I disagree with the idea that it’s easier to “to imagine the 900 yr. old male vamp is still smoking [as in hot], than to imagine the 900 yr. old heroine without wrinkles.”

Why is that? I have no problem temporarily putting aside my disbelief for either scenario.

I also have to disagree with #5, specifically: “I think I pretty much covered how icky it can be to read a heroine drinking blood.”

I get your Breaking Dawn demon baby example and completely agree that would be a huge turn off. However, I sometimes fear that we’re downplaying the desires of women when we shut the paranormal door on heroines. I would really love to read a story about a vampire female and human male. In JR Ward’s vampire series, three of my favorite characters are Beth, Marissa, and Shex. They’re all vampires and it’s fun to see a vampire story from three distinct perspectives.

#3 — This perpetuates the power play structure in some love stories, and that’s not really something that appeals to me as a reader or a writer. Why does one character have to hold sway over the other? Why does one character have to ultimately be in charge? Ultimately I want to see a healthy relationship at the end of a Romance, so to me that means a give and take and a sharing of power. If the power differential is still there at the end I find it harder to be happy for the story couple.

#2 — I am average, why would I want to read about what I see in the mirror every day? I read for escape, for adventure. I do sometimes put myself in the heroine’s place, and when I do that I prefer to experience some hefty qualities I don’t possess in my real life — like commanding my own starship or being some kind of supernatural being. I’m as much interested in the heroine’s journey as the hero’s.

Susan – Haha! when I first read that I was like cigarettes? What? Wait she must mean how hot he is… lol nice little disclaimer. Great point on the wrinkles, makes an excellent #8.

I also think it boils down to believability. It’s easier to imagine the 900 yr. old male vamp is still smoking , than to imagine the 900 yr. old heroine without wrinkles.

#7 for me is that most readers of romance are female. Since it is obvious that we females are not and cannot be other than female in RL, short of an operation, it is easier to accept that the male can be anything we imagine, while we remain female.

OTOH, the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher is an excellent series, I love it, wherein he creates an entire universe. But it is not romance, by any stretch of the imagination.

Any romance is secondary to the plot. Harry Dresden, the last wizard in Chicago, had a hot and heavy romance, but she was turned into a vamp. Then there’s his half-brother Thomas, who is a vamp, who has a thwarted love interest also, but along different lines.