Tuesday, September 15, 2009

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.

43 comments:

Unknown said...

Is he mine today!

Tawny said...

Congrats Virginia :-)

Waving hi and yelling whohoooooo to MJ!!!!

jo robertson said...

Yay, Virginia, you go girl!

Welcome to the Lair, MJ! I love to play games like this but I am so bad at it!

Hmmm, I know #3 for sure, Billy Crystal's line in WHEN HARRY MET SALLY because I've seen that movie several dozen times.

I'll get some sleep and maybe I can think better LOL.

BENEATH THE SURFACE sounds full of all sorts of romantic complications. Love it!

Trish Milburn said...

Congrats on nabbing the frisky fowl, Virginia.

Jo, I don't know some of them either, though one is from one of my all-time favorite movies.

Lynz Pickles said...

Congrats, Virginia. What'cha gonna do with him?

Hi, MJ! I've been wanting to read Beneath the Surface ever since I first read about it. It sounds so good!

Shoot, I know, like, NONE of these. Except that's not true. I think I know number seven... is it from The Princess Bride, and was it spoken by the oh-so-delicious Westley? I love that movie.

I sort of recognize some of the others, but I doubt I'd be able to remember where they were from without the help of lovely Google. Which would be cheating, and cheating is bad. *slaps hand* No, don't you dare google that quote, hand!

Unknown said...

Welcome MJ your book sound great! Hmm, I know most of these now but I had to look them up. I just want post them right now, so some others can make a few guesses.

Fedora said...

Hi, MJ! I'm with Jo, the only one I know for sure is #3! What great quotes though!

Congrats on the GR, Virginia!

PinkPeony said...

Hi Trish & MJ:

1. The Last of the Mohicans
3. As Good As It Gets
4. When Harry Met Sally

One of my favorite films is "You've Got Mail"...

"Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address. On the other hand, this not knowing has its charms."


"The odd thing about this form of communication is that you're more likely to talk about nothing than something. But I just want to say that all this nothing has meant more to me than so many somethings."

Yeah. I would have asked for your number, and I wouldn't have been able to wait twenty-four hours before calling you and saying, "Hey, how about... oh, how about some coffee or, you know, drinks or dinner or a movie... for as long as we both shall live?"

Suzanne Ferrell said...

Okay,

#1 is Hawkeye from LOTM

#2 is Robin Hood in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves

dont' know the rest...but here's one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite movies, (And that should be a dead give away for anyone who knows me)...

Hero..."I want you..."
Heroine, "You want me...?"
Hero..."That is all. I want you."

Anna Campbell said...

Hey, MJ, welcome back! It's always a blast when you visit. And congratulations on the new book, it sounds fab.

I love the quotes. One of my favorites and very apposite today is "Nobody puts Baby in the corner!" Sigh.

Virginia, congratulations on the chook! I hope he's behaving himself.

Minna said...

1) Last of the Mohicans
2) Great Expectations
3) As Good as It Gets
4) When Harry Met Sally
5) The Notebook
6) Love Actually
7) The Princess Bride

Minna said...

Well, here's on from Ghost:
It's amazing Molly. The love inside, you take it with you. See ya.

Jane said...

Congrats on the new release, MJ. I only recognize two of those quotes. Number one is Hawkeye from Last of the Mohicans and number seven is Westley from The Princess Bride. One of my favorites is "Love means never having to say you're sorry" from Love Story.

Congrats on the GR, Virginia.

MJFredrick said...

Wow, you guys! I just woke up and y'all are already playing!

Thanks for the welcome, Trish, Tawny and Jo!

Lynz, what a lovely thing for an author to hear! The teacher in me is very proud of you for not cheating ;)

Virginia and Flchen, #1 is the first one I thought of, and though #3 isn't one of my favorite movies (BAD romance writer!) I loved that quote because I can almost hear my husband saying it!

LOVE the You've Got Mail quotes, PinkPeony!

Suzanne, not Robin Hood. But I'm dying to know where the other quote is from!

Thanks, Anna! That quote is especially poignant today, isn't it?

Minna, :) :) :)

Jane, I thought about using that quote. I'm jealous of the writer, since he put something so elemental into words and made it part of the vernacular!

I'll be back throughout the day. Have fun!

Helen said...

Congrats Virginia

I don't know any of them I do have a bad memory for lines though I would never make and actress LOL.

MJ
This books sounds great another one that needs to be added to the TBR pile. Sounds like you really have found your soul mate I am sure I have found mine as well although not very romantic he is very thoughtful and always there for me.

Anna
I too love that one from Dirty Dancing and how sad the we have lost Patrick Swayse today I will need to watch some of his movies this weekend.

Have Fun
Helen

MJFredrick said...

How funny you'd say that about never being an actress, Helen! My very first "D" grade was in drama because I couldn't memorize the lines!

Yes, I'm very lucky to have my soulmate. I don't know how lucky he considers himself, though.

Susan Sey said...

Good morning, MJ! Your hero sounds wonderful. I love the big, brilliant, not-so-good-with-words type. What do I need a talker for? I talk all the time. I need a doer. :-)

Your new book sounds wonderful, too. I love rediscovering-your-ex books. They get at such powerful emotions that a newer relationship just doesn't have the steam for you. You're definitely shooting to the top of my TBR pile!

MJFredrick said...

Susan, isn't that the truth about needing a doer? My dh doesn't talk much and that is fine with me. I guess we both talk enough in our day jobs!

Suzanne Ferrell said...

Ah, MJ...my quote is from French Kiss, when Kate's on the plane getting ready to leave and Luc stops her. SIGH :)

Suzanne Ferrell said...

Sorry I didn't reply sooner on that French Kiss quote...after I posted the first time, we had a patient decide to have her baby in her car out in the hospital parking lot! Fun! Fun!

Trish Milburn said...

Great quotes, PinkPeony.

Suz, I'm stumped. It sounds familiar, but I don't think I'm awake enough yet. :)

Anna, I was going to mention the same quote from Dirty Dancing. I'm so sad that Patrick Swayze lost his battle with cancer. In fact, I blogged about him and Heath Ledger on a different blog today.

Trish Milburn said...

Suz, ack on the baby delivery in the car! That little guy/gal was in a hurry.

Janga said...

I know five of them; #4,6, 7 are from favorite movies.

Another favorite is from Sleepless in Seattle: “It was a million tiny little things that, when you added them all up, they meant we were supposed to be together… and I knew it. I knew it the very first time I touched her. It was like coming home… only to no home I’d ever known… I was just taking her hand to help her out of a car and I knew. It was like… magic.–Sam Baldwin (Tom Hanks)

Toni Anderson said...

Aw, that is a sweet moment with DH :) I recognized WHEN HARRY MET SALLY, LOVE ACTUALLY, JERRY MCGUIRE, & LOTM. Not the others...must watch more movies :D

Hellie Sinclair said...

I KNOW ALL OF THESE! (I'm sure I'm not the only one. *LOL*) In fact I own ALL but one of the movies.

1.) Last of the Mohicans (Daniel Day-Lewis, Hawkeye)

2.) Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (Kevin Costner, Robin of Locksley)

3.) As Good As It Gets (Jack Nicholson)

4.) When Harry Met Sally (Billy Crystal, Harry)--BEST LINE EVER.

5.) The Notebook (Ryan Gosling, Noah)

6.) Love Actually (Colin Firth, Jaime the writer *LOL*)

7.) The Princess Bride (Cary Elwes, Wesley.)

Hellie Sinclair said...

Shoot. Okay, so I didn't know #2. (I could have sworn Robin says that in the movie too. *shrugs* Oh, well.)

Okay, you took about 4 of my favorite great hero lines. *LOL*

One of the lines that always makes me swoon is in Braveheart when Wallace takes Murron on their courtship ride and he tells her about France, speaking in French--and he says, I have gone all over the world and I have never seen anything as beautiful as you. And she asks, "What did you say?" And he says, "Beautiful." *swoons*

This might be an odd when. In Mr & Mrs Smith when they're in a mexican standoff--and he finally relents and says, "I can't take the shot." Then lowers his gun.

And I always liked this speech--it chokes me up, even though technically speaking the speech doesn't work out for him:
"Mary, I know I never done the right thing, say the right thing. I know I act like a fool. I know say we'd be buddy-buddy friends, but that would not be true to my heart so I'll ask this one question, and if you answer "no" I'll leave you alone once and for all. Be my wife, Mary Fiore. If you answer yes I'll take care of you, be true to you, and like this house I built for your dolls, I'll make sure you have a strong roof over your head. If you answer yes than no one will love you as much as I love you. If you answer yes than you will make me the happiest man on earth." --the Wedding Planner

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Hi MJ!! Popping out of the cave long enough to say Hi!!

Congrats on your new release!

Minna said...

I forgot to name the heroes:

1. Daniel Day-Lewis
2. Ethan Hawke
3. Jack Nicholson
4. Billy Crystal
5. Ryan Gosling
6. Colin Firth
7. Cary Elwes

Minna said...

“Stay alive. I will find you.” is also in the movie Mission: Impossible II, the hero there is obviously Tom Cruise.

Unknown said...

Here are the heros

1. Hawkeye
2. Finn
3. Melvin
4. Harry
5. Jamie
7. Westley

MJFredrick said...

Minna, you are amazing!

I'm answering these backwards from my phone. It may take me awhile!

MJFredrick said...

Thanks, Jeanne!

MJFredrick said...

Virginia, :)

MJFredrick said...

MsHellion, I think #2 sounds like the Robin Hood song.

MJFredrick said...

Toni, you have little kids, right? I didn't see many movies when my boy was little.

Hellie Sinclair said...

MsHellion, I think #2 sounds like the Robin Hood song.

It does, but I could swear he says something very similar to Maid Marian either in the tree when he shows her the wealth or in the boats when she's taken back to her home. He tells her he does all this for her, I'm almost certain. Now I'm going to have to go home and watch it. What a shame. *LOL*

MJFredrick said...

Janga, that is a great quote!

MsHellion, you know, I think I've only seen Robin Hood once? The dh was so irritated by KC's accent, so now I can't watch without thinking of that.

MJFredrick said...

Oh wow, Suzanne! Excitement! I don't think I've ever seen French Kiss! Am I kicked out of the romance lover club?

Trish Milburn said...

MJ, I don't think I've seen French Kiss either. I hope they don't kick us out of the romance lover club. :)

And because I love the Will and Elizabeth love story in the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, I offer this quote:

"Elizabeth, I should have told you every day from the moment I met you. I love you."

Simple and to the point, but the look on his face and the earnestness when he says it. Ah, dreamy sigh.

Minna said...

Bryan Adams - (Everything I Do) I Do It For You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGoWtY_h4xo

Young Einstein
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaOVeKvrEX4

Albert Einstein: That's it! That's the theory of relativity! Light travels to us from the hands of the clock, to tell us the time. But, if we were to travel away from the clock at the speed of light...
Marie Curie: The hands of the clock would appear to have stopped!
Albert Einstein: Time would stand still! This moment *would* last forever.

Minna said...

Robin Hood: You're King Richard's cousin. You can give word to him of Nottingham's plans. He would believe you.
Marian: If the sheriff found out, I could lose all that I have.
Robin Hood: But will you do it for your king?
Marian: No. I'll do it for you.
Duncan: He fancies you, my Lady. I may be blind, but there are some things I still see.

Azeem: Is she worth it?
Robin Hood: Worth dying for.

Marian: You came for me. You're alive.
Robin Hood: I would die for you.

MJFredrick said...

Trish, think of all the trouble it would have prevented if Will HAD said that!

Minna, you astound me!

Just a reminder, I'm choosing a random winner with the right answers for the tote bag, which features the gorgeous cover for Beneath the Surface, along with notecards, a keychain, magnet, lotion and my first publishing novel, Where There's Smoke.

Trish Milburn said...

MJ, ain't that the truth!

Wow, sounds like a cool basket.