I really loved seeing her make room for him in her life. She was a very relatable character, one that I came to love.

  2. Hazel Grace Lancaster from The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Hazel Grace was the YA protagonist that I really loved. Her story was heartbreaking and it was fun but what made her stand out from the rest of the heroines over the year was her story. She’s a cancer kid who fell in love with another cancer kid and she really lived life to its fullest with Augustus. She wasn’t one of those YA heroines that you can’t for the life of you figure out why the love interests likes them so much. She was sarcastic, witty and fun. A lot of things that even she didn’t think she was. I loved her.

  3. Clio Whitmore from Say Yes to the Marquess by Tessa Dare. Clio Whitmore was another fantastic heroine that I loved in 2014. She was known as Lady Waitmore because her fiance took his sweet ass time coming home to get married. Instead of sulking like a helpless little ninny, Clio inherits a castle and gets to work making plans for her future. I loved the way that she tackled life and the way she fell in love with Rafe. She was fierce, strong and I loved her to pieces.

  4. Scarlet Crowley from The Year We Hid Away by Sarina Bowen. Scarlet’s story was an interesting one. It was a story that made me think. It made me take stock of the kind of person I am and the kind of mother I am. Scarlet was completely innocent in everything that happened in her life and she was extremely strong to endure what she went through. I closed her book with such admiration for her as a person because she didn’t let what happened to her turn her into a bitter and awful person. She came out of her situation as an amazing young woman and I like her a whole bunch.

  5. Iris Smythe-Smith from The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy by Julia Quinn. Iris was always my favorite Smythe-Smith cousin. She was sarcastic and witty in the other books and I had such high hopes for her book. I thought she was just as amazing in her story and my heart really went out to her. Her story wasn’t an easy one to get through because of the things that happened to her but I really, really liked Iris as a person, as a heroine and I thought she was one of the most exceptional heroines of 2014.

Honorable Mentions: Sophie Wells from The Unpredictable Consequences of Love by Jill Mansell, Lady Georgianna from Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover by Sarah MacLean and Jessie from Promise Me This by Christina Lee. All three of these ladies were pretty fantastic. I couldn’t imagine coming out of the situation that Sophie found herself in with her first marriage and Chase was a straight up boss. Jessie was just great. I liked that she was just so normal and not bogged down with a bad childhood, dark background and blah blah blah.

Holly: Every year, this is the category I struggle with the most. I tend to be really hard on heroines. I have high expectations for them and, more often than not, end up disappointed. Thankfully we’re seeing a shift in how women are written in romance novels. This year I had a better selection of strong, independent women to choose from.

  1. Caroline Mendoza from Count on Me by Lauren Dane. She was strong, independent and dedicated to her cause. Yet she also has vulnerabilities, which made her seem more real. I would love to sit down and have a beer with her.

2. Andie Bennett from Make-Believe Wedding by Sarah Mayberry. She was a complete tomboy who worked as an electrician, cursed more than her male counterparts and wasn’t afraid to be herself. I loved her.

3. Jessie from Promise Me This by Christina Lee. Jessie is another heroine who was comfortable with herself. She didn’t have a problem owning her issues. I wish more people in real life were as self-aware.

  1. Zenobia Fox from The Kraken King by Meljean Brook. She spent most of her life in one small town, yet thirsts for adventure. She was smart, had common sense and wasn’t afraid to do whatever she needed to survive.

5. Aubrey Wellington from Once in a Lifetime by Jill Shalvis. She was on a journey of self-discovery and really grew throughout the novel. I liked how quick she was to own her mistakes and how willing she was to right past wrongs.

Were there heroines who stood out for you in 2014?

 


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14 responses to “Best of 2014: The Heroines

  1. Kim

    Sidney Sinclair from It Happened One Wedding by Julie James was smart, successful and funny. The character and book hit all the right notes.

    In an historical setting, there was Olivia from Fool Me Twice by Meredith Duran. She was a secretary in a previous book and a housekeeper in this one. Olivia is looking for evidence in the Duke of Marwick’s house and gets the hermit duke to start living again. Lady Grace Mabry from When the Duke Was Wicked by Lorraine Heath had to deal with a devastating illness and the belief that no man could ever love her. Finally, there was the character arc of Catherine Blade in The Hidden Blade & My Beautiful Enemy by Sherry Thomas. Even though these books are advertised as stand-alone books, I think they have to be read in order to understand the pain that Catherine had to overcome.

    • Hey Kim,

      Thanks for stopping by. You’re right, Sidney was a great heroine. Julie James always writes fantastic heroines who don’t take crap from anyone.

      I haven’t read any Meredith Duran books in a while but it sounds like maybe I should. Thanks for the heads up.

      Lady Grace was great! I completely forgot about her.

      I haven’t read any Sherry Thomas either but Catherine sounds like maybe I should know her.

      Thanks for sharing your list. I’ve added some books to my TBB list. 🙂

  2. lsureader

    Thanks for a fun post. The most memorable heroines of the year for me are:

    Catherine Blade–My Beautiful Enemy and The Hidden Blade, Sherry Thomas

    Frederica “Free” Marshall–The Suffragette Scandal, Courtney Milan

    Nevada Baylor–Burn for Me, Ilona Andrews

    Isolde Ophelia Goodnight–Romancing the Duke, Tessa Dare

    Lady Georgina/Chase–Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover, Sarah MacLean

    Honorable Mentions: Sidney Sinclair–It Happened One Wedding, Julie James; Lady Xenobia India–Three Weeks with Lady X, Eloisa James; and Gillian, Countess of Greendale–The Captive, Grace Burrowes

    • Hey lsureader,

      Happy New Year! Thanks so much for sharing your favorite heroines of 2014. Isolde Goodnight was a great choice. So was Chase!

  3. I haven’t read most of the books mentioned, but the two I have? (The Kraken King and The Year We Hid Away) I agree completely! Zenobia Fox is a most excellent heroine. I really love (spoilers ahoy) that she’s aware of what she can and what she cannot do, instead of stubbornly trying to be someone else. As for Scarlet…oh my good lord, what a great, great heroine, particularly for her age. She’s strong, resilient and–most important–flexible.

  4. Rowena, now you just made me nervous about Iris.. I’m so looking forward to her story!! but yeah. I have to say that so far my favorite cousin has been Honoria (and I love, love, love Marcus) but I’ve been reading the excepts and Iris and Richard sound fun.

    I did like how Iris called Sarah on her bs last time around, it was such a cousin-ly thing to do.

    • Hey Alex! I’m sorry for scaring you but I think you’ll like Iris…though I’m really curious to see your thoughts on her book. And Sir Richard. Hurry and read it soon, kay? LOL.

      Iris cracked me up in every single book in the series. She never played a big role in any of the books but her wit came across every scene she was in and I loved how much she hated playing in the musicale and wasn’t deaf to how bad her family was with musical instruments. She was just great.

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