I’m nearing the end of my WIP.  Ok, I’m not nearly as near to the end as I’d like to be, but I can see that beacon of light at the end of the tunnel.

But, I’m afraid my black moment is going to create a few difficulties to my plot.  I hear the pirates grumbling.   “What hasn’t created difficulties to your plot, Marnee?” 

This may be a deal breaker, though.

*Pause for dramatic effect.*

My Regency heroine is going to save my hero’s life in the end.

In fact, she’s been saving him in bits and pieces throughout the story.  She’s a witch and she’s been called by Fate to save him.  One doesn’t mess with Fate, after all.  But, in the final moment, she’s going to sacrifice herself for him.

Well, almost anyway.  They do need their HEA so she obviously can’t die.  But, my hero won’t know that.

We write in the age of strong heroines.  In fact, I’ve started wondering if paranormals have taken off so dramatically because they allow for alphas that don’t seem like stalkers and still can hold up against the strong women in recent novels.  But, that’s another blog.

The neurosis for this blog is that I have been worrying that having my heroine save my hero might make my hero look too weak.

I feel horrible about this.  The feminist inside me screams that strong women don’t equal weak men, that a woman’s strength doesn’t downplay a man’s masculinity. 

But, I’m concerned that others might disagree, or at least the fantasy part of others, especially as my story is in a historical setting.  I’ve qualified it by telling myself that since she’s magical, she can be strong and it’ll be ok. 

Hey, it’s my little world; I’ll live here if I want.

What do you think?  Do you think a heroine saving a hero downplays the hero’s masculinity?  What about a heroine in a historical saving a hero?  What do you think makes it ok and what do you think makes it wrong?