Why We Fall For The Bad Boys

Ladies, raise your hand if you've read a book with a residential 'bad boy' you just couldn't get enough of.

If you've read any of the books published in the last billion years, you know exactly what I am talking about. That's right, the bad boy. You know the standard clichés; Tall, dark, brooding. May or may not have a motorcycle. May or may not have wild and unkempt hair. Secretly holds a heart of good under his rugged exterior. I could go on all day! Our hearts hold a secret soft spot for these guys, and no matter how bad they get we still find something inside of them worthy of redeeming. But why? Why do we love these obvious bad choices in men?

They draw you in, virtually against your will. Let's take Noah Shaw from The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer as an example. Mara knows early on that Noah is the stereotype bad boy, a rebel, and vulgar at that, whispers of him having bedded every girl in school circling him like a bad odor. Yet as if it were beyond her control, she finds herself falling in love with him. Was it luck? Not even close. Bad boys are automatically built to be seductively cunning, and when paired with the occasional act of redemption blended into the mix it forms one hell of a potent drink for any girl to sip.

Sprinkle in some love! Perhaps one of the most enticing parts of the bad boy is the redeeming quality hiding just under the surface. Take Kayden from my book Illumine for example. He's a terrible guy in every bit of the sense- he's killed, manipulated, used and abused. So why doesn't Essallie drop him like a hot rock? Because deep down, Kayden still shows that random moment of kindness, a spark of possible humanity. And more often than not, that's only one piece of the puzzle leading to...

The heart of gold. At the center of every crafted bad boy is a pure heart, a flourish of gold stronger than their darkest behaviors. I could use two people here easily to prove my point, but I'll stick to Serverus Snape for this example. Snape carried a torch for Lily Potter his whole life, even after her death, and that drive to protect what was left of her in Harry is what kept his heart pure despite everything he'd done to the contrary.

With all the staggering evidence mounting, how can you not want to cozy up to Mr. Multi-Piercings and his biker gang? Well, maybe that's a little extreme.