Cassandra Carr stops in to talk about alpha vs beta heroes

 

I would like to thank Cassandra Carr for stoppng by today

Does a hero need to be Alpha to be sexy?

By Cassandra Carr

In my recent release, Velocity, you can call my hero many things, but Alpha isn't one of them. In fact, I'd argue that Paolo is very beta. He's no pushover, but he's got some insecurities and such not often found in the typical Alpha male hero. So I ask you, does a hero have to be an Alpha male for you as readers to think he's sexy?

I wrote Paolo as I did for a reason. From the beginning in book 1, Impact, he was portrayed as a young, sweet Italian bull rider. His story is book four, so a few years have passed. Paolo is still the young, sweet kid he was back in Impact, but now he's got a career crisis and needs to figure out how he wants to handle it. To do that, Paolo couldn't be an Alpha male. Beta was the way to go.

Why do I say that. Do I think an Alpha male couldn't have a crisis of confidence? Of course not. But a guy who's got the typical swagger of an Alpha male would react differently to that crisis than a kinder, gentler beta hero. Does the different reaction make the beta hero less sexy?

Not in my mind (obviously - I wrote him).

There are times when an Alpha male is awesome to write and exciting for the readers to discover. But if every hero is an Alpha, where's the fun in that? Why can't a beta hero capture our hearts?

I predict if you read Velocity that you'll just as much in love with Paolo as you would with his Alpha brother Marco. (And the totally hot cover won't hurt either, lol).

Blurb:

Paolo D'Allesandro has been content living in his older brother Marco's shadow since they both left Italy for the United States. But he's getting a little older now and realizing he doesn't want the same thing as his brother--to be a professional bull rider. He's never made his own decisions, though, and finds himself having a crisis of confidence.

Savannah Harrington is a grad student working on a thesis. Her topic is adrenaline junkies, and she's joined the bull riders tour for a few weeks to study the men and their motivation behind willingly taking part in a dangerous sport. She meets Paolo on her first day and both feel an immediate pull. Savannah recognizes quickly that Paolo isn't happy, though, and tries to draw him out even as the two of them draw closer physically. She can't stay away from the sexy Italian, but knows the relationship can't last. After all, she's going back to school and he's staying on the bull riding tour to be with his brother while he figures out his next step.

Both Paolo and Savannah wish their circumstances were different, but Paolo doesn't think he has anything to offer Savannah, and Savannah doesn't want to pressure Paolo into another life decision that will make someone else happy, but not fulfill him. As her time to go back to school draws closer, they need to figure out how to get their highest score yet--in the game of love