Is it more important for you to like the hero or heroine in a Christian romance?
Umm, both?
Seriously, I think the hero and heroine are equally important.
If I don’t like the hero, then I’m secretly hoping the relationship will fail.
I’m waiting for the heroine to see whatever red flags I’ve spotted, and for her to wise up and move on. (That goes double when there is a male character I think would be ideal for her.)
If I don’t like the heroine, then I wonder what the hero sees in her.
Perhaps he’s focussed on her looks or her money or something equally fleeting. Perhaps it’s not clear what attracts him to the heroine.
Either way, if I can’t see a real and credible attraction, I’m happy to close the book and allow the two of them to go on to their inevitable miserable and shallow ever after.
If I can see a real and credible attraction, I’m likely to question the hero’s intelligence, judgement, or both. Again, I’m happy to close the book and let them have a miserable time together.
On that basis, I guess it’s actually more important for me to like the heroine.
After all, the heroine (and therefore the reader) may often have a false initial impression of the hero. After all, a false impression could provide some great conflict and tension. But we, the reader, still need to be able to see the characters as they really are in order to buy in to the relationship.
