Have you ever read or watched a romance that seemed to have all the right elements in place – the meet cute, the attraction, the conflict, the I love you’s and the happy ending – but it just felt…

Flat?

Of course you have.

The problem with those stories is they lack romantic tension.

You know romantic tension, right?

It’s that feeling of being on the edge of your seat, itching, quaking, shaking while you wait for two characters to FINALLY get together.

This blog is about romance and writing, but also about my life as a romance writer. 

But, I realized I haven’t posted anything about publishing my first book yet!

The book is called His Brother’s Mistress, and is about what happens when gorgeous CEO Matt Valetta finds Lucy Alberti living in his recently-deceased brother’s apartment in Rome, and assumes she was his mistress.

So here’s my story of publishing this book…

In March I wrote about how the relative status of heroes — alpha, beta, and gamma — affects romantic stories.

I suggested that romance writers tend to pair opposites, like alphas with betas, but that gamma heroines matched with gamma heroes make for more interesting stories.

So in this post, I’m going to put my theories to the test, and find examples of status pairings in romance movies, and see how they impact the story.

So let’s dive in!!

I’ve wondered a bit if the #MeToo movement has changed our vision of the romantic hero. I don’t think abusive men have ever been the norm in romance novels, but they’ve made their appearances. And the arrogant alpha male is certainly a common trope.

Our love affair with alpha males

I personally still like many alpha traits. I grew up reading Harlequin Presents, and they often featured larger than life heroes – think princes, sheikhs, CEOs, shipping magnates… So that still feels pretty standard for me when I think of romance novel heroes.