TEMPTED BY TROUBLE and boy when it rains, it pours.
Torrential conflicts are what keeps romance hot.
GUEST POST featured on Monster Promo Tour
at Reading Betwen the Wines 4/29/13
Thank
you so much Reading Between the Wines for allowing me to guest post today, and
of course share Tempted with your
readers. I thought
we’d discuss the problem within romance.
When writing romance that sizzles,
the parts that keep a reader engaged are the conflicts or problems the
characters encounter.
From the opening pages, the heroine
and hero are smacked with problems. Some are easy to solve and some will last
the entire story. Each writer knows it is her duty to keep heaping on dilemma
after dilemma. Plots must focus on a tightly driven story, one that moves the
reader forward. The only way to do that is to craft a problem that is almost
insurmountable. Actually many problems, scene after problematic scene.
In Tempted by Trouble, since it a love story the central issue is about
two people, Carolina and Matt, who can’t seem to romantically connect. What’s
the problem? Several. On first sight, they start off on the wrong foot when
Carolina sees Matt in a rather awkward
position. This meeting occurs before they realize they are destined to work
together. Well, workplace romances are problematic by their very nature, so
it’s easy to stir the pot creating a dicey situation for Matt and Carolina.
The story problems range in severity
but major ones are emotionally gripping. I’ve found, a writer cannot be kind to
her characters. Pulling out the stops, even Matt and Carolina’s past romantic
history must be a threat. And that one point in Tempted a dagger is thrust into the plot. For even when Carolina
and Matt seem to sort out all their problems issues, well darn it if they’re
thrown a curve ball by a past flame showing up and undoing everything.
In each scene, a writer attempts to
stir the upset the apple cart. Never letting the characters rest, making them
miserable by their desire for each other, and then keeping them apart.
In Tempted by Trouble, the characters ache for each other. And I must say it was so much fun to use
family members in showing casing Carolina and Matt’s issues. For Carolina, she
comes from a close-nit Cuban family. An overprotective mother and then there’s
her cousin who can sniff out a bad boy and tells Carolina, point blank: “All I’m saying is keep your eyes open.
Listen to yourself. A man who’s having sex in his car. And you’re attracted.
That’s wacko coming from you. Sounds like a rebel and we all know you’ve got a
soft spot for a bad boy. It’s your libido sparking, nothing else.”
With Matt, his brothers and sister
keep him hopping and give him advice on what to do.
“Morning,” Stephen called out, lifting his
hat. “Brother, how you’ve gotten away with this one, I don’t know how you do
it.”
Matt straightened and cocked his head. “Watch yourself, man.
Your team is calling for you.”
“Edgy. You’d better watch
yourself.” His brother slapped his thigh.
“Later, Carolina.”
Tempted by Trouble is part of
series, Lovers and Fighters. These
hot westerns are more than sweet gentle rolls in the hay. In Tempted by Trouble, there’s a whole mess
of trouble the characters have to wade through to get to the “Happy Ever
After.” So in writing and reading romance, the mantra is so much pain—so much to gain. Over and over…and over again.