The Hero (or Heroine) Vanished Without a Trace
"You just left without a word and nobody knew where to find you. Now you expect to walk back into my life?" She crossed her arms over her chest, angry and, she would never admit--not to him--still hurt even after all these years.
He acknowledged her angry stare with a shrug. "I don't expect anything from you. You're the one who knocked on my front door."
~*~
If you read a lot of romance - and I'm going to assume you do, since you're here :) - you're familiar with the hero or heroine who abruptly left town without giving reasons or warning. Usually, the romance kicks off when the hero (or heroine) comes back to town to find an old love interest still waiting...or pretending not to wait. As much as the waiting love interest claims to not care where the runaway love went, or why, the burning questions are always... Where did you go? Why did you leave me? Are you going to leave me again if I start to love you again?
And for some reason, everybody in the town believes they're entitled to an answer. Nobody ever acknowledges a body has a right to change their circumstances, whether they be emotional or physical, without asking for permission (which is usually why people willfully vanish instead of announcing their plans). People are funny, right?
I recently turned in edits for Menage on 34th Street, which will be published by Carina Press at some point during the holiday season (release date TBA). As the title indicates, this book features a menage a trois. It also features a hero who ran away and didn't come back for many years (you're going to love him, he's delicious). Writing about him this summer, during my own yearly virtual vanishing act, has placed the issue of people running away squarely on my mind.
The vanishing hero/heroine plot isn't a particular favorite of mine but I know some readers absolutely love it. Are you one of them? What do you enjoy most about a romance that features a homecoming? What do you dislike most?
I dislike the sense of entitlement demonstrated by the "left behind" character and the townspeople. Sometimes a body needs to retreat in order to get things together. I know I do on occasion!
He acknowledged her angry stare with a shrug. "I don't expect anything from you. You're the one who knocked on my front door."
~*~
If you read a lot of romance - and I'm going to assume you do, since you're here :) - you're familiar with the hero or heroine who abruptly left town without giving reasons or warning. Usually, the romance kicks off when the hero (or heroine) comes back to town to find an old love interest still waiting...or pretending not to wait. As much as the waiting love interest claims to not care where the runaway love went, or why, the burning questions are always... Where did you go? Why did you leave me? Are you going to leave me again if I start to love you again?
And for some reason, everybody in the town believes they're entitled to an answer. Nobody ever acknowledges a body has a right to change their circumstances, whether they be emotional or physical, without asking for permission (which is usually why people willfully vanish instead of announcing their plans). People are funny, right?
I recently turned in edits for Menage on 34th Street, which will be published by Carina Press at some point during the holiday season (release date TBA). As the title indicates, this book features a menage a trois. It also features a hero who ran away and didn't come back for many years (you're going to love him, he's delicious). Writing about him this summer, during my own yearly virtual vanishing act, has placed the issue of people running away squarely on my mind.
The vanishing hero/heroine plot isn't a particular favorite of mine but I know some readers absolutely love it. Are you one of them? What do you enjoy most about a romance that features a homecoming? What do you dislike most?
I dislike the sense of entitlement demonstrated by the "left behind" character and the townspeople. Sometimes a body needs to retreat in order to get things together. I know I do on occasion!
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