Maybe it’s my inner nerd-girl, but I love a smart heroine. Nowadays we readers expect our heroines not to faint at the drop at a hat, or sit around in chains, miserable, waiting for their man to come get them. Yet I am still sometimes surprised by how seemingly intelligent female characters can turn pretty silly once the going gets tough. And I’m not just talking about book-smarts. Neither heroes nor heroines *have* to be book smart, but they need to be intelligent about their own field of experience.
We’re all different (thank goodness!) and it’d be a bit unrealistic if we all had genius IQs, but think about it, how much sexier is an army man when he can look at an intensely fought situation and read his men, understand the different solutions and pick the best course of action? That’s a level of smart that makes me melt every time. Or a computer hacker, they might not be able to show confidence when picking someone up at a bar, but put them in front of a computer and there’s few that can equal them. Brains comes in different shapes, sizes and formats as far as I’m concerned. I find a smart heroine who is calm under pressure, knows her stuff and can speak intelligently about it is far sexier than some panicked Miss who expects to be helped out of her troubles. I’m very pleased to say that Jane Harvey is incredibly smart.
In Knight Takes Queen ““ my latest Agency novel ““ Jane is an incredibly intelligent woman. A somewhat reformed hacker, there are few people who know the insides of a computer, or the internet, quite like her. Peter Abrams is no slouch either, though the technical side of life is far more of a mystery to him. I really feel that both Peter and Jane, however, are a match made in heaven, and not just because of their scorching chemistry. Peter know all about action, making snap decisions and the harder side of life, whereas to Jane the ins and outs of the computer world are her personal playground. Together, they’re practically unstoppable.
I’ve read in a number of places that smart is the new sexy, and I really hope that it’s true. Nothing makes me smile more than a guy who can speak intelligently on his own chosen topic, and few things make me as proud as a woman who can keep up with him. We’re long past the days where women need to sit by meekly and let their man take the reins when it comes to conversation. So embrace your inner geek, be brave and get talking about those subjects that interest you, and don’t be afraid of a little research.
What subjects interest you? What do you wish you could study a bit more?
Blurb for Knight Takes Queen:
This is book ten in the The Agency series, see the full series listing here
Peter is at a loose end. Bored, he drops in to tease fellow Agent Jane Harvey only to find her fighting off a technical hacking attempt. Drawn into a decade-long conspiracy, both Peter and Jane need to dig deep and rely on each other to save the Agency.
Peter Abrams is used to charming and talking his way into””and out of””every situation. But he’s not so savvy when it comes to the technical side of things. Jane Harvey has never met a system she couldn’t crack, but even she is kept on her toes when a hacker attempts to steal archived files from the Agency.
They’re both drawn into the conspiracy, a deep, dark secret the Agency has been hiding for decades. Unsure who to trust, when even their own people might be involved, Peter and Jane try to treat this like any other case, but such delicate files are in play it’s impossible to know where to turn.
Drawn together, Peter and Jane have to trust themselves and each other or the explosive revelations might destroy the very Agency they both work for and love.
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