I’ve read a lot of romances in my time, and have loved a lot of heroes.  Some I remember fondly years later, and others last only fleeting moments in my memory.  There is one, however, that has stayed with me since the first time I ever “met” him, going on nine years now, and he is my own special bad boy, the one I’ve loved more than any other before or since.  There is just something about him that does it for me, a combination of things that totally work and make him one of the most unforgettable heroes in romance, as far as I’m concerned.

He is the one and only Sam Starrett.  Okay, his real name is actually Roger, and if you’ve read the Troubleshooter series by Suzanne Brockmann, you understand how he becomes known as Sam, which it’s the name most people call him.  Sam is a southern good ole boy from Texas, sexy, good-looking and extremely popular with the ladies.  Now I have to be honest here – southern gentlemen have never been my thing, but with his quick temper and colorful language, Sam can hardly be called a gentleman, and that’s how women like me prefer him.    Oh don’t get me wrong, he definitely has his own brand of charm, otherwise he wouldn’t be the irresistible bad boy that he is.  And when he finally meets the one woman who stands out above all the rest, the one he can’t stop thinking about, even when it seems hopeless, he falls HARD.

We first meet Sam in “Unsung Hero” (p 283): “A sleek, athletic-looking woman came out of the front passenger side, and a long-haired twenty-something man with a handlebar mustache and goatee, mirror sunglasses, and chains on his boots emerged from the back, stretching his long legs and yawning”.    And this is the first time we see Sam and the eventual love of his life, Alyssa Locke, together.  Yet within just a few moments, and in typical Sam fashion, he opens his big mouth and makes his opinion known:

“And the man called Sam sidled up to Locke. ‘I just want to take this opportunity to remind you that just because you’re working with us in this situation doesn’t mean you’ve got your foot in the door at Coronado.  A woman in the teams is never going to happen.’  His voice was low but Kelly overheard quite clearly as she passed by.

‘Gee.’ Locke’s voice was edged with sarcasm.  ‘It’s so nice that you’re concerned for me, Roger.”’

Yes, not quite one of his finest moments.

Despite his dumb ass comments, which he makes on a regular basis, he does manage to get under Alyssa’s skin, and in her bed, though at first it does take her a bit of liquid courage to let him in. Reluctantly, she has to admit she finds him attractive.

(”The Defiant Hero”):
“From a safe distance, Locke could understand and even appreciate his appeal.  He was handsome but not too pretty, with a face that was all masculine angles and edges.  He wore his hair much too long for a Navy officer, tied back in a pony tail.  She knew that meant he still spent much of his time in extremely hostile, dangerous places where looking like a U.S. Navy officer would have been bad for his health.  On one level – a very distant level – she had to admire him for that.

He was taller than most men, and well built, with long legs, narrow hips, broad shoulders, and the kind of muscles that meant he used his arms for picking up more than a pen and paper.  He wore a snug black T-shirt tucked into a pair of worn-out blue jeans that were stacked over – what else?  Cowboy boots.”  

(Whew! Fanning self.  I don’t know about you, but I’m sold).

And of course this is THE book that has the infamous chocolate syrup scene in it.  Cuz see, my boy Sam here has a bit of a sweet tooth (as if I didn’t already love him enough) and can’t get enough of its yummy goodness.

“Oh he liked the sound of that.  He liked the way she was looking at the syrup, looking at him.  His body was responding enthusiastically, even though it was still just a little too soon.  But give him fifteen more minutes with Alyssa Locke and a bottle of chocolate syrup…Oh baby, he’d be ready for anything.

She opened the top, squeezed some of the syrup onto one finger.

He took her hand, looked directly into her sea green eyes, and slowly licked her finger clean.
Alyssa shivered.

And Sam knew that no matter how much he’d loved chocolate in the past, from now on, it was going to hold and even more special place in his heart.” 

But things end up going downhill from there, with Sam’s pride and Alyssa’s stubborn attitude keeping them apart.  Yet despite Alyssa’s aversion to him, he just can’t stop thinking about her.  He knows he’s been a jerk, getting her dander up by calling her “sweet thing” and relentlessly trying to get her back into bed.  The guy is so lucky she doesn’t just shoot him.  And of course that’s no surprise because he is a guy.  But Alyssa thinks they’re toxic together, and believes it’s best they part ways.  Easier said than done, yet Sam does his best, and seeks solace in the arms of another woman, one who look nothing like the one he can’t stop thinking about.  And he’s not sure why he can’t stop thinking about her, until his best friend Ken Karmody clues him in

(”Over The Edge”):
“Willdcard stared at Sam, realization and a deep perception in his dark eyes.  ‘Jesus, man, I had no idea you’re freakin’ in love with her!   This is what’s been making you act like a lunatic, isn’t it?  You’re freaking out because she’s here, but she doesn’t want you.  And the shit I’ve been giving you – that’s just making it worse.  God, I’m sorry, buddy.  Where you’re at right now, I’ve been there, done that, and it wasn’t fun, that’s for damn sure.’

Sam stared at his best friend.  You’re in love with her.  Oh, Holy Christ, Wildcard was right.  He was completely in love with Alyssa Locke.  That’s what these feelings were, this achingly awful sense of misery.  The nearly bipolar mood swings to joy when Alyssa so much as smiled at him.” 

Yet even realizing the depth of his feelings for Alyssa does not mean he has it easy.  Complications in many different forms keep the two apart.  I’m not going to re-cap each book, but essentially the two don’t get their HEA until book six, “Gone Too Far”.  But during this time, we see the changes in Sam, how he matures and accepts responsibility for his actions, how he comes to terms with the circumstances of said actions and makes good on them and becomes a man, how his once derogatory comments towards a gay FBI agent named Jules Cassidy evolves into one of the closest friendships he’s ever known.  Sam had some growing up to do before he was ready to be with Alyssa for the rest of his life, and it’s an amazing transformation to watch take place.  Now I could go on and on, and share tidbits from each book as to the wonder of Sam, but I think these brief moments give you a good idea of what Sam is all about, and let me tell you, he only gets better with age.

Now I know some readers don’t care much for Sam.  The most common reason I’ve seen is that he cries at the drop of a hat.  I guess they think he’s weak because of it, especially being a Navy SEAL.  There’s no crying in the military, or so some believe.  But I’ve always found that to be one of Sam’s most endearing qualities.  He does feel strongly, and most times it’s not expressed in the form of tears.   Sam is one of those people who says what he feels at that moment in startlingly graphic detail.  He gets angry quickly, but can just as easily burst out laughing.  He can be raw and uncouth and totally piss people off, but he loves with his whole heart and then some.  I find this side of him combined with his Alpha personality to be utterly fascinating.

According to Brockmann’s website, she had plotted out their story back when she wrote “The Unsung Hero”.  I loved that it took so many books for this one-of-a-kind couple to reach their HEA.  Sam will always be a badass, even married with children.  Reading his story now, after 14 books, is an incredible experience because he’s not the same guy we met all those years ago;l he’s even better.  And he will always, always, have a special place in my heart.  Sam Starrett, rock on, you bad boy, you

It took 6 books to tell Sam’s & Alyssa’s love story, and it’s still going strong.  What series tells the tale of your favorite bad boy?  What did he go through to finally get his HEA?