Hi everyone! Today I have the lovely Jax Garren on the blog to share her top ten traits that make a sexy guy. I love her Tales of the Underlight series and I hope you do to!
My reviews: How Beauty Met the Beast & How Beauty Saved the Beast
——————————————————————
Title: How Beauty Met the Beast
Author: Jax Garren
Published: November 19, 2012
Publisher: Carina Press
Series: Tales of the Underlight #1
Amazon | B&N | Audible | All Romance | Carnia
The Beast
Scarred. Damaged. Living with a terrible secret. Agent of the Underlight Wesley “Hauk” Haukon has nothing left but the fight for liberty against the oppressive Order of Ananke. He’s starting to lose hope…and then he sees her.
The Beauty
Despite her night job as a burlesque dancer, grad student Jolie Benoit has always played the mostly good girl. That all changes following a scorching sexual encounter with a stranger whose face she doesn’t see. After she’s kidnapped by thugs and rescued by a man with a very familiar voice, Jolie becomes a pawn in a struggle she never knew existed.
Hauk knows he cannot have her, and resolves to protect his heart and his secrets. But as they work together and grow closer, he finds new reason to keep fighting. Dare he risk hope in a new life, one where Jolie can see past his ravaged face and where their friendship can grow into something more?
Fiery Hot Reads (for those Icy Cold Nights) require a smokin’ hot hero to beat the chill. But what keeps a man hot for the long run of a relationship isn’t his chiseled jaw or come-hither smile. It’s the killer traits on the inside that make me want to curl up next to him night after night. In the Tales of the Underlight, a modern Beauty and the Beast trilogy set in the punk-alternative community of Austin, TX, inner attractiveness was all I had to create a sexy hero out of a hideously scarred man. So in honor of Wesley “Hauk” Haukon, the scarred “beast” first introduced in How Beauty Met the Beast, here are my personal Top Ten traits that can light my fire—but have nothing to do with looks!
10. Good listener. Men are often wired to cut to the chase and fix things. A man who is willing to just listen makes me feel at ease…and makes me want to get to know him a lot better.
9. Strength. Okay, so this one’s a little cheating as it does tend to make men nicer on the eyes. But more than looking at muscles, there’s something about a guy who can pick a girl up and carry her around (or toss her onto a bed!) that makes me want him more.
8. Perseverance. Life can be discouraging. A man who keeps focused, determined to succeed despite the odds, wins me over almost every time. (Ah, Gilbert Blythe, I have loved you since the moment you first called Anne Shirley “Carrots.” And I loved you more every time you tried to gain forgiveness for it, year after year after year.)
7. Talent. Doesn’t matter what his field is—from fighting to engineering and everything in between—a man who has mad skills in his chosen discipline ranks high on my hot list.
6. Sense of humor. I love a tortured hero as much as the next girl, but a whiney one? No way. I like a man who can roll with life’s punches and keep going, humor intact.
5. Protective instinct. Is there anything that makes a girl melt faster than a man who’ll throw himself between her and danger? Not for me!
4. Integrity. I want a man who has a sense of right and wrong and strives to live by that code. I don’t have to agree with every belief, but I admire the heck out of a strong sense of ethics and a willingness to stick up for what he perceives as right. (Really, I admire the heck out of anyone, male or female, who does this!)
3. Self-confidence. Sometimes it’s overt cockiness, sometimes it’s that casual shrug in the midst of danger and chaos, but my heart beats faster for a man who knows who he is and what he’s good at.
2. Vulnerability. #3 doesn’t mean he has to be self-confident in every situation. A little vulnerability every now and then makes us human. We all have our flaws. If self-confidence makes my heart accelerate, a confident man who can show a little raw vulnerability makes me swoon.
1. Loyalty. The ability to stick by his friends—and his woman—no matter what comes his way is my number one trait. If I can’t count on him to be there when things get tough, his washboard abs mean nothing. If I can, I’ll stand by him just as fiercely.
What do you think are the most important traits that steam up the covers of a book but have nothing to do with appearances?
——————————————————–
Great post, Jax! Sense of humor is my #1. If a guy has a wicked sense of humor, then I tend to get a bit blinded not caring about his looks.
How Beauty Saved the Beast (book 2) is now available.
How Beauty Loved the Beast (book 3) will be available May 2013.
Jax Garren is descended from Valkyries and Vikings (she’s part Swedish) but was raised a small town girl in the Texas Hill Country. She graduated from The University of Texas with a degree in English and a minor in Latin then found her own Happily Ever After with a handsome engineer who is saving the world through clean energy technology. Jax loves meeting new people, so if you see her out and about say hello! She’s always happy to raise a glass with her readers (or anyone else) to toast courage, adventure and love.
The pose, situation, colors… Something that says STEAMY, but is still classy…
You put them altogether and you’ll have the perfect guy. Sigh. It’s a myth, I tell ya.
Great guest post…. Thanks for sharing it.
Jenea @ Books Live Forever
The color and the pose! Your covers are gorgeous and steamy 🙂
Thank you for the giveaway.
color, pose and weapons! Wonderful post and giveaway 🙂
Colors always catch my eye, if the colors don’t mesh and draw you in then sometimes little else will.
I really need to try this series!
If it’s a couple, the way they’re holding each other (or the way they’re not), what they’re wearing (or what they’re not, hehe) and definitely color. Steam needs color.
I want the guy Jax described!
Colours and pose. Should be more than just a guy with his shirt off too, needs to look a little mysterious but also fun. Jax’s covers above are great! 🙂
Also, totally agree, sense of humour would be my number 1 guy trait too!
Hmm… steam up a cover without having to do with appearance. I think i have to go with color on this one. Dark colors tend to be god for steamier books. So, if I saw a book with a cover entirely in pink and yellow, I’d assume it’s probably a pretty light read.
Congrats Jax on the new release! I think you’ve nailed it. I can’t think of anything else 🙂
If a cover is going for steamy then I prefer when it isn’t too obvious (ie old romance type covers).
Not that my hubby is a beast, I find him quite handsome. The fist thing I notice on someone is the eyes and he has some very gorgeous blue eyes 😉 However, the reason I threw myself at him was his sense of humor. Really, if we can laugh at life and ourselves, how would we ever make it through. Laughter is the best medicine, my dad always told me that, and I believe it’s true. Of course, a long term relationship must have TRUST, if you don’t trust the other person it won’t work. A man must also be willing to work at the relationship, if he’s not willing to take the good with the bad, it won’t work. But, I do think you pretty much nailed it with your list.
I love your covers, they are very eye catching and I look forward to giving the series a read.
Hands-down, sense of humor is the most important to me! Fun list and post!
Oooh great list! For me, it’s loyalty followed by sense of humor and then protective instinct. Everything else is a bonus =) I can’t wait to read this series, it sounds really good. Thank you.
I always a man of strength and loyalty but one who is not afraid to show his softer side. Great post ladies, I already purchased the first book awhile back, and I need to dig in and read it soon!
I like something unique that will catch my eye and give me a sense of the tone of the book. If the cover is misleading in some way, I will just end up not liking the book.
mestith at gmail dot com
Intelligence & wit!!
ALL of these traits! But what catches my attention first thing is intelligence and sense of humour.
Such a great post – I was already enjoying it but I was hooked at the mention of Gilbert Blythe. *sigh*
bright colors
The colors are very important…nothing too bright. Also the couple and the poses they are in. You want to be able to feel the passion between the two just by looking at the cover. I love the covers for this series they are amazing!
A sense of humor. That what I like.:D
a sexy lady posing, cover of how beauty met the beast nails it!
Thanks for the giveaway!!
Colors are always the first to catch my eye!
colors, some colors with the right attitude can scream STEAMY! without putting a steamy pose ;p
it’s the things that are hinted at rather than shown, the stance, the sideways look, a cocky look, the crossed arms or defiant stance
I always tend to fall for the characters who have a clear intelligence and wit, and I never want them to put everything out on the table all at once. A bit of history here, a tender moment there…I want a reason to get to know them.
As for covers I tend to go for ones with a good blend of color and are more than just a shirtless male, I need a bit of substance.
The confidence. It shows in the pose, and in the eyes too.