Are Eve and Roarke archetypes?

ar·che·type/ˈärk(i)ˌtīp/

Noun:

A very typical example of a certain person or thing. An original that has been imitated.

Wikipedia has an extra definition:  An epitome— a personality type exemplified, especially the "greatest" such example. I've been listening to some of the In Death books on audio lately and then I found I just had to skim the first 3 books for the Eve and Roarke bits (plus a bit of Portrait in Death too) because I just enjoy them so much.  I started to wonder if because I enjoy them so much I am seeing them everywhere lately - or, are Eve and Roarke archetypes?  Eve Dallas: *  kick ass cop *  devoted to justice and the rule of law *  tortured childhood *  tough but has a streak of vulnerability associated with said tortured childhood *  has very few close relationships Roarke: *  criminal past, now (mostly) legitimate *  super rich at a very young age *  has his own idea of justice and the value of the law *  tortured childhood *  is totally and completely devoted to Eve

The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook

Why I read it: I've had this on my TBR for ages and after finally reading Here Be Monsters in the Burning Up anthology, I decided to read it.

What it's about: (from Goodreads)  After the Iron Duke freed England from Horde control, he instantly became a national hero. Now Rhys Trahaearn has built a merchant empire on the power-and fear-of his name. And when a dead body is dropped from an airship onto his doorstep, bringing Detective Inspector Mina Wentworth into his dangerous world, he intends to make her his next possession.

But when Mina uncovers the victim's identity, she stumbles upon a conspiracy that threatens the lives of everyone in England. To save them, Mina and Rhys must race across zombie-infested wastelands and treacherous oceans-and Mina discovers the danger is not only to her countrymen, as she finds herself tempted to give up everything to the Iron Duke.

What worked for me (and what didn't): I've read very little Steampunk.  I listened to Gail Carriger's Soulless (which I liked) but I've been a bit reluctant to take the plunge after a bad experience with some paranormal history books a few years back.  But, I've heard time and time again that this book is excellent and I did buy it so I decided to take the plunge and read.  It did take me a bit of time to get into.  It helped I think that I had some background of the concept of the Horde and the nanoagents and "mechanical flesh" from reading Here Be Monsters so I can't say it was any worldbuilding issues which kept me apart from the story at first.     However, by about the 1/3 of the way in, things started to gel and by the halfway mark I was hooked.  I'm not sure I can say anything particularly illuminating about why I found it difficult to get into - I just did.