Babsscifi started a topic asking for stories about deaf heroes... Got me thinking about other stories with heroes that were not tall, dark, and dangerously alpha-dog. Heroines who aren't blond/redhead and beautiful. Situations and plots that don't revolve around a wealthy man seducing a reluctant woman... Not even the heroine who must overcome having been assaulted or abused to trust a man, or the couple reunited when she reveals he's the father of her child, but the truly unusual.

For instance (and yeah, I'm probably spoiling the big reveal for some readers):

One of Diana Palmer's blind heroes can be found in Bound by a Promise... the heroine caused his blindness.

Carole Buck's Dark Intentions features a hero blinded in an accident. He doesn't know that his teacher is a woman he once rescued from life on the streets.

The Nesting Instinct by Elizabeth August features an illiterate hero.

Then there's a must read/unnamed series by Justine Davis: Stevie's Chase (hero is an innocent witness to a murder and a runaway from the witness protection program that failed him), Left at the Altar (hero is an amputee), and The Morning Side of Dawn (hero is a double amputee who designs and races wheelchairs, trying to convince the super-model heroine that he's alpha-dog enough to protect her from a stalker).

Sweet Caroline's Keeper by Beverly Barton in which the hero, in his former life, was an assassin for the government. He's now the heroine's bodyguard. But she can't forget seeing those eyes standing over her stepfather's dead body...

Another Diana Palmer story that I mentioned in another thread: Lord of the Desert in which the hero is impotent.

Take Me by Cherry Adair. He married her to secure his inheritance then abandoned her. Seven years later, he meets a beautiful, accomplished woman and makes her his mistress. She just wants a child by her husband. He wants to divorce a wife he doesn't remember so he can marry his mistress. If he only knew...

Okay, that's a start. Now y'all share your unusual stories.

Colleen

The Portrait by Megan Chance - historical with a bipolar hero. I thought this a very improbable topic for a romance and HEA, but she makes it work.

TY, Willa. Something tells me that my RL/WL is gonna increase exponentially from this thread...

Colleen

Oh wow The Morning Side of Dawn sounds great!

SHERRI - Yep, it actually took a RITA award for long contemporary in 1995 and rated 5-star by Romantic Times Book Reviews (before they stopped awarding 5 stars - they retired the top rating when their top reviewer passed away).

The hero of The Morning Side of Dawn, Dar, is a key secondary character in Left at the Altar (which ended up with a really sucky name but is a pretty good book). All three stories in this series feature unusual heroes and situations. I wouldn't order them individually, but would definitely add them to a BoB swap or deal order.

Colleen

Another (at least temporarily) impotant hero: Veils of Silk by Mary Jo Putney. I personally really disliked this story, which hit all my least favorite buttons, but YMMV.

Colleen, do I need to read Left At the Altar first?

Simple Jess by Pamela Morsi has a hero who is mentally impared. He may be slow mentally, but he is really loveable and it is one of my favorite romances.

Wait for the Sunrise by Cassandra Austin has a hero dealing with blindness who does not regain his sight in the book (for a change).

In Prince of Midnight by Laura Kinsale the hero has a whole slew of problems. He's a recluse with hearing problems, problems with balance and dizzyness all after living through an explosion.

Castle of the Wolf by Sandra Schwab is a historical with a gothic feel where the hero is a battle-scarred amputee.

Driven by Eve Kenin has a hero who is almost robotic, he was raised to be unemotional (through genetic engineering if I can remember correctly) and has a difficult time interacting with people socially. It's a futuristic story, for those of you who like that kinda thing.

SHERRI - It's been a while since I read this series, but as I recall, Davis does a decent job of telling back story. Sooo, you can read Morning Side of Dawn by itself and thoroughly enjoy it.

As I recall, Left at the Altar is about a man whose leg was amputated after a car accident. Years later, the love of his life seeks him out for help escaping her abusive/homicidal husband. He and the hero of Morning became good friends in physical therapy. A very good story.

The first in the series, Stevie's Chance, is about the sister of the hero in Left. Her neighbor, a dark, brooding, private man, is trying to live under the radar. He ran away from the witness protection program after an attempt on his life and avoids all social interaction. His sister becomes the heroine in Morning.

Great series all the way around!

Colleen

Laura Kinsale - Flowers From The Storm - hero has survived a stroke and spends a portion of the book in an insane asylum.

Elizabeth Hoyt - To Beguile a Beast - Hero is a severely wounded survivor of a war.

Laura Kinsale - Shadow and the Star - Hero is a survivor of abduction and child prositution and has never had intercourse or sexual relations as an adult.

My fave books of this type would be Winter Garden, for a hero with a war wound and Untie my Heart (Judith Ivory) for a chubby con artist heroine an and a child abuse victim hero with a stutter. 

I absolutely love the different,  quirky characters, so I'll be keeping an eye on this thread for more. 

Glad I found this thread.  Just wishlisted the portrait.  Sounds great & I'm bipolar so I can probably relate. 

Claudia, I just finished Untie My Heart and I loved it!!!

Another atypical hero in one of my favorite romance novels is in Morning Glory by Lavyrle Spencer. The hero is a recently released ex-con (convicted of the murder of a whore) who answers a ad hanging in a town left by a the local "crazy" widow looking for a husband to work her property. Incredible story!

Untie my Heart is one of my fave books of all time!  I just love the quirky, unusual characters and the hero is to die for.  Extremely steamy too.  A definite keeper.  I wish Judith Ivory had written more.  Heard she was ill.   Is she even still writing?

So, I ordered Lord of the Desert (Hutton & Co. #3) by Diana Palmer. 

Anyone know which are books #1 and #2 of Hutton & Co.?

Nevermind!  I found it. 

I just thought of another atypical hero/heroine book:   The Kissing Gate by Fiona Carr.  I read two of her books and loved both of them.  The hero is older  and if my memory serves, a war veteran widower.  The herione is older and never married when he left her when they were young.  She ends up being his kids' teacher or such.  Anyway, it was a good one.    Actually, I think Fiona Carr only ever wrote two books.

LOL, Pamela. Should probably have warned you about Diana Palmer. You either love her or hate her. If you love her books, I should warn you that at least 60 of her 135+ books are related to one another in at least some small way. Fortunately, she's so popular that most of her books are not HTF.

I checked fictiondb.com for info about Fiona Carr. You're right. What is it with 2-book authors? They give us a couple of good books and vanish. That is so not nice!

Colleen