Like, Lust, Love--Where Do They Fit in Romance Novels?

By Linda Lovely

Can you lust after someone you don’t like? Can you love someone yet dislike that person? Can you like and lust but not love? These are questions all authors should ask as they plot their books and consider the best ways to add conflict or increase tension if they’re writing novels that include romantic relationships.

The Power of Lust

In fictional romances, one of the tropes is a heroine who lusts for a hero she despises. She gets all tingly the moment he enters a room. It’s as if he’s a force field. She tries to fight her attraction but she’s powerless to squelch it. Of course, if the book is a romance, she eventually discovers the hero is not despicable, and she falls in love (usually before she satisfies her lust). The issue of “like” may or may not be fully addressed.

Okay, given the right circumstances, I can suspend disbelief and buy into this oft-used plot device. Our hormones don’t always listen to reason. While “like” is a thinking/logic idea, lust (and love) occur at a more subconscious level and sometimes defy logic.  So it’s not hard to imagine lusting after someone you don’t like—especially if your dislike is based on assumptions and hearsay. In this case our logic—the reason we don’t like someone—may be flawed. Thus, the enemies-to-lovers trope can be believable if done correctly.

However, there is a point where I draw the line. If the heroine has actually witnessed (or experienced) a man doing something detestable, say backhanding his mother or kicking a cat, I have a harder time believing her lust “force field” wouldn’t break down.  (Unless, of course, we later learn an alien being killed his mother and is inhabiting her body or the kicked cat is a shape-shifter.)  

Like Versus Love

A friend of mine, a mother, confessed to me that she loved all four of her children equally, but she couldn’t help liking two of them a lot more than their siblings. Love of family members—whether they’re likable or not—is another trope in fiction. This is the blood is thicker theory. Of course, what’s called “love” in this instance may actually be better described as clan loyalty.

But, I couldn’t love a man I didn’t like and respect. So, if I’m writing a romance, the hero has to win the respect of the heroine before she can truly love him. In my case, the hero also has to be able to make the heroine laugh in order for her to fall madly in love. Okay, that’s a personal peccadillo.

Like, Lust and Love

I do think it’s possible to really like someone and yet find it impossible to take that next step to love. As noted earlier, like is a function of logic. Lust and love not so much. This reality offers lots of fictional opportunities. Movies like “Four Weddings and a Funeral” do an excellent job of exploring such disconnects among friends when one longs to move her/his relationship to the next step only to find the sentiment isn’t shared.

That’s why if I’m reading a romance, I want the whole kit and caboodle—like, lust, love—to convince me that a hero and heroine will actually have a happy ever after (HEA).

Do you agree?      

Cliché: Yo-Yo Relationships

By Linda Lovely

I write Romantic Suspense-Romantic Thrillers. The genre marries spine-tingling suspense with romance—the degree of heat ranging from tepid to wildfire. However, one romance cliché seems to thrive in every segment of the genre, and it makes me grind my teeth.

What’s the cliché? Each time it appears the hero and heroine might find eternal love an internal conflict arises to tear them apart. This relationship yo-yo is credited with building tension and prompting readers to eagerly flip pages to see if the (IMHO often quarrelsome) lovers will eventually hurdle over their emotional roadblocks and/or stupidity. Of course, since a happy ending is mandatory, the novel ends with the hero and heroine—who have fought like gamecocks throughout the book—pledging undying love. Given their prior habits, I always wonder what would happen if there were more chapters. Would another imaginary insult pop up and lead to divorce?

Based on conversations with other authors, I suspect writers knowingly incorporate this yo-yo cliché in their novels because they believe agents and editors consider it essential for the romantic story arc to succeed. I’m not buying. Romance readers are more savvy/intelligent than that.

I do understand that internal conflicts up the emotional stakes and build tension. Yet I find it difficult to swallow that a heroine and hero will squander time squabbling if they’re fighting for their lives. Once the hero and heroine join forces and begin working as a team against the exterior threat, I think all their energies would be directed toward eliminating the threat not nitpicking their relationship.

October 1 release date. Pre-order now.

RYes, the couple might have private reservations about their long-term relationship because (fill in the blank). In my newest romantic thriller, DEAD HUNT, those “blanks” include a past romantic interlude that ended badly, feuding families, professional conflicts, planted evidence, and, yes, a few impetuous mistakes.

However, I tried hard to avoid conjuring stupid misunderstandings to pry the heroine and hero apart at a crucial moment simply because it was “time” for another breakup. For instance, when the heroine in DEAD HUNT is presented with “evidence” of her lover’s deceit, she does not accept it on face value. She investigates.

 

I think author J.D. Robb has aptly demonstrated that a couple (Eve and Roarke) can have a hot romance, fight bad guys, and treat the reader to lots of tension without wasting time on meaningless quarrels that make a reader want to scream “You idiot!” at the hero or heroine or both.

Okay, romance readers, do you agree?

Overheard on... Romancing the Genres

“She cleared the bleachers and saw him make his way around the side of the stadium where he spotted a pair of brothers playing catch with their young dad. The camera and Max were indistinguishable.”

My lovely writer friend, Kathy Dunnehoff has managed to bring us older women back to school in her book, BACK TO U.  By doing this, she is able to draw from, and recreate the nostalgia of college days- including the fun and craziness of college sports games. In this scene the hero and protagonist are competing to see who can take a better photo of the game. Gwen, the protagonist, can’t imagine Max taking anything but a gritty shot and he is trying to prove her wrong.

Although BACK TO U isn’t strictly a sports romance, it uses the role of sports as a third character in the book. Through the football players Gwen befriends and her growing appreciation for the sport, we watch her character change and develop. At the same time, Ms. Dunnehoff is able to use the tension (see how I got that in there) that derives from our idealized version of sports (the two kids playing catch with their dad) versus the reality (cracking skulls, cheering- sometimes drunk- crowds, winning at all costs). Through this tension we get to see the boy that Max was vs the man that he has become, just as we observe a transition occurring within Gwen.

April is Romancing the Genres sports romance month. We will have some great sports authors visit to show us what it takes to use the sports theme in romance. I hope, as part of this, they will explore how sports help them develop character and story tension.

Meanwhile… here are some nostalgic sports pictures. If you are up for the challenge, try to list the sweet, idealized themes in the picture, and then compare it to the reality of what was probably happening. As always, I love to hear your thoughts, so be sure to leave a comment with what you encountered while completing this exercise.

Cheers - Deanne
www.deannewilsted.com
@dwilsted

Overheard on... Downton Abbey

By Genre-ista: Deanne Wilsted

www.deannewilsted.com

“Edith dear, you're a woman with a brain and reasonability. Stop whining and find something to do." Lady Violet

Awww, twentieth Century romance; filled with rapidly changing fashions and matching feminine confusion.  If ever there was a set-up for tension this would be it. Men were hunkered down, valiantly trying to hold onto their traditions and roles, while females were pressing against the bounds of society and culture. And in the midst of this, somehow romance would still flourish.

We have come a long way since those golden days. Stay-at-home dads, while not the norm, are certainly observed frequently in my typical suburban neighborhood. And women juggle work and parenting fluidly… texting while watching their son or daughter play soccer. But, the tension is still there, set up by those early days of the 20^th C.

Reading this period can give contemporary authors much more depth for their own writing. The transitions that took place during that century hold context for what came before and after. 19th C. romance authors can find the tides that were drawing their heroines into these future battles.

To write romance with any tension at all, we must understand the 20^th C. So in March, as the Genre-istas host guest writers of the 20^th C, I’d like to use it as a platform for commenting and discussing the tension that stems from such a huge transitional period.

Have you read a particularly poignant 20^th C novel, romance or otherwise, that has illuminated this tension? And, where else did we find it during that century? Racial tension, economic tension… there is much ground to cover, so pick an idea and let’s see where it takes us…. As long as you don’t kill off the hero of the show/book;>)

Overheard at... The North Pole

“This is my first day in Santa’s Workshop.”*

We’ve all experienced the excitement and fear that accompany the first time doing something: First day at work, first time riding a bike, first date and the biggest of all… our first day of school.

For me there were many firsts this last year. First time publishing and selling a book. First contract with a publisher (for my second book, coming out in March 2013). First year as a Genre-ista. Each of these first were filled with the tension of the unknown.

In January Romancing the Genres will be spotlighting such debut authors as Bethany Cunningham/Annabeth Albert, Regan Walker, Melanie Robertson-King, Tam Linsey, Kylie Scott and our own Genre-ista, Robin Weaver. I am sure every one of these authors could talk for days about the many emotions that accompany debuting a novel.

And, if you think about it, this is the reason we want tension in our writing; because tension is not only about fear or stress or anxiety, but also about happiness and hope and joy. As with everything in life, we have to experience the dark to find real honesty in the light.

These holidays, more than any other I have experienced, have reinforced this concept. While we are filled with sadness and grief at the tragedies of the last couple of weeks, we also experience the great joy of hope and the happiness and fun of the season.

So to all of you and yours…. We wish you a holiday filled with much laughter and love and a 2013 of many wonderful firsts.

*p.s. My daughter who read what I had written said. “It can’t be an overhear if you didn’t actually hear it, Mom.” So by way of disclosure, this was my first and only fictionalized overhear to date…. But I figured you all probably knew that :>)

Overheard at... Kids Camp

“Drip, drip… drop”

I was watching kids at my daughter’s camp play a game very similar to duck, duck… goose. However, as the person went around the circle they dripped a bit of water on each person until they got to the ‘goose’ at which point they squeezed the sponge and all of the remaining water came out on the person’s head.  You can see where this added a whole new level of tension to the traditional game. Not only might the sitting ‘duck’ get tagged and become it, but he/she might also become soaked in the process.

Ever since this episode the idea of tension has been on my mind. This is my first month writing as a Genre-ista and while I am excited to have been invited, I also have a new understanding of that word. What will I write? Will I be able to come up with something to write once a month in addition to my own thrice weekly blog? How will I keep it interesting for myself and my readers?

Here is my muse’s answer…. tension!

Bad muse! Not terribly creative since tension is in fact the go-to answer for any writing question. But with a little thought I realized I could spin it. So every month I will ask writers and readers of Romance to help me come up with the tension techniques employed by different sub-genres. What has resonated for you when you have read perfectly tense moments? What are the favorite scenes have you written and what created the tension in them?

Tension is a concept we speak about a lot in writing. We know it immediately when we see it, but it isn’t always easy to create without artifice. We can learn from those bad examples too so feel free to include them.

Our starting point this month will be the romantic sub-genre of Romantic  Suspense… a perfect place to begin the dialogue. You can start by reading this wonderful article by Nora Roberts: http://www.writingcorner.com/fiction/plot/romanticsuspense.htm .  In it she discusses how the play of relationship tension and mystery need to intertwine and build off of each other in Romantic Suspense.

Ask yourselves, in romance, where does the relationship tension come from? He’s available, she’s not… or he wants a superficial relationship while she is desperate for deep intimacy. On the other hand, in suspense, it is the danger builds the tension. Someone wants to kill our main character, or she is being framed for a murder she didn’t commit. What types of techniques illuminate that danger?  

In August we have some fantastic guest authors who will be writing their perspectives on Romantic Suspense so check out their blog post each Saturday (along with August 30^th and 31^st) for ideas. Then feel free to invite them into our dialogue.

And finally, look for my questions and tasks in the comments section here and tell me what you think…. I’m dying to know!