The Perfect Man According To Romance Novelists In A New Poll

The perfect man is loyal, honest and clean. These, at least, were the top attributes as voted for by 58 British romance novelists in a poll sent out by the Festival of Romance in the UK.

The Festival of Romance is a new event that will take place in October this year. It was created by author Kate Allan, and is apparently "dedicated to romantic fiction of all kinds."

The top results were:

Loyal (91%)
Honest (89%)
Personal hygiene (88%)
Kind (86%)
Sense of humour (86%)
Intelligent (85%)
Principled (81%)

The least important romantic trait, according to the poll, was "a good car."

In a separate section, people were asked to agree or disagree with such statements as "Women know their best chance of finding a romantic man is between the covers of a romantic novel" (most agreed) and "In reality, romance is mostly in women's imagination and men just go along with it to please women."

Perfect and imperfect romantics can take the poll for themselves here.

Comments

[Mondayboy]

06:17 PM on 09/04/2011

Most women I know prefer someone with a Bentley over someone who drives a buick.

[J R M]

12:12 PM on 09/01/2011

romance is all well and good, but when you get to dealing with day to day life other issues start to get more prominence.

How well does he handle the kids?
Reliable?
Resourceful?
Considerate?
Industrious?
Handy?

[Tre Members]

03:40 PM on 08/31/2011

Just dropped by to see how the other half thinks, maybe soak up a little of that empathy I read so much about... Yep, going back now.

[anoise]

05:52 PM on 08/30/2011

Should I be surprised by the results?

Perfect man for me... is my man. I don't need a romance novelist to tell me what's perfect.

[Pippen]

01:18 PM on 08/29/2011

Ever notice these impromptu polls always seem to pick the least likely to have a man in their life and ASK them to select qualities of this fictious man. Might as well just poll a group of ducks about the weather it's about as relevant.

A better idea would have been too conduct an indepth study to tabulate the majority of romance novels bought, read and re-purchased with what type of man. THATS what will tell you what these romance lovers want. Not what they say but what they buy.

Show me a loyal, honest and clean man and I'll show you an accountant. You think accountants are getting alot of ass ? No. But the T&A club is lining up around the block for Mr.Nasty. i.e. even Sandra Bullock married Jesse James. Do I need to go on ?

The more I see this BS in writing the more I know the bad boy will always be kneedeep in ass and the good guy will be lucky he's not in the crying game.

[aurora97]

05:06 AM on 08/30/2011

What does BS stand for? Thank you. I also could not have understood when Sandra Bullock married Jesse James. They could not have been more different and I don't mean him having children and she not having.

[mtknibbesr]

08:38 PM on 08/31/2011

YOU ARE NOT ALONE HERE. MY HUSBAND AND I ALWAYS THOUGHT SANDRA WAS A CLASS ACT AND WHEN SHE HOOKED UP WITH JESSE JAMES AND ALL THOSE TATTOOES (OR WHATEVER) AND MARRIED HIM, WE COULDN'T BELIEVE IT. OF COURSE, WE WEREN'T SURPRISED WHEN HE DID WHAT HE DID BUT OUR OPINION OF HER DROPPED CONSIDERABLY ALSO. I DON'T SEE HER EVER RECOVERING FROM THIS LAPSE IN JUDGMENT. OF COURSE, THIS IS JUST OUR OPINION.

[SkeeBee]

10:19 PM on 08/31/2011

Sad but true.
Doooshes do seem to end up with the lasses more often than not....

[White Raven]

06:23 AM on 08/29/2011

Seems like a valid poll to me. I've been told I have all of those traits and I've never found myself wanting for company. Might be interesting to see a poll about what are the very worst dealbreaking traits though.

[MonaSanDiego]

09:55 PM on 08/28/2011

Jamie Fraser (from the Outlander novel by Diana Gabaldon) flat out the perfect man....but the 1700s were tough on the personal hygiene issue. Loyal (as long as you were in the same century), honest, kind, very principled, very intelligent, killer sense of humor, and would take a bullet, er would take a broadsword for you. Did I forget to mention 6'4"? He's the total package, in many many ways. Do I think anyone exists that fills that bill in "real" life? Oh hell no, but its nice to think there might be, no? A "big buff boy" in a kilt, whats not to like?

[inapickle]

06:08 PM on 08/28/2011

I'd put sense of humor, kindness, and honesty as the top three. Hygiene is kind of a given in my opinon. I don't think the 'perfect man' should need to be specified as not stank.

[pageleft]

05:54 PM on 08/28/2011

I'd give personal hygiene a higher ranking because honestly, if he stinks, how will you stand him long enough to learn all the other things?

[mtknibbesr]

03:48 PM on 08/28/2011

SINCE I'VE BEEN IN THIS INDUSTRY FOR SOME 40 YEARS AND HAVE SOME 2000 OF THESE BOOKS & MY HOME STATE OF TEXAS HAS MORE ROMANCE WRITERS THAN ANY OTHER, I THINK THE STATISTICS SAT FORTH BY OUR BRITISH LADIES ARE PROBABLY ACCURATE, SINCE I HAVE BEEN MARRIED TO THE SAME MAN FOR NEARLY 54 YEARS. WHAT DO MY AMERICAN ROMANCE READERS & WRITERS HAVE TO SAY?

[Am-I-Dreaming]

11:10 AM on 08/30/2011

This one would like to say "Please stop shouting." Followed by "That is one whopping run-on sentence."

[Tre Members]

03:44 PM on 08/31/2011

When you read this post did you read it out loud or in your head? And if you read it out loud, did you read it at a high volume? Just curious.

[zingdaddy]

06:43 AM on 08/31/2011

Well, I've yet to read my first romance novel, and I probably wouldn't ever be described as a lady, but I would like to say this: congratulations on 54 years of marriage!

Are there romance stories about that? If not, there should be.

[mtknibbesr]

08:45 PM on 08/31/2011

THANK YOU! AND NO, THERE AREN'T ANY ROMANCES ABOUT THAT BUT THERE ARE MANY ROMANCE WRITERS THAT ARE VERY NICE THAT HAVE BEEN MARRIED FOR A LONG TIME. THERE ARE MANY THAT HAVE NEVER BEEN MARRIED AND THERE ARE SOME THAT HAVE BEEN DIVORCED. I'VE MET SO MANY, MOST I'VE LIKED, A FEW I HAVEN'T. IF SOME READ THIS, MAYBE THEY'LL WRITE A STORY ABOUT LONG MARRIAGES. ACTUALLY, IT WOULD PROBABLY BE BORING.LOL

[HellBank]

02:56 PM on 08/28/2011

Errr, what about what he thinks about children?

[mystshy]

02:13 PM on 08/28/2011

sound like a normal man,,,,,,,,,,,

[rlpl02]

02:08 PM on 08/28/2011

Let's see how many people beat me up for this:
The perfect man is a rich, blind, mute orphan with no kids.

[edejan]

09:43 PM on 08/29/2011

Perfect for what?

[ugotabkidnme]

01:47 PM on 08/28/2011

I don't trust any human, regardless of sex, when they say they hate dogs and/or cats.

[damomb01]

09:30 AM on 08/28/2011

I'm so glad that at the very least there was truth to this "poll": "Women know their best chance of finding a romantic man is between the covers of a romantic novel" (most agreed) and "In reality, romance is mostly in women's imagination and men just go along with it to please women."

When two people actually find each other and build a relationship a woman's idea of what's romantic can change drastically...I used to think it was a candlelight dinner with soft music. Now it's when I get home from an extra busy shift, dinner's made and the kids get a bath afterward! My husband is the most wonderful man I've ever known, and I am so very lucky to have him. He meets all of the previously (in the article) noted qualities, and then some!!!

The other thing is, when it comes to a meaningful relationship, what's most important, romance? Really? Certainly it helps to create a meaningful relationship, but mutual love and respect generally takes over.