In Hot Pursuit

I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving. :-)
Now I have a story that ties into our writing.

My four year old Matthew has a crush. It's the cutest thing, but was also sad because Savannah told him that they weren't friends. So he admitted to me that he followed her sometimes across the playground. Pursued her, if you will. (Don't worry, I told him to stop. lol)
Now, suddenly, this fickle four year old girl is his friend. So he came home and told me how he and another boy chased her and another girl. Who did Matthew like chasing the best? Savannah. Even though she finally agreed to befriend him, he still pursues her.

This started me thinking about romance. In my opinion, there should be a pursuit. One character should desperately want the other. It spices things up. There's nothing more boring to me than reading about happy couples, usually because there's no sizzle.
Now in life, I'm very happy with my relationship with my husband. We get along great with another differences to keep things interesting and we rarely fight.

But in a romance, there needs to be tension, conflict.

Clashing desires.

And hot pursuit.

Some of my favorite romances are by Victoria Holt and Nora Roberts because there's usually one character in love with another, which leads to a delicious, emotional rollercoaster ride of a chase.

What are your fav romances? Why?

Comments

Angie Ledbetter said…
Not too hot on girl-meets-boy-loses-boy-then-gets-him-in-the-end stories. Rather have sharp twists and surprises. :)
November 29, 2008 at 2:23 PM
Susan J. Reinhardt said…
I enjoy the stories where the couple are desperately in love, but must overcome obstacles.

Blessings,
Susan :)
November 29, 2008 at 7:58 PM
Jessica Nelson said…
Hey Angie,
Yeah, we definitely don't want a cliche story. :-)
I love twists too.

Susan,
I enjoy those too.
November 29, 2008 at 8:18 PM
Anonymous said…
My two all time faves are Jane Eyre, and Wuthering Heights. I think it's the gothic backdrop and the independently headstrong women back in an era when men ruled the roost.

Not to mention they each have amazing twists and turns, as mentioned above, and are of course so very well written. I'm in awe of the writing ability of the classic authors. The in-depth characterizations and the lush descriptions pull me in every time.

Great post, Jessie! :-)
November 30, 2008 at 10:02 AM
Anonymous said…
Oh, and that story about little Matthew is adorable! Teehee.

And go you on the wordage, girl! You're really climbing that word meter lately!
November 30, 2008 at 10:08 AM
Eileen Astels Watson said…
This is interesting, Jessica. My most favorite romance is actually, Pride and Prejudice. You made me think about it with this post. Darcy is actually pursuing Lizzy for the majority of the story, only in his quiet way. It's been a while since I read the story, though I've watched the four-hour long movie several times since my last read through. But if I recall, I don't think Darcy gets a POV in that story, but yet we know he's interested because of his actions, and that's what adds intrigue.

I agree with you, having one do the pursuing can be great fun to read.
December 2, 2008 at 9:32 AM
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