Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.
Ah, yes, that famous line said by Rhett Butler in Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind. But does any contemporary hero—any man these days, for that matter—actually call their girlfriend/significant other/wife ‘my dear’ anymore? Would it jar you to hear a contemporary hero using that term in a romance?
I did a quick survey of some of the diminutives various heroes have called their heroines. Darlin’ was common for westerns, along with sugar or its shorter form shug. (These two terms only seem to work for me in westerns. I can’t see someone form Connecticut or the Yukon using shug.) Then there’s the more common, sweetheart, doll, honey (or its shorter _hon) babe or baby.
(Some readers cringe when a hero calls the heroine babe or baby, finding it insulting, In real life, my husband calls me babe but I don’t find it insulting. Maybe because I call him babe right back. Or maybe because I know he doesn’t mean it as an insult but that he says it with love?)
Heroes from different countries can use romantic terms in their own language; why is there something so much more romantic about my love being whispered to the heroine in Greek or Spanish or Russian? Same goes with paranormals—the author can make up a term for the hero to use that may sound romantic even though it means nothing.
In my erotic novella, Private Property , secondary character Sam Watson refers to the heroine, his best friend’s girlfriend, as sweet pea. To me that is something only a southern gentleman would call a woman, and Sam being from Georgia is definitely a southern gentleman. In Personal Protection, Sam often refers to the heroine as Rosebud. Now that’s not such a stretch considering her name is Rosalinda Ramos, or more commonly, Rosie.
Are there any nicknames a romance hero uses that you absolutely adore? Or are there any that drive you insane? Any you think no ‘real man’ would use? Got any favorites? Or ones that make you want to toss a book across a room?
Excerpts of Leah’s Private Property and Personal Protection are available on her website or through My Bookstore and More
Hi Leah! First, let me start by saying I was so happy to hear that someone else in this world is called “babe” by their husband on a regular basis. In fact, when my husband actually uses my real name I literally do a double-take. It sounds so foreign coming from him. I call him babe, baby, or honey and he calls me either babe or Bisbee (which is my maiden name).
In my book, a Paranormal Romance, my hero calls his lady “angel” for several different reasons (that I won’t go into here). I like that one. I also like “sweetness” and when the sexy alpha male is trying to assert himself, I love it when they use “woman”.
On the other side of the spectrum, I think it’s very difficult to come up with a believable nickname that the heroine uses for the hero and it isn’t done very often. I wonder why that is.
Gina – I’m the same way when my husband calls me by my real name it sounds so strange. (If I’m not ‘babe’ then I’m ‘Mom’ so I rarely hear my real name.)
Bisbee is cute! Ooh, Angel — of course, I’d forgotten that one is used occasionally. It’s sweet too.
Hmm, nicknames the heroine uses on the hero .. maybe that’s an idea for my next post? Although I immediately flashed on Meg Ryan calling “Hey, Stud” to Anthony Edwards in Top Gun.
My husband and I always use terms of endearments for eachother. It’s sweet enought to give innocent bystanders a toothache. And they have morphed over time. He started off referring to me as Betty Boop…which has morphed thus: boop-boop-pee-doop…pee-doops…doops (aka scoops) Yup, I even have a jersey that has the name Scoops on the back.
Now his is even better and requires a back story:
I love A Color Purple. One of my all time favorite movies. if you’ve seen it you know the main charactor is called Mister. My favorite scene is when the heroine has finaly had enough and she’s gonna end this man! When her best friend asks the kids, “Where’s Celie?” The kids reply, “She’s fixin’ to shave Mister.”and you know Celie has had it and Mister is a gonner!…
Well, when I would get upset with my husband I would tell him “I’m fixin’ to shave Mister!” and his named morphed from there like this…Mister-meesir- my sir-and lastly he is now just Sir. Funny, with the BDSM novel I just wrote, I wonder what people will think of his nickname now.
We fill in a lot with Sweeties and Dears, and Honeys, and My Loves…We only use our names when we are well and truely ticked.
Even our child and our pets have nick names. Our friends aren’t even safe from us, Timmy is Slimmy, for some reason Wade is Weenie, Brian is Shooter, Linda is Tuna (don’t ask) and Pat is Phat-Man-Do… just to name a few.
Great topic! I love this series and really adore the characters in these books. Personally, I think Sweet Pea and Rosebud are perfect for these characters.
As for terms of endearments….living in Texas I personally CRINGE when I see shug (especially from those heroes that are from Texas). That’s just not one I’ve never heard here. I’ve lived in a few different areas so maybe it’s common in way west Texas but not south, north or east! The whole babe/baby thing doesn’t bother me at all. My hubby calls me babe and I sometimes call him babe as well. However, no matter what the term of endearment nothing has ever turned me off from reading a novel. Some bother me, like baby doll, that just sets up all sorts of weird things in my head but like I said I just keep reading and move on.
Looking forward to your next book Leah!
I like Angel, although that’s not something I’d ever be called =).
My bf calls me sugar. I call him babe or sexy.
I draw the line at hun or honey. I don’t know why, but those two bug me. I’ve never had a term of endearment pull me out of a story, no matter how ridiculous it was.
Love the post Leah. I like all the pet names you mentioned as well as angel & sweetness. I’m Italian descent & i love the pet name “cara” which means dear. Not yes dear but someone who is dear to the hero.
Weird though since I’ve never dated an Italian guy.
Just read about them – like Tricia Jones’ Satin Lies & Play Me
I like “sweetheart.” But usually my heroes have a nickname for my heroines based on their names.
Leah,
Just finished re-reading Private Property and getting read to re-read Personal Protection. Sweet Pea worked for sure, it was a term of endearment without being sappy. I can so picture Sam saying it, kwim? I always “play” books in my head like a movie and often wonder if what I imagine the characters to look like look anything like what the authors have in mind. I mean you’ll always give a general description but I guess I made the characters by own. Anyway, this was a fun topic.
What a great topic!
My heroine in The Path to Freedom is regularly called “babe”, “baby” and “pork chop” by the guys she works with. Yes, I said “pork chop”. It is common knowledge among her team that she used to be extremely overweight but since she’s a slim, stunning beauty now, “pork chop” is a term of endearment not derision.
In later books, she is called “cara” by an Italian lover and “pet” by her sexy bodyguard when he’s pretending to be her lover. (Spoiler: They don’t pretend long.)
Like you, I think any pet name can work if it’s said with love.
Oh, and my husband prefers it when I call him “Big Daddy”. I usually use it when I want something. Hey – it works for him
Very good, I really liked that. Do you know of somewhere I can see more about it?