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.
Since contemporary romantic novels usually reflect the era when they are written, modern readers often cannot relate to the characters and story line in older novels. As a result, most of them eventually disappear from the scene. The few exceptions that stood the test of time, such as the works of Jane Austen, are mostly re-classified as historical romances.
Traditionally, romantic suspense involves a plot or mystery that the protagonists must solve. The heroine is generally the victim of a horrible crime or a ruthless psychopath. She works with a hero who is typically in a career field most suitable to protect her. In the end, they solve the mystery and the time and ordeal they shared lead to a strong romantic relationship.
While most of these novels take place in contemporary times, some authors like Amanda Quick have managed to successfully include historical time frames. Modern day romantic novels tend to combine various sub-genres to realistically portray the true toils and turmoils of current times. As women became emancipated, the original chic lit and love stories had to keep up with modern times. Today's heroine is not the beautiful, helpless damsel in distress of Victorian times and can stand her ground in any situation.
Nowadays' authors have more freedom to combine different sub-genres and to play around with time frames, locations and real life crime and intrigue. Adding elements of science fiction, fantasy and thrilling suspense to a romance, make for nail-biting reading if a good balance is kept. The language used in modern romantic novels also changed from poetic and overly erotic intimacy to a more realistic, informal and everyday style.
Acclaimed author Mary Stewart was one of the first novelists who opened the door for today's trend of spicing up passionate romance with a strong scoop of intrigue and chilling terror. She managed to keep a perfect balance between building a strong courtship between the two main characters while maintaining nerve-racking suspense which directly affected their relationship.
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.
A good example of the latter is the fast-paced romantic suspense novel A Matter of Trust by Melba J Flournoy. The book was praised as one of the best paranormal suspense romances to date. Featuring a tough heroine with strong psychic powers, hell-bent on saving a young girl and her own reputation with the help of a Navy Seal, the book has all the ingredients for a gripping read - humor, intrigue, romance and suspense with an entertaining paranormal element.
Since contemporary romantic novels usually reflect the era when they are written, modern readers often cannot relate to the characters and story line in older novels. As a result, most of them eventually disappear from the scene. The few exceptions that stood the test of time, such as the works of Jane Austen, are mostly re-classified as historical romances.
Traditionally, romantic suspense involves a plot or mystery that the protagonists must solve. The heroine is generally the victim of a horrible crime or a ruthless psychopath. She works with a hero who is typically in a career field most suitable to protect her. In the end, they solve the mystery and the time and ordeal they shared lead to a strong romantic relationship.
While most of these novels take place in contemporary times, some authors like Amanda Quick have managed to successfully include historical time frames. Modern day romantic novels tend to combine various sub-genres to realistically portray the true toils and turmoils of current times. As women became emancipated, the original chic lit and love stories had to keep up with modern times. Today's heroine is not the beautiful, helpless damsel in distress of Victorian times and can stand her ground in any situation.
Nowadays' authors have more freedom to combine different sub-genres and to play around with time frames, locations and real life crime and intrigue. Adding elements of science fiction, fantasy and thrilling suspense to a romance, make for nail-biting reading if a good balance is kept. The language used in modern romantic novels also changed from poetic and overly erotic intimacy to a more realistic, informal and everyday style.
Acclaimed author Mary Stewart was one of the first novelists who opened the door for today's trend of spicing up passionate romance with a strong scoop of intrigue and chilling terror. She managed to keep a perfect balance between building a strong courtship between the two main characters while maintaining nerve-racking suspense which directly affected their relationship.
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.
A good example of the latter is the fast-paced romantic suspense novel A Matter of Trust by Melba J Flournoy. The book was praised as one of the best paranormal suspense romances to date. Featuring a tough heroine with strong psychic powers, hell-bent on saving a young girl and her own reputation with the help of a Navy Seal, the book has all the ingredients for a gripping read - humor, intrigue, romance and suspense with an entertaining paranormal element.
