Older heroines

My book if it ever comes out. *joke* My female protag is 45 and I fear this might be a problem to someone.... I'm not sure yet. I won't / can't change it.

I haven't seen anything in this age range as well...

There was one that got really good buzz a few years ago -- the title was a play on Romeo & Juliet, but I can't recall the details. Someone else here might now.

There was a subplot in one of Jenny Crusie's category books that's wonderful -- Trust Me On This (I think), with a couple in their 60s. Her more recent books have had somewhat older primary heroines. I don't remember the age of her heroine in Dogs & Goddesses, but I'm reasonably sure it was 40-plus.

Better off Without Him has a 45yo MC
-- I didn't think this was a great book, I'd rate it a 2-3 star. But I don't usually read romance.

Maureen O'Betita has a fantasy/paranormal romance series out with older leading ladies, like 40s/50s and older leading men. http://maureenobetita.com/

I did a 'mature'(snork-when are we ever really mature?) couple in one of my books, Sodom and the Phoenix. The leading lady is late 30's and the leading man is mid 40's. Fun characters to write, less drama than the 20's with a bit more self-confidence.

I read a whole series of them last year and wish I could remember them--I'll look them up later (kindle is upstairs past the room with the sleeping children)

It does seem that "older" heroines are usually cast as cougar types falling for hot younger men. Meh. I really dislike age being used as a gimmick, though I do understand it is a legitimate source of conflict in some relationships, a 5-10 year age difference just would not be seen as a source of conflict in a book where the man was older. I think we, as writers, should dig a little deeper than that.

That said, I think a lot of readers would welcome books about women in their 30s, 40s, and beyond. I think the young heroines with no life experience can make for a pretty bland read when compared to what a more mature heroine can bring to the table. I personally, would LOVE to read about female characters in their sexual prime.

Joanna Trollope writes a lot of novels where the MC is in their 40s or above, as did Rosamunde Pilcher.

Older heroines are out there!! My Turning Thirty-Twelve is one of them...

Don't we have a thread on this already?? Seems like a familiar topic.

Personally, I prefer more mature characters. Just can't get into the type of drama that surrounds teens and twenty-somethings- not in books and not on TV. But then that might just be me; I wasn't into teen/twenty-something drama when I was that age. (In high school, I was reading James Bond when my peers were drooling over 'Teen Magazine and exchanging copies of Nancy Drew.)

My characters tend to be in the 35-50 year old range, and I write action/adventure, romance, and dabble a bit in SciFi. Whether or not publishers will agree with me is a story yet to be told... But when I buy a romance, I seek until I find more mature characters.

Older Heroine

Propositioning Mr. Raine by Laurann Dohner

The heroine is 39 years old.

Warning:
The book is filled with very spicy love scenes.

My latest has a 40-ish couple. Also have an out of print older mom/vampire novella finding new life on Amazon.

I think Nora Roberts and Jennifer Crusie might have written a few where the heroine's age was addressed, but to be honest I don't really notice the age of the heroine, unless it's quite young (say 21 or under for contemporaries). I have the general idea of "mature" (over 30) or "younger" (under 30) as I read, but not much more than that. Mainly I see it as a redheaded vs blonde heroine issue: some prefer one, some the other and some could care less as long as the story is good.

At the risk of being dissed for necroing an old thread:

Thanks for this question. It's something I've been thinking about.

Personally, I'd love to see more mature romances. I'm a few months shy of 50 now and was 41 when I met my own HEA.

Plenty of romance readers are in their 40+'s and I think it would be refreshing to have more romances with older h & h's.

I was just reading Query Shark this morning and one of the writers had referred to a 50 yr old character as an "old lady." Well, looking down at my still fit though slightly mature (in body at least, if not in mind) self, I felt more than a little insulted. When I was in my early 20s I studied under a belly dancer who once proudly stated, "I'm 53 and look how gorgeous I am!" (And she was.)

One of the "promises" of romance is that finding "the One" for you is possible. That's a promise that doesn't go out of style at any age. As a psychic reader the absolute most frequent question I get is "What's going on with my love life?" Doesn't matter if the querant is 15 or 70, they all want to know. Why not give older readers a protagonist they can relate to?

If there's one thing that differs about older romance (living it, not necessarily the story itself) it's less hormone driven and (hopefully) more balanced in the fact that this is a person more solid in their goals, strengths, and in their faults and foibles.

We've probably gone through the mill, we know what we will or won't put up with, we're set in our ways. At the age of 40+ our personality has now at least begun being defined and we are far less likely to be imprinted on (changed) by another person.

One of the most beautifully romantic things my hubby said to me after a year or so of dating was, "I searched for you for all my life..." Now tell me: does that statement ring truer if the characters are in their 20s or if they're much older? Hint: With a 20 yr old protag they may have searched for 10 years. With a 70 yr old protag they probably searched for 50-60 years.

Hmm. A romance between over-45 woman and man in his late 40s-50s. That *would* be romantic fiction, wouldn't it!

Make no mistake: I'm not dissing your idea, I'm just noting that older men in their 60s - and even older - seem to want women under 35. I'm sure that's not all men, but an astonishing number of divorced female friends and clients over 40 complain that men in their 50s are looking for someone younger than they are.

So if we choose an older heroine, do we make her a hot older woman with a younger love interest? Or do we spin a fairy tale about a late-40s fellow who wants a woman who remembers the same presidents he does?

Anyone But You by Jennifer Crusie. Also, I think the heroine in the Lynsay Sands I'm reading right now (Under A Vampire Moon) is in that age bracket.

I have read a few Contemporaries with older MC's, I didn't mind, and 45 isn't super old. I am 26 and do not look at 45 as old age...

Thanks to ECathers for resurrecting this thread!

At the risk of appearing self-serving...my debut historical romance (cover is my avatar) features a 40-yr-old heroine, which I think is more rare in historical romance (at least in Regency and Victorian) than in contemporary. In part, that's probably because of the social conventions and limited opportunities of women at the time. A heroine who's "on the shelf" is depicted as around mid-20s.

And so I chose an older heroine who is outside of this "marriage mart" and whose identity and self-worth are well defined.

I don't know about the current dating scene for 40+, but I wouldn't be surprised if there is an audience for romances featuring older characters.

Nawlins said:

Hmm. A romance between over-45 woman and man in his late 40s-50s. That *would* be romantic fiction, wouldn't it!

Make no mistake: I'm not dissing your idea, I'm just noting that older men in their 60s - and even older - seem to want women under 35. I'm sure that's not all men, but an astonishing number of divorced female friends and clients over 40 complain that men in their 50s are looking for someone younger than they are.

So if we choose an older heroine, do we make her a hot older woman with a younger love interest? Or do we spin a fairy tale about a late-40s fellow who wants a woman who remembers the same presidents he does?

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Well it's hardly a fairy tale IRL in many cases. Hubby and I are a year apart. We enjoy the fact that we don't have to explain things to each other like who the Eagles were or what happened at Kent State. He's not in the least interested in younger women and has never once dated someone with a more than 3 years age difference.

I OTOH have dated guys both way older and way younger than me, and neither worked out well.

So why not a hot older woman with a similar age love interest?

shameless said:

Older heroines are out there!! My Turning Thirty-Twelve is one of them...

Don't we have a thread on this already?? Seems like a familiar topic.

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That's the age I've been giving people who ask these days

Am I less deserving of a HOA just because I'm past childbearing age? Don't think so. I'm sexy and shapely and at a couple months before 50, still hot enough that I attract 20 yr olds (not that I want to bother with children).

Romance is NOT about being able to bear children. If it was then what the hell is adoption about. Frankly I find it sexier for a couple to join together and take on a child not of their own blood (as in LOVE rules) rather than to hump and pump and create one.

Sure there's a beauty in sex and procreation. But is that ALL that sex is?

Sex is a a celebration of the beauty of what it is to be a couple. At least I hope so. Age and ferility doesn't matter

ECathers said:

Sure there's a beauty in sex and procreation. But is that ALL that sex is?

Sex is a a celebration of the beauty of what it is to be a couple. At least I hope so. Age and ferility doesn't matter

Click to expand...

Well, I'm not quite past child-bearing age, but with an empty nest I am past child-wanting age.

And yet somehow the sex still occurs.

Go figure.