I’m delighted to welcome Diana Quincy to my blog today!
Tempting Bella, the second book in my Accidental Peers series, features a kinder, gentler leading man. In short, Sebastian is a beta hero. Betas are often consigned to the role of best friend in romance novels, the sidekick of the tough-talking, butt-kicking and, often, emotionally-distant alpha hero.
As the hero in Tempting Bella, Sebastian is decent, honorable and essentially selfless. He’s also complex, virile and very sexy! While I love a good alpha hero, there is something undeniably alluring about a beta hero—he’s the guy you’d love to marry in real life.
Here are my Top 10 Things to Love About a Beta Hero:
1) He’s a nice guy.
2) He treats a lady with the respect she deserves.
3) He’s comfortable enough with his masculinity that he doesn’t have to act like a Neanderthal to prove he’s a real man.
4) He often puts other people’s desires before his own.
5) He is warm, tender and projects a quiet strength.
6) He is often not as sexually experienced as an alpha male, so intimacy is more meaningful to him.
7) He refuses to impose his will on the heroine.
8) The beta hero is never a wimp.
9) He has a teeny bit of alpha in him (Which, in Sebastian’s case, is evident in the excerpt)
10) On top of all of those winning qualities, a beta hero can still be hot, charismatic and wealthy!
What traits do you like to see in your romance hero? What traits do you HATE to see in your hero? Leave a comment for a chance to win a digital copy of Seducing Charlotte, Book 1 in my Accidental Peers series.
Tempting Bella
Blurb: Mirabella can hardly remember the man she married as a girl to settle a gaming debt between their fathers . And it’s just as well. She feels nothing but contempt for the man who married her for her fortune and promptly forgot she existed.
Sebastian has been apart from his child bride since their wedding day, after a teenaged marriage forced upon him to rescue his family from certain ruin. His attempt to honor his vows to his absent wife has earned him the nickname, “The Saint.” But when he encounters an enchanting beauty at the opera, Sebastian cannot resist learning who she is. He is thrilled to find she is none other than his long-ago bride.
Already resentful of his early abandonment, Bella is suspicious of her husband’s unusual activities—mysterious midnight outings and apparent liaisons with pretty servant girls. Then there is the mounting evidence that Sebastian is not who he claims to be.
Guarding the painful secret of his true identity, Sebastian is entranced by Bella and is eager to make her his wife in truth. But he soon realizes the beguiling lady has no intention of coming meekly to the marriage bed!
Excerpt:
Uttering an uncharacteristically terse thank you to the butler, Sebastian took Bella’s arm to escort her above stairs. His rigid posture, the intransigent set of his expansive shoulders, the very deliberate click of each boot step, all belied that otherwise calm exterior.
He was angry. Furious even.
The hair on the back of her neck tingled. She’d never seen him truly out of sorts. His demeanor brought to mind that ominous lull before a natural disaster strikes.
He hastened his steps, practically dragging her up the stairs. When they reached her chamber, he did not leave her as he usually did. Instead he stepped in behind her.
“Thank you, Louisa, that will be all,” he said to the sleepy girl, who’d waited up for her mistress. “Go and seek your bed.”
As soon as he closed the door behind the maid, Bella spun around to face him, her heart clamoring. “I did not give you leave to enter my bedchamber. Please show me the courtesy of departing at once.”
He pulled off his cravat and folded it in a slow deliberate manner, as though he hadn’t heard her. Removing his tailcoat, he placed it neatly over the back of a chair.
Alarm trilled down her spine. “Why are you disrobing?”
Unbuttoning his waistcoat, he said, “Take off that dress.”
“I beg your pardon?”
He advanced toward her, the muscles in his thighs flexing powerfully as he did so. “You heard me.”
Hugging herself, she stepped back from him. “I will do no such thing. Leave or I will scream.”
Cold anger glittered in his eyes. “Take if off or I will take it off for you.”
Bio: Diana Quincy is an award-winning former television journalist who decided she’d rather make up stories where a happy ending is always guaranteed. Growing up as a foreign service brat, Diana lived in many countries and is now settled in Virginia with her husband and two sons. When not bent over her laptop or trying to keep up with laundry, she enjoys reading, spending time with her family and dreams of traveling much more than her current schedule (and budget) allows.
You can find Diana at:
Website: http://www.dianaquincy.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Diana_Quincy
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DianaQuincyRomance
You can find Tempting Bella at:
babettejames.com 
Hi Babette! Thanks for having me on today 🙂
Love your post. I married a beta hero. 🙂 Your 10 reasons are right on target. Wishing you much success.
Hi Diane – Congratulations on your good sense in snagging a beta hero!
Oh, beta heroes are definitely not wimps! I’m a huge fan of quiet strength. Love the excerpt (don’t enter me in the drawing, I’ve already won before). Good luck with the book.
Hi Jennifer – I agree there is definitely to the strong, silent type!
Oh gosh, I think I’m writing one and didn’t even know it! (Can you tell this is my first book?) I started out thinking he was an alpha male, but the more he talks to me the more he tells me otherwise.
And I definitely married one: 33 years tomorrow!
Hi Win – I didn’t really think to label Sebastian as a beta male, even though he definitely is one, until an early reviewer pointed it out. Oh, and congrats on being smart enough to snag your own beta! I can’t figure out what Mr. Q is. He’s definitely got both alpha and beta in him.
What a fantastic excerpt. Now I’m drawn to know he was pushed into the situation. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for stopping by Veronica. I’m glad the excerpt enticed you a bit!
I love this moment between Sebastian and Bella. He makes his point further along in the scene without degrading her. Plus, it’s hot, hot, hot! I love your list of top 10. Sebastian embodies all these qualities and more.
Thanks for stopping by RoseAnn. Even though I didn’t specifically set out to make Sebastian a beta, I did want him to be thoroughly decent, but also super sexy. I hope that’s what readers take from the book!
You achieved what you set out to do!
Loved the excerpt! The one thing that draws me away from a hero is if he’s infallible–I’m more drawn to the damaged, brooding hero who makes human mistakes. 🙂
Hi CJ – I love a damaged hero, too. And Sebastian definitely has some Daddy issues.
I love a hero who is really, really good at his job, craft, career. There’s nothing sexier in a man, IMHO! He doesn’t have to be chairman of the board either. He can be a brilliant journalist or a great hockey player. It’s all good!!!
Mary – I hadn’t really thought about it but I agree there is something super sexy about a guy who excels at his career! And when I think about it, all of the heroes in this series excel in that area – whether it is involves running a business, an estate or being a good soldier.
Well, I guess all my heroes are betas too. 🙂 Here’s to the beta, may they live long and prosper.
Janice~
Here! Here!
I like my Beta Heroes with a little bit of rake mixed in. I love a man who knows he’s sexy but thinks the heroine is even sexier…
That is a hot mix!
Beta’s rock! They’re the poets, the artists, the creative and complex types who point the camera at other things rather than smile for it. They’ll pen the poems and write the tender songs for the women in their lives. They’ll pull over on the way to her house to pick a bouquet of wildflowers and plan a very personal picnic rather than have a secretary send the florist and make reservations. Beta’s will kiss their sons on the forehead after a story and have a friendly tussle over a favorite pillow rather than say, “You don’t need a nightlight anymore. Man up.” Give me a beta any day. Those are the true romantics and the most giving lovers. They don’t dominate, they support. Women always come first with them.
I love you take on betas, Tara! And I think you’ve said it beautifully. It’s interesting that it’s the alpha heroes who dominate the genre. But then again, maybe the best alpha heroes are the ones who are in touch with their beta side.
Great post. I like a hero who is kind to those who aren’t as strong – either mentally or physically as him.
I agree, Shelley. That’s a fantastic trait for a hero. And I’m guessing most betas would have that trait.
Thanks to everyone for stopping by the blog. I really enjoyed reading your take on beta heroes! THE WINNER OF THE GIVEAWAY IS Veronica Forand. Congratulations Veronica!