The Pink Heart Society is delighted to be welcoming new regular columnist Jill Kemerer, as she talks about her love for reunion romance novels...
This
will come as a shocker, but I’m nosy. I regularly read gossip magazines. I keep
mental tabs on the houses for sale in our neighborhood and check if they’re
wearing Sale Pending signs. If there are fifteen cars in front of so-and-so’s
home, I come up with several reasons why. I also shamelessly eavesdrop on loud
conversations. What can I say? I’d apologize, but I don’t feel bad!
My
daughter and I still reminisce about a minor league baseball game where two very
intoxicated older gentlemen sat behind us, discussing their divorces, why the
third baseman wasn’t fit for the major leagues, and how Christine (whoever she was)
kicked one off the couch and out of her life. It really doesn’t get better in
my world.
What
does this have to do with reunion romance novels? Everything!
My
unscientific theory about why reunion romance novels are so popular is based on
three key reasons.
1. We’re all a little
nosy.
The
book’s characters obviously liked—even loved—each other at one point, so we’re
curious. Why DID they break up? How will they ever get back together? Will they
work out their problems? Will they do things differently this time? (Why did
Christine really kick the
above-mentioned guy off her couch? I still want the scoop on that.)
2. We’re also
nostalgic.
Most
of us recall those crazy feelings of infatuation we had about someone. We
remember our first kisses, first dates and the feeling of delight at meeting
someone who thinks we’re amazing.
Purchasing a reunion romance allows us to experience these emotions through the characters. Feel-good vibes pump through when the heroine locks eyes with tall-dark-and-hotness. Sure, she hates him, but she remembers the first words he said to her, the way he drew her into his arms, and she can’t help loving him a teeny bit, too. We want to vicariously experience the highs and lows of someone else’s romantic chaos. It’s fun!
Purchasing a reunion romance allows us to experience these emotions through the characters. Feel-good vibes pump through when the heroine locks eyes with tall-dark-and-hotness. Sure, she hates him, but she remembers the first words he said to her, the way he drew her into his arms, and she can’t help loving him a teeny bit, too. We want to vicariously experience the highs and lows of someone else’s romantic chaos. It’s fun!
3. We’re romantics at
heart.
If
the hero and heroine can work through near-impossible problems to embrace a
future with each other, maybe we can too. When I’m reading a romance novel, I
get emotionally invested. I understand the heroine’s dilemmas, feel her
longings, her fears. And my heart aches for the hero who was misunderstood or
acted like a jerk but regrets it. I want them
to get together, and I have to keep reading to see how they work it out.
There’s something so satisfying about finishing a good reunion romance novel.
Mm-mm!
The
characters in my new release, Unexpected Family, came calling one
day and would not leave me alone. Tom Sheffield gets the surprise of his life
when his ex-wife Stephanie shows up on his porch five years after the divorce
and tells him he has a daughter.
The
biggest challenge with writing this particular reunion romance was to make
Stephanie likable and sympathetic. Tom, Stephanie and their daughter Macy broke
my heart many times as I wrote the book, but they also surprised me. I love
these characters and hope you do, too!
Do you love reunion
romances? And are you as nosy as I am? More? Less? Do tell!
Jill's second book for Harlequin Love Inspired, Unexpected Family is available now:
After five years apart, Tom Sheffield is shocked to find his ex-wife, Stephanie, on his doorstep. The news that they share a child he's never met sends him reeling. Four-year-old Macy has his eyes, his mouth and, from their first encounter, his heart. Things with her mother are much more complicated.
He doesn't understand what went wrong between them or why she kept their daughter a secret. And he's afraid of falling in love all over again. Yet he feels a glimmer of hope that somehow he can convince Macy and Stephanie to stay in Lake Endwell—and with him—for keeps.
I have written one - you have certainly nailed why we love them! Can't wait to read your new novel.
ReplyDeleteOoh, Beverley, I'm sure yours is a goodie! Thanks for stopping by!
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