Okay--I have a confession to make. I love love love romances where the hero is not perfect. I'm not talking about perfection as in his behavior, etc. I'm talking about a hero who has some sort of physical or mental imperfection. For example, I just finished Simply Love by Mary Balogh. The hero, Sydnam Butler, lost an eye and an arm in the Napoleonic wars and in my view this non-perfect hero was the perfect hero for me to read! I cried at this book (I would have been more surprised had I not cried considering it's a Mary Balogh book) but cried in a good way.

So is there anyone out there with the same, um, kink as me? Any recommendations? I've read Flowers from the Storm too. I love the Regency time period--oh and heroes who have been spies. Mentally, emotionally scarred heroes from their work in the wars (for example Robin Andreville in a novel whose name currently escapes me but it's got a heroine named Maxima who is part Native American) push my buttons too :)

Born in Sin by Kinley MacGregor is good if you like emotionally scarred heros. He is also an assassin for the crown. The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt has a "non-perfect" hero (pox-scarred and lost his entire family). Kinsale's Prince of Midnight has a hero who is deaf in one ear and gets dizzy if he stands up too fast or moves too quickly.

If You Dare; If You Desire, If You Decieve by Kresley Cole is a series about cursed brothers who are assassins and believe that they can never marry or have children lest they put those they love in danger.

This might help

http://www.likesbooks.com/lessthan.html

we had a really good thread on this s ubject a year or so ago but can't find it now :-( I found several good books people suggested! I remeember 'Exposure' by Susan Anderson or Andersen was one of them.

ok bumped up the thread I *think* is the one that had some of these..wounded/scarred heroes

Karen Ranney has two that are exceptional books with scarred heros, emotionally & physically:  My Beloved and Tapestry.  I VERY highly recommend both.

And Thomas from Winter Garden by Adele Ashworth about takes the cake when it comes to scarred heros that are totally to die for.  Scars & all, he's a muffin:P

Thanks for the recs--and whoever was able to pull up the scarred/tortured heroes thread. I'm making my list :) and starting to do some ordering.

Yay! More books to read! I love this group!

Another less than perfect hero.  Untie my Heart.

I just finished reading As You Desire by Connie Brockway which is on the list.  The hero is dyslexic and illiterate in a time when that was considered defective in such a way that it was a blight on the whole family.  A wonderful hero.

I'm reading Frisco's Kid by Suzanne Brockmann, which has a very angry disabled hero.

King of all scarred heroes -------  Houston Leigh from Texas Destiny by Lorraine Heath

Zach from Freefall (JoAnn Ross).  He has PTSD from being in a war zone.

Sherri

The Duke and I by Julia Quinn has a hero that grew up with a speech impediment and was afraid to father children because of it.

I loved Judith Ivory's Untie My Heart. Both are imperfect characters.  She a plump reformed con-artist; he's a stuttering viscount who was an abused child.

Blue Moon By Jill Marie Landis. I haven't read this, I was just reading about it on Amazon and remembered this thread.  http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Moon-Jill-Marie-Landis/dp/051512527X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208376229&sr=1-1

Flowers in the Storm; hero has a debilitating stroke.

Candle in the window, or Castles in the Air, by Christina Dodd, I can't remember but I believe they are Blind.

Lol I bring it up again just because it's an amazing resource but at All Readers http://www.allreaders.com/BookSearchAOther.asp?BSID=99915385&SubjectID=4&SectionID=0 they'll give you a list of books with disabled or scarred heros and you can read a short background on the book as well.

Gayle Callen - The Viscount in Her Bedroom - hero is blind

Laura Lee Guhrke - His Every Kiss - hero has tinnitus (sp?), ringing in ears and headaches from a fall from his horse

Sabrina Jeffries - To Pleasure the Prince - hero is scarred on the face

Fay Robinson - A Man Like Mac Harlequin Superromance - hero is in a wheelchair

J.R. Ward - Dark Lover - Wrath is blind

If you like paranormal.... Predatory Game=Christine Feehan.  Hero is in a wheel chair after being tortured by enemies.   ITs on my shelf, I liked the book, the best in the series.

"England's Perfect Hero" by Suzanne Enoch - love this book! He suffers from post traumatic stress syndrome.

I have the same tendency.  I absolutely love books about less than perfect heros (and heroines).  Winter Garden by Adele Ashworth; Thomas has injuries from the Napoleonic wars.  It's a wonderful book but out of print and hard to find. 

I also particularly enjoyed Untie my Heart by Judith Ivory.  Hero was abused by his father and has a stutter. 
Heroine is a "plump" recently widowed reformed con artist trying to manage as a sheep farmer. 

In The Lover (Schone) Michael is disfigured by burns he suffered in a fire trying to rescue his lover.   This book is more an erotic thriller than a romance, though.  It's very explict and deals with some disturbing themes. 

Imperfect characters make the book so much more interesting, don't they?  I love reading about how someone dealt with difficult problems or a physical or mental disability and found love and happiness.  I develop a lot of sympathy for them and identify with them.  What does that say about me, I wonder?

Dance With The Devil by Sherrilyn Kenyon - Hero was a slave/whipping boy. He was physically abused to the point he ws disfured. He was also emotionally abused.

I cried when I read this book.