Trust is a powerful word

I’m currently writing A NIGHT OF FOREVER, book #6 in my Disgraced Lords Regency romance series and the theme of the book is trust, or rather lack of trust.

Can you have love without trust? I think that’s an interesting question. My personal opinion is no. How can you share every part of yourself with someone you don’t trust? Not only that, how can you respect someone you don’t trust?

It’s one of the top 5 reasons marriages, or relationships, fail. Specifically you have serious problems if you cannot trust your spouse because they don't speak the truth at all times, or they keep secrets from you, or they don't do what they say they'll do, or worse they have betrayed you with another.

I do understand why it’s hard for some people to trust.  There are those who have been betrayed by someone they love, like a partner, mother, or father etc. There are many types of betrayal—financial, adultery, lies, etc.

So how do you conquer a person’s ‘trust’ issues?  That’s a tough one, and a problem Isobel, my heroine, is currently facing. The hero, Arend, has been betrayed by a lot of people, particularly his father and then there was his lover, a woman he was going to marry, who he thought loved him, but who using him to gain access to his diamond mine while plotting his death. How do you ever recover from that? Your faith in your ability to judge a person’s character would be squashed. You ability to trust on face value would be destroyed. It’s even worse for Arend because Isobel could be in league with his enemy.

Here’s the current WIP blurb for the book:

Arend Aubury, Baron Labourd, a French exile, is out to catch the villainess intent on killing him and his fellow Libertine Scholars. He’s certain his enemy is Lady Isobel Thompson’s stepmother. In his pursuit of his enemy, Arend decides to seduce the truth from Isobel, but finds himself lured into a web of danger and betrayal, where falling under the spell of the alluring black-haired beauty, may cost him his life.

Lady Isobel Thompson is fascinated by the handsome, dark and dangerous, Baron Labourd. She can’t believe the notorious rake is pursuing her, and his persistent pursuit puts her in a spin. When she is in his presence, the air fairly sizzles with sensual tension and desire. Yet something tells her to hold back, to be careful—she doesn’t trust the man, especially with her heart—her body, however, is a very different matter….

Arend wants to find love, he knows he cares deeply for Isobel but there is that bud of fear inside that means he can’t let himself open his heart and share all of himself.

I found a fabulous saying the other day and I have twisted it to fit the Regency era and my book.  Isobel tells Arend, 

“Relationships without trust are like carriages with no horses, you can stay in it all you want, but it will not go anywhere. I want to go on the journey of life with you and that means moving forward—together.”

How do you get over a trust issue? Arend is smart enough to know it’s up to him. Isobel has proven she’s honest, forthright, and dependable. I can feel a black moment coming where Arend is going to have to trust Isobel or lose everything.

Have you got any advice to give Arend on how he might go about restoring his trust in others? 

If you’d like to learn more about my Disgraced Lord’s series, visit my website. A WHISPER OF DESIRE, book #4, is a finalist in The Romance Review Readers Choice 

If you’ve read the book and enjoyed Maitland and Marisa’s story I’d appreciate a VOTE. 

Buy links for A Whisper of Desire:

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Amazon Australia - > http://bit.ly/1Lu2Sup

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