My guest today is Tonya Burrows, the author of the new romantic suspense/military romance SEAL of Honor (review here). Since the hostage rescue team in her new HORNET series features a whole bunch of guys trying to figure out who is the alpha-est, it’s terrific that she’s going to tell us all about her own “Alpha Tolerance Level”. Take it away Tonya!
Alpha Heroes by Tonya Burrows
I love me an alpha male in my romances, but the recent trend of super dominant and controlling heroes got me wondering how much alpha is too much? Where do you draw the line between charmingly alpha and a-hole?
For me, my alpha tolerance level depends on three things:
- Genre. I’m much more open to an uber-dominant hero in a paranormal than in a contemporary or romantic suspense.
- Motivation. If the hero starts to tell the heroine how or where to fulfill any of her basic needs such as eating, sleeping, living or working, that’s too much. More slavery than romance. And if I come across a hero doing any of that in a book, he better have a damn good reason behind his dominance—e.g. an FBI agent trying to protect the heroine because if she doesn’t do exactly what he says, the baddies will get her. If he’s dominating the heroine just because he can or because he wants to, that doesn’t work for me.
- The heroine. If she submissively goes along with him as he orders her around, I’ll probably throw the book against a wall. I like heroines with spine that will stand up to the hero when he crosses the line and tell him exactly what he can do with his alpha-ness.
Honestly, in my new release, SEAL of Honor, Gabe skates close to my alpha limit. As a Navy SEAL Lieutenant Commander, he expects people to just fall in line and follow him without question—so of course I had to throw him into a life-or-death situation with a team that doesn’t follow orders and a heroine who won’t stand for his bossiness.
What can I say? I’m mean like that.
Do you like Alpha heroes? How much alpha is too much for you?
About Tonya BurrowsWriting has always been my one true love. I wrote my first novel-length story in 8th grade and haven’t stopped since. I received a B.A. in creative writing from SUNY Oswego and I’m now working on a MFA in popular fiction at Seton Hill University.
When I’m not writing, I spend my time reading, painting (badly), exploring new places, and enjoying time with my family. Give me a good horror movie over a chick flick any day. (And, let’s be honest, I’ll take a bad horror movie too!) I’m a geek at heart and pledge my avid TV fandom to Supernatural and Doctor Who. I’m also a big fan of The Voice. What can I say? Guilty pleasure.
I share my life with two dogs and a ginormous cat. We live in a small town in PA, but I suffer from a bad case of wanderlust and usually end up moving someplace new every few years. Luckily, my animals are all excellent travel buddies.
To learn more about Tonya, visit her website or follow her on
Facebook and Twitter.
~~~~~~TOURWIDE GIVEAWAY~~~~~~
One lucky winner will receive a signed copy of SEAL of Honor, swag, and will even have a character in one of Tonya’s future releases named after them! For a chance to win, use this Rafflecopter:
I LOVED SEAL of Honor; gave it 5-mugs – and can’t wait to read more!
Heather Coulter recently posted..Review ~ SEAL of Honor (HORNET, #1) by Tonya Burrows
Thank you! So glad you loved it! 😀
GOOD LUCK WITH THE BLOG TOUR AND THE BOOK! THANKS FOR THE GIVEAWAY!
Thanks for stopping by my post today!