How Romantic Suspense
is Making A Comeback
by Lisa Eugene
There've been a lot of romance books recently that have a subgenre of mystery/suspense. I think it's because the combination is so enticing. Who doesn't love a good mystery? Who doesn't love a good romance? Put the two together and...wow!! It's like combining peanut butter and chocolate...who would have thought? Or in my case...vodka, tripple sec, and cranberry juice...a cosmo! Who would have thought? Delicious--- like reading a romantic suspense.
I like the two genres because they add another layer to the romantic plot. The mixture usually adds a faster pace to the story. Frequently, you can't wait to get to the next page in order to find out what happens. It transcends the story to not just be about the hero and heroine, but about some mystery that has brought the two together. It also demonstrates how they interact with each other under the most adverse circumstances, how they come to depend on and trust each other. How they use logic, brains and often brawn to overcome certain obstacles.
This combination also gives the writer a chance to depict the heroine as a strong, smart, capable individual. The heroine can be as physically strong as the story needs her to be or be just as demure. Combining these two genres gives the author more diversity. The hero is not necessarily always the 'hero'. In fact, in Strictly Business although Wade, my hero, has appointed himself Nina’s protector, she defies him at every turn. She’s a strong willed, intelligent woman who uses her analytical reasoning and the passion for her career to help Wade figure out the mystery of the story. That is what ultimately brings them together.
I've always liked the heightened tension of a good suspense story and combining that with a hot steamy combustible couple is just icing on the cake!
~ Lisa Eugene
Strictly Business
"Conservative Emergency Room Physician, Nina Henley has always followed the rules. Her life has been dictated by her unwavering commitment to medicine. Wade Connolly, renowned medical malpractice attorney and 'New York’s sexiest bachelor' enters her life and challenges her with his bold sexuality and intense passion. One look into his gorgeous blue eyes and Nina is forced to acknowledge needs that have long been repressed. When she becomes involved in Wade’s perilous malpractice case she realizes that she is at risk for not only heartbreak, but betrayal as everything she's worked so hard for is threatened. Will Wade's passion and love be enough to save her or will she lose everything…including her life?"
+18 Only
Caught in a cloud that was all sensation and need, she trailed her fingers down to the waistband of his pants.
“God…I want you. Where can we go? Is it safe in here?” His husky breath floated against the shell of her ear, sending a hazy buzz along her skin.
The loud jingle of the beeper hanging precariously from her scrub bottoms sliced through the moment like a sledgehammer. They both stared at each other, stunned, wide eyed, and wanting.. She exhaled an unsteady breath as she skimmed a hand over her hair, ignoring the jab of several pens. She quickly checked the state of her scrubs. She couldn't believe that she’d acted so impetuously—like a sex starved lunatic! Remorse stabbed at her. Thoughts of her promising career and the life she'd built all twirled around in her head like a frenzied tornado, threatening to disappear into the fuzzy distance...
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