Confession

I have a confession to make. I am sexist. Don’t jump to any conclusions, I’m a sexist only when it comes to fiction.

I like reading about sexy men. Specifically, I like reading about sexy men who love ordinary women. I don’t particularly care for romance novels where both the hero and the heroine are ‘perfect.’ I LIKE flaws – real or imagined – in one or both of the characters I read about.

However…I do love reading about sexy men. What makes a man sexy? It’s more a matter of mind than of body, don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against a man with an amazing body, but it’s the mind that really does it for me.

Men have a different way of walking – go to the mall sometime and just watch people walk by. Teenage boys lean forward when they walk – I don’t know if it’s because they are still learning to control those gangly muscles or if they just don’t want to miss what’s coming up. The 20-30-somethings tend to walk with their shoulders back and their heads on a swivel – they’re constantly looking around –at women, at the windows in the mall, at their cellphones. The 40-somethings tend to walk a bit slower, but for the most part, they haven’t lost that swiveling head. Men in their 50-60s tend to be more focused on where they’re going and not running into other shoppers, and those older than that are usually sitting on the bench just waiting for their families to find them again. ;)

Men have a different way of talking to one another. Where a group of women will get together and discuss their entire lives in a matter of hours, men may not know the last name of the person they’re talking to after an hour. It doesn’t matter. They usually size you up in the first ten to fifteen minutes of conversation anyway.

Men have a different way of relating. They’re not going to TELL you how they feel. They’ll try to SHOW you, but they may not always succeed to your expectations. A man offering to check your tire pressure and the oil in your car is telling you that he wants you to be safe when you’re going somewhere. A man offering you a ride somewhere is telling you that he wants to spend more time with you.

There are some writers who definitely “get” the male psyche. They write compelling, caring, sensitive men without turning them into wimps. Suzanne Brockmann, Lori Foster, Sherrilyn Kenyon, JR Ward, Gena Showalter and Susan Mallery all write amazingly Alpha men who haven’t lost their sense of humor, their respect for women, or any aspect of their manhood. They’re also sexy as all get out. Don’t believe me? Pick up any one of their books – go on, any one. You’ll find amazing characters, well-told stories, and yes, sexy men. Yes, I’m a sexist when it comes to romance. I love stories where the hero is “all that,” and the heroine could be my neighbor…or even me.