Can you cheer for a cheater?

We love romance novels because of the happily ever after. But we love Scandal and Being Mary Jane, too.

Let me set the scene for you, the heroines of both of these shows are in love with someone else's man. They're cheating and many of us cheer for them. But would you feel that way about romantic story? I mean, yeah, we loved The Bridges of Madison County, but would we love to read about a married man who fell in love with another woman while married to another?

Or moreover, do we hold women to a higher standard when it comes to fidelity in fiction? Some of the comments about Olivia Pope on Facebook and Twitter are down right harsh. But not many people go in on the men in that way.

So, do readers and watchers of scripted TV have more sympathy for a cheating man than a cheating woman?

It's hard for me to write about a cheater without painting him or her like a villain. My cheaters are mostly selfish bastards who end up floating in a river. Why, you ask? Because I base many of them of exes. Hey, writing keeps me out of prison.

There is one cheater that I wrote about who I kind of love. Maurice Goings, the hero of Let's Get It On.

That cheating cad kind of got what he deserved by being stood up at the altar, but he grew on me and readers seem to love him. I really take a sadistic pleasure in teasing my Facebook friends with the death of Maurice. Those posts are funny because I'm the one who ends up getting threatened. LOL. I'm going on record right now: Maurice won't die.

But I've often wondered, why are women expected to forgive the cheater but men who cheat are supposed to be forgiven?

Cheating men in real life and why it doesn't really work in romance. . .

The other morning I woke up to a story about General David Petraeus.
Remember the former head of the CIA, who got busted cheating on his wife?
Well, now he's on his "I'm sorry" tour.

General David Petraeus is the latest high profile man doing the “I’m sorry” tour.  Tiger Woods did it. John Edwards did it. President Bill Clinton did it. Jesse Jackson did it. And the list could go on and on.  Hi, Mark Sanford.

All of these high profile cheaters and June Bug around the corner have one thing in common – They’re sorry that they got caught.

Cheating is a choice. Cheating is not an accident. It is planned and deliberate. No one accidentally shows up at a hotel room to have sex, to get oral pleasures or to make stains on blue dresses. You don’t accidentally play stick the cigar in the intern, you choose to do that. Saying I’m sorry after getting caught is like getting a garden hose after starting the house fire. It’s a little too late.

In real life, we forgive these high profile cheaters. I was kind of surprised to see a lot of women cheering when Tiger Woods regained his number one ranking. While we forgive these men in the real world, you have to be one hell of an author to get readers to support a cheating character.
Ann Christopher did an outstanding job of this in Redemption's Kiss. 
 

  After Jillian Warner's much-publicized divorce from her ex-governor husband, Beau Taylor, all she wants is a quiet life--out of the political spotlight. And quiet it is: the heiress and single mom runs a quaint B and B in Atlanta.

But Beau is back, vowing to win her heart. With desire reigniting, Jillian's more confused than ever. Her seductive ex betrayed her once. How can she ever trust him again?

A near-fatal accident has changed Beau in ways he never imagined. Now his number-one priority is becoming the devoted husband and father he knows he always should have been. He's determined to atone for the sins of the past and build a new future with the woman he's never stopped loving. Beau wants Jillian--and this time he's doing it right.

But reading about a cheater in contemporary romances leads to some harsh comments from readers. In my novel, Let's Get It On, I received many emails about why Kenya would take Maurice back. One of my good friends tells me often that she hates Maurice.

  Some times, I wish life imitated art more often. The men in fiction have to beg, plead and prove that they've changed. In real life, cheaters hold a press conference, claim a sex addiction or go on an "I'm Sorry Tour" and all is forgiven.

May is right around the corner! Are you ready for Forces of Nature.

Publisher's Weekly says: 

Hot sex, some delightful humor, a dollop of mystery, and engaging characters make this a book readers will love.