[aka Why I Didn’t and Don’t Read Much RS]
Hi friends! This was posted – gosh, February 23, 2011. It was my third post with H&H … and I’m sharing it for a few reasons. First of all, I plan on eventually reposting all my old HH stuff here. Secondly … this specifically ties into the guest post that will be going live next week. I’ve decided not to edit anything so it’s a copy and paste job. Enjoy. 😛
I used to say that I simply didn’t read the subgenre of romantic suspense (RS), but that’s not really true. In fact, some of the authors I would’ve put on my favorites list write RS. And then a few of my “top ten reads of the year” have been RS as well . . . so, slowly and surely, RS has been making its insidious way into my reading repertoire.*
So why didn’t I read it at first? Perhaps because I find the romance loses out in RS, or at least is unsatisfying/insufficient to me. The necessity of plot development and the focus on the burgeoning relationship are at odds. Especially with the shorter novel lengths. Maybe it’d work in a saga (although those to me are more grandiose story lines about generations of a family).
Relationships are complicated. Writing a believable suspense plot is also difficult, and combining the genres takes talent. Then there is also the development of series, and books that end with a cliff-hanger rather than the conclusion of a story arc. And I hate that. For some reason I can take that in films, but not books. Continue reading