Mental Health Month: Hot Nerd Edition
May is Mental Health Awareness Month and I’m writing a main character whose brain is doing the most.
We talk a lot about “quirky” love interests in romance—messy geniuses, emotionally stunted billionaires, reclusive authors who only eat beige food—but we don’t always call it what it is: mental health. And this May, I’m writing a hero who’s not quirky. He’s coping.
Reed Whitaker, my main character in Ximena’s HEA, has OCD. Not the version that gets played for laughs or reduced to handwashing compulsions, though that version is valid too. (I’ll never stop recommending Penny Reid’s Beard in Mind as read by Angela Dawe & Christ Brinkley for it’s astounding OCD rep. But also check out Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez, narrated by Kyla Garcia & Zachary Webber.)
The MMC in my WIP Reed has Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder that shows up like self-doubt on steroids. It sounds like:
“If you miss one detail, someone gets hurt.”
“You’re supposed to be the smart one. Don’t screw this up.”
“Don’t tell her. Don’t need anything. Don’t mess this up.”
He’s sexy as hell—tall, thoughtful, a former valedictorian with biceps and a brain built for problem-solving—but the inside of his head? It’s a war zone some days.
Reed’s managing it the way many of us do: therapy, movement (boxing in his case), and the right meds. Not to “fix” him. Just to give him the quiet he needs to show up as himself. As someone worthy of love. As someone worthy of Ximena.
And wow, do they belong to each other.
Mental health doesn’t have to steal your HEA. In romance, it can actually lead you to it.
So, yeah. Reed’s a little broken. (Aren’t we all?) But he’s not a fixer-upper. He’s a fighter. And I’m writing him with so much love (and a super-talented sensitivity reader!). Because everyone deserves a love story—even if your brain makes you work for it.
And hey, I’m right there with him. I’m in weekly therapy and on a small handful of meds myself. (Maybe I should follow Reed’s example and take up boxing? Though, knowing me, I’d end up with a pulled hamstring and a story to tell on Instagram.)
What’s a romance that got mental health right? Bonus points if it made you cry a little or text your therapist.
