Best of 2017: The Heroes

Casee

Drew Lawless from Revenge (Lawless series #3) by Lexi Blake. Drew Lawless was closed off to everyone, even his family to an extent. He has had one goal since a fire ripped apart his world when he was a teenager. All he wants is to find the person(s) responsible for killing his parents. The lengths he will go to are a bit extreme, but that’s just Drew for you.

Ian Taggart from Love and Let Die (Masters and Mercenaries #5) by Lexi Blake Oh, Ian Taggart, how I love you. Ian is my favorite hero of 2017. I came into the Masters and Mercenaries series late. I actually read Love and Let Die first, which is a huge no-no for me. It didn’t matter after I started reading Ian’s book. He is fiercely protective of his family and Charlotte. He is crass, arrogant, and wonderful. I can’t imagine I’m the only one that feels this way about Ian.

Theo Taggart from Submission is Not Enough (Masters and Mercenaries #12) by Lexi Blake Are we sensing a theme here? Theo Taggart is brother to Ian, but they came into each other’s lives late thanks to their father. When you first meet Theo, he is the sweetest person imaginable. Then something terrible happens and he comes back home as someone that his family doesn’t recognize. Reading about Theo’s journey from where he began to where he ended up was a powerful thing.

Raphael from Raphael (Vampires in America #1) by D.B. Reynolds I’ve never quite seen a hero like Raphael. He is a vampire that can bring lesser vampires to their knees. It sounds quite funny, but it’s true. When he loves, he loves intensely. When you’re his enemy, well, don’t be his enemy. Seeing him brought to his knees by who he first thinks of as a mere human is hilarious. Well, not exactly hilarious as funny that a human can bring Raphael to his knees.

Valentin from Silver Silence (Psy/Changeling Trinity #1) by Nalini Singh I don’t think a year goes by where I don’t have a Nalini hero on my list. Valentin is the alpha of the StoneWater Bears. He’s intrigued by Silver from the moment he meets her. He knows that she is completely Silent, but that doesn’t stop him from going after who his bear considers its mate. Valenin was exactly what you would expect an alpha to be. Ferociously protective of his pack and those that he cares about. He was the perfect bear for Silver.

Holly

Blake Riley from Good Boy by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy: Blake was such a stand-up guy. He seems a little manic and even a bit annoying in the other books, but he was an amazing friend, kind, compassionate, caring… Blake Riley makes me smiley.

Valentin Nikolaev, alpha of the StoneWater Bears from Silver Silence by Nalini Singh: Playful, arrogant, adorable..not to mention totally kickass. I just wanted to eat him up.

King Midas from The Kingpin of Camelot by Cassandra Gannon: King Midas was so adorable. Normally I wouldn’t say that about an underworld Kingpin, but he was! I adored him.

Jake Becker from Sustained by Emma Chase: Oh, Jake. I couldn’t help but fall in love with him, just the way he couldn’t help but fall in love with the entire McQuaid clan.

Morgan le Fae from Spellbinder by Thea Harrison: I didn’t think I’d like Morgan, based on his actions in other books. But he was fully redeemed in his. He was such a good guy, for someone who was forced to do bad things for centuries.

Honorable Mentions: Mike Beacon from Pipe Dreams by Sarina Bowen: Mike was such a good dad and a great guy all around. Gabriel, Lord St. Vincent from Devil in Spring by Lisa Kleypas: I think the best part of Gabriel was how he came to accept Pandora for who she was. In the beginning he wanted a respectable, predicable Duke’s wife. But as the novel wore on and he came to care for Pandora, he realized he wanted her just as she was.

Rowena

Mike Beacon from Pipe Dreams (Brooklyn Bruisers #3) by Sarina Bowen: Beacon was a surprise winner for me. I wasn’t prepared to really care for his book at all because I didn’t like his heroine in the other books in this series but boy did Beacon win me over big time. The choices he had to make, the people he hurt to do what he thought was right, it really gutted me and seeing him work hard to get the one woman he loved back…man. I just love him so. He was a great father to his kids and a fantastic man for Lauren. So, so good.

Malcolm Bevelstoke, Duke of Haven from The Day of the Duchess (Scandal & Scoundrel #3) by Sarah MacLean: That Malcolm is on my list of best heroes of the year is saying much about how awesome Sarah MacLean’s writing is because I hated him when I first met him in The Rogue Not Taken. That opening scene did not paint Malcolm in the brightest of lights but holy cow is Sarah MacLean’s redeem game strong. By the end of this book, I loved Malcolm despite our rocky start. This guy is something else and his wife? She’d get my vote for Woman of the Year.

Ty Masters from Played (Gridiron #4) by Jen Frederick: I love athletes and I really love Jen Frederick’s athlete heroes. She writes some of my favorites and Ty’s brother was an honorable mention back in 2015 and oh man, Ty was just as freaking awesome as Knox was. I adored the hell out of him. From the way that he loved his best friend to his charming personality and just…everything. Everything about him appealed to me and that’s why he’s on my list.

Mark Blakely from An Ex for Christmas (Love Unexpectedly #5) by Lauren Layne: I really love grumpy heroes and Mark Blakely was definitely a grumpy hero. The fierceness of his devotion to his best friend and the obvious love he kept under wraps while he growled at her and took care of her, gah…I ate it all right up. He was so swoonworthy and I loved the hell out of him.

Blake Riley from Good Boy (WAGs #1) by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy: I love funny and flirty heroes just as much as I love grumpy ones and getting to know Blake Riley in Good Boy was an absolute blast. He made me laugh so much but he also made swoon a bit at how great in the sack he was. We should all be lucky enough to have a Blake Riley in our lives. Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy wrote him up real good because I love him. Love him, love him, love him.

There were a lot of great heroes of 2017 and we’ve listed our favorites. What heroes wormed their way into your hearts and made you fall head over heels in love with?

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