Friday, November 14, 2014

New Suspense Romance Novels Keep The Adrenaline Pumping

By Christa Jarvis


Mankind's need for love and romance will always be one of the strongest driving forces. This need is also reflected in the ever-growing popularity of and demand for romantic novels. This literary genre has, however, grown to encompass a wide field of sub-genres to add some intriguing plots and thrills to the more traditional romantic novel. New suspense romance novels perfectly blend romance with mystery, murder and mystique.

Combining romance with suspense can be tricky and requires a fine balance between nail-biting tension and dramatic true love. If the plot is too blood-curdling or leans towards a thriller, the truly romantic at heart may lose interest. On the other hand, a love story without some spine-chilling suspense can easily be too boring or predictable. The secret lies in building a strong and realistic story line around both main elements.

Because romance novels has no limitations regarding the kind of plot devices, time frames or locations that can be used, the genre has grown to include a wide variety of material and lead to multiple sub-genres. These days, romantic suspense novels are often closely related to mysteries, thrillers and crime fiction.

It is not an easy feat to keep a balance between a blooming, romantic courtship and nail-biting suspense. As in all romances, a realistic relationship between the protagonists must form the heart of the story. Their courtship must impact all their decisions as it build the intrigue and propels the story. On the other hand, the nature of the plot must also directly affect their relationship and move the story forward.

The bestselling author Mary Stewart was the first novelist who managed to seamlessly bridge the gap between romance and suspense. Her ten romantic suspense novels, published between 1955 and 1967, paved the way for an exciting new trend in this genre. She managed to subtly reveal the character of the hero via his mystery-solving actions which helped the heroine to fall in love with him.

Paranormal romances is a relatively new combination of sub-genres that are becoming increasingly popular as authors manage to blend fantasy, science fiction and paranormal experiences with a strong love story. This genre grew significantly since 2002 and combines a variety of elements such as history, fantasy and modern day science to build a suspenseful romantic novel. A popular title alone in this genre can sell over 500,000 copies.

One of the exciting new-comers on the front of the paranormal romantic novel is debut-author Melba J Flournoy, whose fast-paced psychic romantic novel A Matter of Trust caused a big stir in literary circles. Born and bred as the only daughter of middle class parents in the rural farming area of Georgia, Melba Flournoy-Moon spent almost 20 years as a teacher for children with learning disabilities.

This fast paced paranormal romance has all the elements to please both suspense and romance lovers, featuring a psychic heroine with paranormal abilities to spice things up. A Navy Seal, a young girl in distress and a kick-ass school-teacher hell-bent on saving little Rachel and to clear her own name forms the intriguing background to a blooming relationship.




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