One of the things romance readers like the best is the grovel, when the hero has to apologize for something he’s done. A good grovel is one of the most satisfying things to read in romance novels.

But what causes the grovel? Some terrible behavior, that’s for sure: For example, the hero of Christine Monson’s Stormfire raped the heroine, kept her—pregnant—in a dungeon and nearly starved her to death for betraying him, the hero of Catherine Coulter’s Rosehaven chained the heroine to the floor with dogs as punishment for lying, and in Jude Deveraux’s The Velvet Promise, the hero carries on with his first love (his undeserving first love, given her behavior with many men) after he marries—and promises never to love—the heroine.

What’s the worst thing a hero has ever done?

Thanks to Tori Benson, Janet Webb, and @Kaetrin67 for assistance on the post!