Bad boys, bad boys,
What ya gonna do?
What ya goona do when they come for you?
Well, fan myself of course!
Sorry, I know I’ve just planted that annoying COPS theme song in your head. Let me see if I can take your mind off of that.
Frances “Baby” Houseman got brain freeze in the presence of a very naughty Johnny Cade. When introduced to him, all she could mutter was, “I carried a watermelon.”
Cherry Valance hoped never to see juvenile delinquent Dallas Winston again. If so she’d, “Probably fall in love with him.”
When Sookie Stackhouse is told by the very coy and devilish Eric Northman that perhaps he’ll grow on her, she replies, “I’d prefer cancer.”
When a confident Patrick Verona tells Kate Stratford her panties are still twisted she scoffs, “Don't, for one minute, think that you had any effect whatsoever on my panties.”
Dirty Dancing, The Outsiders, True Blood, and 10 Things I Hate About You all have these bad boys vexing the most stubborn of women. These are the bad boys that have stuck with me, made me swoon, sigh, and left me wanting more.
You know when you saw Dirty Dancing for the first time you wanted nothing more than to invade Patrick Swayze’s dance space. When Dallas Winston broke with grief, you know you could save him since Cherry wouldn’t. Eric Northman would do more than just grow on me; he’d grow in other places most graciously. Patrick wouldn’t have had to sing and dance for me all by his lonesome on the bleachers, I would’ve joined him.
Every good girl has craved a bad boy at one time or another in their life—haven’t they? And since bad boys aren’t nearly as good in real life as they are in fiction, we search out those books with the baddest of them: They’re rebellious, dark, carrying so much pain, they ooze so much cool they make you hot, and they seem to love like it’s nobody’s business. Once a bad boy falls for his woman, watch out. He will get into a bar fight, duel, race, or even drain a person’s blood to keep their lady love safe and in their arms.
Why do women love a good ol’ bad boy? Because we want to be the one to save them, make them whole again, to be the last woman they love, the only woman...sigh.
Bad boys say things like:
“Nobody puts baby in a corner.”
“Are you a real red head? Are you real? How can I find out if this is your real red hair? If this is the same red hair you have on your, uh, your, your, these eyebrows.”
“You are speaking of my future lover. Be more respectful.”
“Well, maybe you're not afraid of me, but I'm sure you've thought about me naked, huh?”
Bad Boys are a Romance staple. We have the jocks, the rakes, the badasses with tight asses, the racers, the auto mechanics, border lords, the list goes on. There are novel titles such as: Bad Boys Next Exit, Bad Boys of Summer, and Immortal Bad Boys.
My first bad boy of the romantic novel nature was Cameron Quinn in Nora Robert’s Sea Swept. Quinn was a European Boat Racer who rode women as fast as his boats. This is the first book in Roberts’ Chesapeake Bay Series. I loved the series. I was clichedly swept away, in fact.
On page two, the lovely supermodel Martine tells Cameron right out what a bad boy he is. He concurs, and asks if she’d like their coupling fast or slow, reminding her he races boats and likes all things fast.
Their hot one night stand is interrupted when a message is delivered to his room; seems his father is dying. And since all bad boys are really good boys at heart, Cameron tells Martine to pick up her panties and scram. He’s got to go.
Martine, beautiful and not used to rejection, badgers Cam to the point of annoyance. Cameron picks her up, dress in hand—not on her person, mind you—and pitches her out into the hall, bare-ass naked. Oh, Cameron, you really are a bad boy.
Cameron makes it home, but Dad dies soon after. He leaves him and his two adopted brothers to care for young Seth. Cameron’s fast-paced life soon turns domestic. It’s pretty cute and funny to see such a tough guy unravel. It’s also pretty hot how Cameron falls for the no-nonsense social worker, Anna Spinelli. Anna has her own painful past and is hell-bent on making Cameron face his to properly be there for Seth.
When they meet, it mirrors very much like the other bad-boy-meets-stubborn-girl scenarios mentioned above. At first glance Anna muses that he is an outrageously sexy package. Cameron takes in that her skirt did zero for the great set of legs coming his way. When she asks if Cameron is prepared to be the legal guardian of young Seth, giving up his fast-paced life, he stalks away into the house for a much needed beverage.
'Mr. Quinn—'
'Still here?' He twisted the top off a Harp. 'Want a beer?'
'No, Mr. Quinn—'
'I don’t like social workers.'
'You’re joking.' She allowed herself to flutter her lashes at him. 'I never would have guessed.'
His lips twitched before he lifted the bottle to them. 'Nothing personal.'
'Of course not. I don’t like rude, arrogant men. That’s nothing personal either. Now, are you ready to discuss Seth’s welfare, or should I simply come back with proper paperwork and the cops?'
She would, Cam decided after another study. She might have been given a face suitable for painting, but she wasn’t a pushover.
The bad boy is tamed by the wounded soul…eventually. It was a great read and I look forward to more Romantic Bad Boys. Any suggestions?
Bad boys, bad boys,
What ya gonna do?
What ya gonna do when they come for you?
Beg for more and more and more!
Charli Mac, Aspiring Author, Mother, Wife & Part-Time Clown
Twitter @CharliMacs
