MJ Fredrick Talks Melt-Worthy Romantic Heroes

I'm happy to host my good friend and talented author MJ Fredrick today. MJ's latest book, Beneath the Surface, is one of my favorites by her. And her hero, Adrian? Oh my, he is to-die-for sexy. So in honor of Adrian and his status as a make-you-melt hero, M.J. is talking about heroes and the things they say that really stick with us long after the words have faded away. Be sure to take part in the quiz at the end for a chance to win a bag of goodies.

Take it away, MJ...

The other night the dh and I were watching TV and one of those commercials for an online dating service came on. They talked about finding your soul mate. The dh looked at me, winked, and said, “Hi, Soul Mate.” :::melt:::

In 22 years of marriage, he hasn’t said much romantic, but what he has said sticks. Sometimes just, “This reminded me of you” will do because, well, he’s thinking about me.

The hero in Beneath the Surface, Adrian, isn’t the most romantic when it comes to saying the right thing. In fact, he says the wrong thing most of the time. But he definitely has his moments.

BLURB: In retrospect, perhaps archaeologist Mallory Reeves shouldn’t have delivered the divorce papers to her estranged husband mere weeks before her marriage to another man. She knew seeing Adrian again would stir up memories, but she didn’t expect so many of them to be good, not after the mess they both made three years ago. She also didn’t expect to want to stay at the dig site on the Yucatan Peninsula. But the lure of the ancient ship and, yes, her sexy ex provide more of a draw than the white picket fence she thought she wanted. Marine archaeologist Adrian Reeves has good reason to trust no one. His former partner—and former best friend—made off with his last archaeological find. And his wife left him, frustrated by his obsession for professional revenge. Now both Mallory and his nemesis have returned, and it can’t be an accident that they’ve turned up in the middle of the most important excavation of his career. Seeing her again unearths old pain—and rekindles never-forgotten desire. Now he has to decide if he can trust Mallory again. More importantly, if he can trust himself with her.

So I started thinking about heroes and the lines they say that make us melt. See if you can identify the hero and the quote. I’ve got a goodie bag to send to a random commenter with the right answers. And don’t hesitate to tell me your own favorite quote!

1) “Stay alive. I will find you.”

2) “Don't you understand that everything I do, I do it for you! Anything that might be special in me is you.”

3) “You make me want to be a better man.”

4) “I love that you get cold when it is 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle in your nose when you’re looking at me like I’m nuts. I love that after I spend day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it’s not because I’m lonely, and it’s not because it’s New Year’s Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”

5) “So it's not gonna be easy. It's gonna be really hard. We're gonna have to work at this every day, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, you and me, every day. Will you do something for me, please? Just picture your life for me? 30 years from now, 40 years from now? What's it look like? If it's with him, go. Go! I lost you once, I think I can do it again. If I thought that's what you really wanted. But don't you take the easy way out.”

6) “Beautiful Aurelia, I’ve come here with a view of asking you to marriage me. I know I seems an insane person – because I hardly knows you – but sometimes things are so transparency, they don’t need evidential proof. And I will inhabit here, or you can inhabit with me in England.”

7) Hero: Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while.
Heroine: I will never doubt again.
Hero: There will never be a need.

So, start guessing -- and sharing your favorite romantic hero quotes with us. This is going to be fun!

Be sure to go over to the Samhain Publishing site to get your own download of Beneath the Surface. While there, you may also want to nab your own copy of MJ's first Samhain book (in either e-format or print), Hot Shot, which also has its own sexy hero in Hot Shot firefighter Gabe Cooper.