Romance is a big seller, as are thrillers full of tension. Romantic suspense authors like Nora Roberts have the best of both genres. Readers have two themes to intrigue them - the interaction between hero and heroine and the fear that a villain will get one of them. With a very skillful writer, there's the fear that the villain will be one of them.
The contract romances that used to be called 'bodice-rippers' have embraced adding an extra dimension of suspense to their plots. The naive young woman still meets a strong, mysterious man, but now the secret in his past is more likely to be espionage or law enforcement than personal bereavement or betrayal. The inevitable misunderstanding is still there, but a mystery complicates things, endangers the heroine, and moves the plot along.
Novelists of great stature such as the prolific Nora Roberts, with hundreds of books to her credit, offer more than an involved plot and rote interaction between generic characters. Roberts never includes scenes merely to fulfill the requirements of a plot outline. She does not create characters that are mere sketches. Her dialogue is believable and her heroes and heroines memorable.
Roberts was a romance writer for years before starting a series about a New York city policewoman. For the 'In Death' novels, Nora uses a pseudonym, J. D. Roberts. Although crime moves the plot, the true story lies in the relationship between the detective and her husband.
Of course, suspense does not always involve a crime being committed. Dorothy L. Sayers created Lord Peter Whimsey, a British nobleman who solves problems for family and country. After breaking many hearts, he eventually falls for a woman charged with murder, and the question of whether they will ever surmount the obstacles that separate them is tension enough for several books.
Martha Grimes has characters so complicated that some readers lose patience. Others, however, get absolutely addicted to her morose, handsome hero, Inspector Richard Jury. His friends, acquaintances, and fairly numerous lovers are funny or ridiculous, driven or inhibited, rich and poor - but never boring. Even her bad guys are complex. One of them is a perennial suspect, with Jury never quite sure of the whole story.
Not all the good authors are women, either. Dick Francis wrote action books based on the world of thoroughbred racing. They are all mysteries, with a central character investigating dark plots among the aristocracy as well as the lower classes. Both worlds are expertly depicted, and the heroes narrowly escape death but never the mayhem that goes before it. However, some of his best books involve romance: Matt Shore falling for his Nancy or Sid Halley losing his first wife to his ambition to be leading steeplechase rider.
Many authors are tops in the romance suspense field for the brilliance of their plots and the excellence of their writing. A great novelist creates characters that develop over time, in a series of books, and may become as much a part of reality for readers as do the 'real life' people they know.
The contract romances that used to be called 'bodice-rippers' have embraced adding an extra dimension of suspense to their plots. The naive young woman still meets a strong, mysterious man, but now the secret in his past is more likely to be espionage or law enforcement than personal bereavement or betrayal. The inevitable misunderstanding is still there, but a mystery complicates things, endangers the heroine, and moves the plot along.
Novelists of great stature such as the prolific Nora Roberts, with hundreds of books to her credit, offer more than an involved plot and rote interaction between generic characters. Roberts never includes scenes merely to fulfill the requirements of a plot outline. She does not create characters that are mere sketches. Her dialogue is believable and her heroes and heroines memorable.
Roberts was a romance writer for years before starting a series about a New York city policewoman. For the 'In Death' novels, Nora uses a pseudonym, J. D. Roberts. Although crime moves the plot, the true story lies in the relationship between the detective and her husband.
Of course, suspense does not always involve a crime being committed. Dorothy L. Sayers created Lord Peter Whimsey, a British nobleman who solves problems for family and country. After breaking many hearts, he eventually falls for a woman charged with murder, and the question of whether they will ever surmount the obstacles that separate them is tension enough for several books.
Martha Grimes has characters so complicated that some readers lose patience. Others, however, get absolutely addicted to her morose, handsome hero, Inspector Richard Jury. His friends, acquaintances, and fairly numerous lovers are funny or ridiculous, driven or inhibited, rich and poor - but never boring. Even her bad guys are complex. One of them is a perennial suspect, with Jury never quite sure of the whole story.
Not all the good authors are women, either. Dick Francis wrote action books based on the world of thoroughbred racing. They are all mysteries, with a central character investigating dark plots among the aristocracy as well as the lower classes. Both worlds are expertly depicted, and the heroes narrowly escape death but never the mayhem that goes before it. However, some of his best books involve romance: Matt Shore falling for his Nancy or Sid Halley losing his first wife to his ambition to be leading steeplechase rider.
Many authors are tops in the romance suspense field for the brilliance of their plots and the excellence of their writing. A great novelist creates characters that develop over time, in a series of books, and may become as much a part of reality for readers as do the 'real life' people they know.
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