To kick off my new blogging feature on
interesting plots and themes – I have invited back to the blog Harriet
Schultz, American author of the Amazon bestseller Legacy of the Highlands and its
just-published sequel, A Legacy of Revenge, to talk to us about her contemporary
romantic suspense novels which each have a central theme of revenge,
which Harriet cleverly combines with passion, hot men (of
course), a love story, intrigue and settings as varied as Scotland, Buenos
Aires, Miami and Boston.
Recently, Harriet was invited to write
a guest column for USA Today on the theme of revenge in romance novels, for
which she interview Jayne Ann Krentz (aka Amanda Quick) for the story. I found
this to be fascinating reading. So, in case you missed it, I’ve asked Harriet to
pop over to the UK and tell us all about her theme of revenge.
“…if
you wrong us, shall we not revenge?”
The
Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare
When
wronged, who hasn’t craved the satisfaction that revenge can bring? The target
could be a boyfriend whose betrayal broke your heart, those mean girls who made
your life miserable, or the villain who stole something you value — a material
object, something more abstract such as honor, or even the life of a loved one.
The list of triggers that might set off the need for vengeance is endless.
Revenge
is a very human emotion, a dark and powerful one, yet one that’s hard to
resist. It’s the rare person who hasn’t yearned to retaliate for a wrong at
some point. In real life, however, getting back at someone isn’t always wise or
do-able, so as readers and writers we derive vicarious pleasure when fictional
characters do the deed for us.
Vengeance
is a popular theme in romance novels and crosses all subgenres from historicals
to the paranormal, contemporary chick lit and, of course, suspense. A quick
Amazon search for “romance” and “revenge” results in more than one thousand
titles. (I was happy to find my newest, A Legacy of Revenge, among the first
fifteen on this list). Delve further and
Google comes up with more than two million hits for “revenge in romance
novels.”
The
titles of romance novels with a revenge theme show that payback can take many
forms and may be delivered by a disparate group of characters — billionaires,
banshees, jocks, vampires, homecoming queens, rock chicks and even one
middle-aged woman. The plots and people
who inhabit the pages of these books are as wide-ranging and original as
writers’ imaginations can make them, but all feature at least one protagonist
with an overwhelming desire to retaliate for a real or perceived wrong.
What
is it that makes revenge such a satisfying plot device? It’s certainly not a
new one. The Bible is filled with “an eye for and eye” tales of revenge, it was
a favorite of Shakespeare’s and there would have been no Count of Monte Cristo
without it. Country music’s queen of revenge songs, Miranda Lambert, says
people connect with her lyrics because “these
songs make you feel emotion. They are just so passionate.” And we all know that
a romance novel without passion is a book that will not be read.
Revenge
snakes its way through both of my romantic suspense novels, but it doesn’t pit
the hero and heroine against each other. Instead they’re united in a quest to
discover why the heroine’s husband — the hero’s best friend — was murdered and
to avenge the killing. The smoking hot (of course) former womanizer’s feelings
for the heroine run deep and our hero is equally determined to win her heart.
They believe that the vendetta is over at the end of book one, but it comes
back to haunt them in the sequel. As Daniel Craig (aka James Bond) says,
“revenge doesn’t stop.”
Bestselling author Jayne Ann Krentz knows something about the
appeal of revenge in romance novels. "When I use revenge as a motive for a
hero or a heroine it is always all about family and responsibility to others -
never personal. There is nothing noble, heroic or romantic about seeking
revenge for yourself. But to avenge a deep wrong done to someone in your
family or to someone you love? Ah, that is another story - one I can
write."
The
uncertainty about if, how, and when the revenge will take place, whether it
will be successful, and the ultimate happiness of our hero and heroine are what
make these romances so deliciously engaging and keep us turning the pages late
into the night.
A Legacy of Revenge
When a
fourteenth-century Scottish oath leads to murder in present-day Boston, the
victim's devastated widow seeks revenge. Determined to find and punish the
person who killed her husband Will, Alexandra Cameron joins forces with his
best friend, the handsome, wealthy and powerful, Argentine Diego Navarro. A Legacy of Revenge is the sequel to the Amazon
bestseller, Legacy of the Highlands.
To
celebrate the sequel’s publication, the first book in the series, Legacy of the
Highlands, is priced at just 73p from May 2nd -5th. It’s
available from most e-booksellers including Amazon Apple, Smashwords, Barnes &
Noble and Kobo.
About the Author: Harriet Schultz is an award-winning
journalist whose career began at TIME magazine. She loves to travel and is
happy that something she enjoys adds realism to the locations of her books.
Twitter: @HarrietSchultz
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