Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss

Elisabeth Naughton | Getting a Bonus, Two Love Stories for Price of One!

November 19, 2009

ELISABETH NAUGHTONSTOLEN HEATWho isn’t look for a good deal? Especially in this day and age where the economy’s in the toilet and we’re all searching for ways to save a buck or two? I have always been a fan of great love stories. So it’s always a plus when those stories I love include not only a main romance but a secondary one as well. Two of my favorite contemporary books include secondary romances-Perfect, by Judith McNaught and Match Me If You Can by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Often times, when rereading old books (which I tend to do when I just want to relax), I skim over sections that aren’t related to the main plot. But I never skip the secondary love stories in these two books. And it’s a testament to these writers that their secondary characters have sucked me in as much as the main characters.

There will always be a debate among readers as to whether or not secondary romances have a place in romance novels or if they’re just “filler”. Sometimes-I will admit-that’s what they feel like. A way for the author to stretch their page count. But if done right, a secondary romance is tightly interwoven into the main plot and adds to the main romance. It doesn’t detract. It adds substance and balance that may not be there otherwise. That’s not always easy to do. But you know when you’ve seen it done right, and you remember those authors who do it well.

Read the rest and learn how to win!

One Comment

  • Mary Anne Landers November 19, 2009 at 9:18 pm

    Elisabeth: Thank you for your post. Like you, I think a secondary romance adds to rather than detracts from the primary one. At least if it's done right, when both relationships have considerable bearing on each other.

    As a rule, if the primary romance works, the secondary romance works—and vice-versa. With this reader, anyhow. And if one fails . . . you get the idea.

    Keep up the good work!