When it came to deciding what heroine I wanted to spotlight for RNTV’s Heroine Appreciation Week I knew she had to be a woman that has made quite an impression on readers. I almost chose Scarlett O’Hara from Margaret Mitchell’s classic historical epic romance, Gone With the Wind. But then I thought about it. I have a true love/hate relationship with Scarlett. I admire her tenacity and drive to succeed, to know what she wants and to go for it regardless of the consequences. But because Scarlett is a spoiled, careless and a very selfish woman, I really couldn’t place her on a pedestal. But then it came to me. A heroine who has much of the same attributes Scarlett has, but none of the weaknesses and questions of character I have with Scarlett is Jessica Trent.

Jessica Trent, from Loretta Chase’s 1995 historical romance Lord of Scoundrels, reminds me so much of Scarlett. Jessica is just as tenacious. She will not fail and will do whatever she can to achieve greatness and acceptance. Whereas Scarlett wanted a physical place to belong, Jessica wants to belong and be accepted by one man who is not afraid to take what she has to offer. Sebastian Ballister, the Marquess of Dain (a hero unlike the historical romance heroes I have read in the past) is just such a man; and his tortured personality and good looks make an impression on Jess. What’s refreshing about the way Jessica is with Dain is that she is just like him in his thinking and desires. Some may think Jess and Dain are complete opposites but I don’t see that at all. And when it comes to Dain, Jess is a woman who is there to take control of the situation and take Dain in hand.

The initial reaction I had to the way Jessica “handles” Dain, is that she wants him pussy whipped. Jessica is able to make Dain into a whimpering lust addled fool because she is a woman who uses her feminine wiles to get what she wants. She tortures Dain just by existing. The way she talks and walks and won’t allow Dain to step all over her is what makes her an amazing heroine. If Loretta wanted, she could have written Jess as spoiled and a bit of a harpy, but she makes sure Jess never enters into this territory. While Jessica is in combat with Dain, mainly because Dain refuses to let Jess into his heart, she also treats him with consideration and respect.

My favorite scenes are the ones where Jess admits her attraction to Dain even when he can’t see what is so appealing about himself or what would make Jess want to be with him. Jess’s reaction to Dain is not one where her heart thumps faster or she is overheated and feels like she will swoon whenever he enters the room. Instead, Jess is a woman who has a very strong physical reaction to Dain, as much as he has to her, and she would love to seduce Dain. If she were allowed.

Dain is lost the moment he meets Jess. He tries to shock her, but she is not easily shocked. And half way through the novel the tables are turned and Dain is shocked by what Jess does to him.

One of my favorite scenes is where they are engaged and where Jess has the final say and all she has to do is crook her finger and Dain will come running. They become engaged when Dain ruins Jess during a ball, she retaliates and shoots him.  That is when they decide to marry. Dain takes Jess out in his curricle. She is jealous because she refuses to share Dain with any woman, especially the tarts he has been with in the past. Jess has to resort to dirty tactics and hit him where it hurts. She will make Dain suffer just by describing what she is going to wear on her wedding night:

“I should not have put the modiste to so much trouble about the negligee.”

“The what?”

“It was ghastly expensive,” she said. “but the silk is fine as gossamer, and the eyelet work around the neckline is exquisite… only Cyprians wear such things, and it leads nothing to the imagination.”

Jessica heard him suck in his breath, felt the muscular thigh tense against hers.

…”What color?” he asked. His low voice had roughened.

“Wine red,” she said. “With narrow black ribbons threaded through the neckline. Here.” She traced a plunging U over her bosom. “And there’s the loveliest openwork over my… well, here.” She drew her finger over the curve of her breast a bare inch above the nipple…”

“Jess.” In one furry of motion, he threw down the reins and hauled her into his lap.

… She looked up. He was scowling malevolently at his big, gloved hand. “You,” he growled. “Plague take you.”

She tilted her head back. “I’ll return it, if you wish. The nightgown.”

…”No, you won’t.” he said. Then his mouth, hard and hungry, fell upon hers, dragging over her lips and through to punish her.

But what Jessica tasted was victory.

That is one of many scenes where Jessica controls the situation. From the tone of the conversation to the way she acts, she leads Dain to the point where he sees red and pounces on her, and from there, well you know what happens. And the thing is, Jess wants it all. She is always in control and will give herself, totally and without reservation to a man who knows his worth. She is one heroine from literature that cannot be compared to any and has a permanent place in my heart as one of my all time favorite heroines.

How does Jessica rate with you? Is there another heroine you can think of where the hero is putty in her hands?