We all carry wounds. The internal flaws that mark our character are created by events in our lives which form us…cause us to create shields or barriers to prevent getting hurt in the same way again. That is what a great hero or heroine is built of—their character arc sweeps them along from flawed and injured, through the story to find true love.

But what if a wound is more obvious that that? The external scars and flaws from injury and disease that confront our hero or heroine. A scarred face or noticeable limp, wasted limbs or ill-health that can often define our characters. There is something about the struggle to battle both a physical and physiological injury that grabs at our hearts and has us rooting for our hero to succeed against seemingly insurmountable odds to find love.

As authors, we are putting our characters through so much more than we ever have, testing the boundaries of personal resolve and fortitude. When I first started reading the paperback Romances hidden in my mother’s cupboard, injuries were superficial; the nicely timed twisted ankle that our heroine would struggle to hide as she climbed the impassable mountain, gritting her teeth with her chin held high. The hero would invariably sweep up our damsel in distress into his arms and carry her into the sunset, where he would bind her ankle and ravish her senseless. On the flip side sat our scarred, dark and broody hermit, who required a special kind of heroine to crack the ice and release the love and passion sitting behind the bitter injury.

Don’t get me wrong. These are still great moments in any book, but the authors of today tend to put our heroes and heroines through the wringer, writing their characters in a much more gritty and realistic way. The wound goes all the way through. It’s big and bold and most often heart-wrenching.

In my novel, Not for a Moment, this concept was explored with accident victim, Jessica Langford, a young college student coping with physio and medical treatments after a car accident left her with lingering leg injuries. It’s not the external scarring or the limp that bothers Jess, but the constant reminders of her limitations and the outward perception that she should be ‘better’. Her life is defined by physiotherapy and how many laps around the park she has walked, when all Jess wants to do is break free and live her life as it is. Her attempt at escape ends up propelling her into the arms of the very man she was trying to run away from.

And of course, the fact Jess is spoiled and a little bratty creates more than a few problems for Van Sheffield, a man battling his own unseen wounds that Jess can’t help rubbing salt in.

For me, Jessica Langford is the epitome of our modern day, wounded heroine. She is determined to live her life in spite of her injury and refuses to be defined by it. She isn’t ‘that brave young woman with the leg injury’, rather she is Jessica Langford, the strong, confident woman with a stubborn streak. That is who Jess really is, and how she wants to be known.

So, who is your favorite wounded character? Whether it’s Jessica Langford in Not for a Moment, Chelsea Greene in Natalie Anderson’s Breathe for Me, or perhaps Christian Grey in E.L James’s Fifty Shades of Grey – these are the characters who touch our hearts as they battle visible and invisible wounds to find their happy every after.

Toni J Strawn lives in New Zealand and loves everything Romance. With three books written for the One Moment Series with Samhain Publishing, Toni has enjoyed setting up her characters for the ultimate one night stand and turning it into happily ever after. Not for a Moment follows Momentary Lapse and Moment of Weakness.