Fuck It. I’m the Badass.
Why the best mafia-romance heroines don’t need to be likable they need to be unforgettable.
ROMANCEAHOLIC · VELVET HEARTBEATS
Love, in every language.
There is a particular moment in mafia romance when you realize the heroine is absolutely not going to behave.
Someone threatens her.
Someone tells her what to do.
Some terrifying man with a reputation, a tailored suit, and enough authority to make an entire room go silent looks at her and says:
Don’t.
And somewhere, every romance reader immediately thinks
Oh, she’s definitely going to.
Because some heroines were written to make good decisions.
This one was written to make interesting ones.
She isn’t sweet enough for everyone.
She isn’t agreeable enough to make every character comfortable.
She has opinions.
A temper.
Boundaries.
Maybe a mouth that has absolutely no interest in self-preservation.
And if somebody doesn’t like her?
Good.
She wasn’t written to be everyone’s favorite.
She was written to be herself.
And in a world filled with dangerous men accustomed to obedience, that becomes its own kind of power.
She Doesn’t Need to Be Fearless
The best badass heroines aren’t necessarily women who never feel afraid.
Fearlessness can be impressive.
But courage?
Courage is much more interesting.
Because courage means she knows exactly how dangerous the situation is.
Her hands might shake.
Her heart might be pounding.
Every instinct might be telling her to run.
And she still lifts her chin.
Still says what needs to be said.
Still refuses to surrender herself just because someone more powerful expects her to.
That’s the woman we remember.
Not because nothing frightens her.
Because fear doesn’t get to make all her decisions.
There is something deeply satisfying about watching a heroine enter a world designed to intimidate her and slowly realize:
I belong to myself here, too.
And Then There’s Him
Of course, mafia romance gives her one tiny complication.
Him.
The man everyone else knows better than to challenge.
People lower their voices around him.
Doors open when he approaches.
Arguments mysteriously end when he enters the room.
And then she arrives.
She argues with him.
Corrects him.
Rolls her eyes at him.
Possibly tells him exactly where he can put his orders.
And this terrifying fictional man experiences something he apparently wasn’t prepared for:
A woman who isn’t particularly impressed.
Reader?
We are seated.
Because the chemistry isn’t simply about her standing up to him.
It’s about what happens when he realizes he doesn’t actually want to silence her.
He likes the fire.
Even when it’s aimed directly at him.
Especially when it’s aimed directly at him.
Everyone else gives him obedience.
She gives him honesty.
Everyone else sees his reputation.
She sees the man underneath it.
And perhaps most dangerously of all
she expects him to see her, too.
Not as something fragile.
Not as something he owns.
Not as another beautiful object inside his carefully controlled world.
As an equal human being with desires, limits, flaws, ambitions, and choices of her own.
That’s where the dynamic becomes interesting.
Because a powerful hero isn’t nearly as compelling when the heroine has to become powerless for him to remain powerful.
Let them both have teeth.
She Can Be Soft and Still Be Dangerous
And this is where I will defend my fictional women with my entire bookshelf.
A badass heroine doesn’t have to become emotionally untouchable.
She can cry.
She can love deeply.
She can want affection.
She can adore beautiful dresses, flowers, books, lipstick, quiet mornings, ridiculous reality television, or being held after a terrible day.
She can be soft.
Softness isn’t the opposite of strength.
Sometimes softness is the thing she fought hardest to keep.
The world tried to make her cold.
She refused.
That’s badass too.
And maybe that’s especially delicious in mafia romance, where hardness is often treated like currency.
Everyone knows how to threaten.
Everyone knows how to intimidate.
Everyone knows how to build walls.
Then along comes a woman who can look danger directly in the face
and still remain capable of tenderness.
She doesn’t have to become cruel to prove she belongs beside a dangerous man.
She doesn’t have to imitate him.
Her power can look completely different from his.
Let Her Be Difficult
There is also something wonderfully freeing about a heroine who isn’t constantly trying to be liked.
Because women in stories are so often expected to perform an impossible balancing act.
Strong—but never abrasive.
Confident—but never arrogant.
Independent—but never difficult.
Sexual—but only in the correct way.
Angry—but attractively angry.
Flawed—but only with flaws that remain charming.
Absolutely not.
Sometimes I want the heroine who gets angry at the wrong moment.
The one who makes mistakes.
The one who says something she regrets.
The one who doesn’t immediately forgive.
The one who takes up space without apologizing for the inconvenience of her existence.
Let her be messy.
Let her be stubborn.
Let her occasionally make us put the book down and whisper:
Girl.
Because male characters have been allowed to be complicated forever.
Our heroines deserve the same luxury.
Being a badass doesn’t mean being right all the time.
It means she gets to be fully human.
Loving Him Shouldn’t Mean Losing Her
And this might be the part that matters most.
A powerful love story shouldn’t require the heroine to disappear inside it.
She can fall desperately in love.
She can want him.
Choose him.
Trust him.
Let him protect her sometimes.
She can even secretly enjoy the fact that one look from him makes everyone who has annoyed her reconsider their life choices.
Respectfully, there are perks.
But she should still remain recognizable as herself.
Because being protected isn’t the same as being controlled.
Being cherished isn’t the same as being possessed.
And being loved by a powerful man shouldn’t require surrendering every piece of your own power.
The most satisfying version of this fantasy isn’t:
He made her powerful.
It’s:
He recognized that she already was.
Maybe he gives her somewhere she doesn’t have to fight every second.
Maybe she gives him someone around whom he doesn’t have to perform invulnerability.
Maybe they challenge each other.
Infuriate each other.
Protect each other.
And slowly discover that neither one has to become smaller for the relationship to survive.
Now that is chemistry.
Because Badass Doesn’t Mean Bulletproof
Underneath all the swagger, there is usually something else.
A woman who learned how to survive.
Maybe she had to become louder because nobody listened when she spoke quietly.
Maybe she became fiercely independent because depending on people had disappointed her before.
Maybe she learned to fight because life kept handing her battles.
Maybe the confidence came after years of believing she wasn’t enough.
And that’s when the archetype becomes more than attitude.
Because the real fantasy isn’t simply watching her win arguments and terrify men twice her size.
It’s watching someone who learned to protect herself discover that strength and tenderness can coexist.
She doesn’t have to stop being formidable to be loved.
She doesn’t have to sand down her edges.
She doesn’t have to become sweeter, quieter, easier, or more convenient.
The right love doesn’t look at everything that makes her her and say:
Could you be less?
It says:
There you are.
Not Everyone Has to Like Her
And maybe that’s the heartbeat underneath this entire heroine.
Not everyone will understand her.
Good.
Not everyone will approve of her choices.
Fine.
Not everyone will find her likable.
She’ll survive.
Because there comes a point when constantly trying to become palatable costs more than being disliked ever could.
And there is something wildly satisfying about a fictional woman reaching that point.
She’s done shrinking.
Done explaining.
Done auditioning for approval from people who were never going to understand her anyway.
She knows she can be kind without being compliant.
Soft without being weak.
Loved without being obedient.
Vulnerable without surrendering herself.
And powerful without asking permission.
So let the dangerous man fall for her.
Let him discover that the woman standing beside him was never meant to live in his shadow.
Let everybody else whisper that she’s too much.
Too stubborn.
Too loud.
Too difficult.
Too opinionated.
Too fearless.
Too unapologetically herself.
She’ll probably smile.
Because somewhere along the way, she finally learned the difference between being liked
and knowing who the hell she is.
And once a woman knows that?
Well.
Good luck telling her to behave.
“Fuck it. I’m the badass.
If you don’t like me? Good.
I wasn’t written to be everyone’s favorite.”
ROMANCEAHOLIC · VELVET HEARTBEATS
Love, in every language.
From the Video
“Fuck it. I’m the badass.
If you don’t like me? Good.
I wasn’t written to be everyone’s favorite.”
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More love. More longing. More moments that stay with you.
A Little Note From Romanceaholic
He told her to stay out of trouble.
That was adorable.
Apparently he hasn’t met the heroine yet. 🖤
Because one unforgettable love story always leads to another.
🖤 Romanceaholic
Love stories. Taken seriously.
