Surrender the Dawn Month - week 2!

First, Congratulations to HeatherAndCourtney and Sapphire, whose names I drew out of my hubby's hat yesterday to win a free copy of Surrender the Dawn!!!!   HeatherAndCourtney need to send me their email address...please... or I'll be forced to pick another name. Thanks to all who entered! I've still got 8 more books to give away so don't quit now. :-)

For those of you just tuning in, each Friday in July, I will post something about my upcoming release, Surrender the Dawn, to whet your appetites for the story.  All you have to do to enter the contest to win a free copy (I'm giving away TWO each Friday) is read through the post and leave a comment. Don't forget to leave your email address too. 

Now, last week we learned all about the heroine of hte story, Cassandra Channing. (If you didn't get a chance to read about her, please check out last week's post!)

This week, we will learn about the hero (my personal favorite), Luke Heaton.


LUKE HEATON

At 26, with black hair, blue eyes, a tall, muscular frame, and a grin that can melt any woman’s heart, Luke Heaton is the quintessential ruggedly handsome town rogue. His reputation as a drinker, gambler, womanizer and all around loser is well known among the citizens of Baltimore. But Luke has hit an all-time low. Recently, his best friend and captain, Noah Brenin, fired him as first mate from his privateer for being drunk on duty. Now, feeling even more like a failure and with no way to make money to feed his gambling habit, Luke spends his time in a hopeless effort to fix a broken-down ship he won in a card game. His dream is to become a privateer like Noah, to redeem his bad reputation, and be a better role-model for his crippled brother. A brother he keeps a secret even from his closest friends. A brother Luke has raised since he was a babe and a savage fire claimed the lives of their missionary parents. Unable to rescue them from the fire, Luke carries around enormous guilt, which only feeds his insecurities and traps him in a cycle of mediocrity. Without the money to fix up his ship, Luke believes he will never break from that trap. That is, until Cassandra Channing walks into his life.
  
Strengths: Courageous, Spontaneous, Intelligent, Charming, Loyal to family, Kindhearted
Weaknesses: Immoral, Rash, Insecure, Hot-tempered, Fighter

Inspiration: I simply adore the wounded bad-boy hero. And Luke is the perfect example of one. Nothing has gone right for him since his parents died at the hand of the Indians they ministered to. Though Luke tried to save them, he blames his own cowardice for not dashing into the burning house and dragging them out. Honoring a promise to his mother, Luke has cared for his younger brother John since he was one year old. A task made all the more difficult due to John’s disease, Rickets, which has crippled the lad. Angry and disgusted with himself, Luke drowns his pain both in the bottle and in the arms of any woman who’ll have him. Though he doesn’t blame God, Luke no longer believes He exists. Luke is a character beaten up by life. Bad things have happened to him and he’s rejected the only One who can help him, missing the path God laid out for him. In Luke’s life, I wanted to show how unbelief coupled with a bitter, wounded heart can cause you to miss God’s perfect will for your life and lead you down a path cluttered with more pain and heartache.

So, what are your thoughts on Luke? Do you know anyone like him? What about him do you find heroic? What about him would make you run the other way?  Do you like the "Bad Boy" hero or do you prefer the chilvalrous gentlemanly hero?