Reader of my novels will know that I love style. This often comes across in how I dress my heroines, but of course how the hero looks is just, if not more, important: he must be sublimely attractive and exude sexuality.

Businessmen feature regularly as heroes in my novels (as they do in many romance books), because I love to write strong, intelligent, driven, confident men. Naturally, that means for at least part of the story the hero is in business attire.

To me, the business style has an appeal all of its own. Think, for example, of the very simple cover of the wildly successful Fifty Shades series: it features nothing more than a business tie.

In Masquerade, Andrés de Calderón is one of men who vie for Luz’s affection. He is a successful entrepreneur, and he dresses to impress: often in an impeccably cut city suit, immaculately starched white shirt and designer tie.

Sometimes, his style is carefully sharp and simple, with a dark suit:

Luz turned to find Andrés standing like Mephistopheles at the entrance to the drawing room. His dark evening suit emphasized his overpowering satanic good looks and the air of danger he carried with him like a second skin.

But Andrés is also able to take the business style in another direction, to convey a sense of relaxed confidence and even, with his choice of tie, creativity and passion:

Andrés de Calderón was waiting for her, seated at a table half shaded by a vine-trellised loggia, looking suitably cool in a beige linen suit, crisp white shirt and Hermès tie with a gold-printed pattern of Andalucian horses.

What is it about a suit, do you think, that can draw attention and get the pulse racing? Here are some insights into what business style can represent about its wearer:

• He is serious about making something of his life: ‘A well-tied tie is the first serious step in life.’ – Oscar Wilde
• He is cool, calm and in control: ‘Being perfectly well-dressed gives one a tranquility that no religion can bestow.’ – Ralph Waldo Emerson
• He is his best self: ‘Any man may be in good spirits and good temper when he’s well dressed.’ – Charles Dickens
• He is a man of his time, but rooted in a sense of historical pride: ‘There’s no such thing as a designer of menswear – it’s only history. The suit around the world is based on the english suit, which began in about 1670.’ – Hardy Amies
• He is careful, detail-oriented: ‘Putting on a beautifully designed suit elevates my spirit, extols my sense of self, and helps define me as a man to whom details matter.’ – Gay Talese
• He has good self-esteem: ‘Looking good isn’t self-importance; it’s self-respect.’ – Charles Hix
• He has opinions; he is considered and intelligent: ‘Style is the perfection of a point of view.’ – Richard Eberhart
• He cares about the image he conveys: ‘Every man looks his best when wearing a suit.’ – Sam Ramsey
• And finally, he is well mannered: ‘Dressing well is a form of good manners.’ – Tom Ford

Beyond what the suit says about its wearer lies a deeper layer of meaning. So the saying goes, a well-tailored suit is to women what lingerie is to men. Put simply, women find suits and ties and shirts attractive not for what they are but for what they conceal. It is the man beneath the beautifully tailored suit, the gentleman, who intrigues; in a sense, the suit is the masquerade mask.

What do you think of the business style? Do you love to read romances in which elegantly cut suits, crisp white shirts and silk ties feature? How important is a hero’s dress sense to establishing attraction in the reader’s mind? I would love to hear your thoughts.