Guest Blog: Jo Beverley: Let's Talk About Conflict in a Romance Novel.

People say that conflict is what makes a good read, and it's true, but sometimes people, including inexperienced authors, get the idea that conflict = war, fighting, and head-butting, and that isn't usually the case. I don't know about you, but I get bored of romances in which the main problem is that the hero and heroine just can't get along. I'm particularly irritated if the completely unreasonable one is the hero because I won't be far into the book before I'm muttering, "Just walk, lady. He's a thick-headed jerk and always will be."

Do you ever find yourself thinking that, or do you enjoy seeing the snarly duckling eventually turned into an amiable swan? That's another classic storyline, of course, so it's valid.

To flip the above comment about her walking, my husband has similar advice to most romance heroes. He sometimes helps me with my plot dilemmas, and as I lay out the situation he often says, "He needs to walk. That woman's nothing but trouble."

LOL! He's usually right, whether the wounds be mental, emotional, or physical, the guy would have had a quieter life if he'd never met her. "But," I say, "the rewards in the end make it all worth it."

He's not convinced. "You don't want to meet any of these men in a dark alley," he warns.

But back to conflict. Sometimes the hero and heroine will have strongly opposing views on an important subject, so there will be arguments, but arguments alone don't take a novel very far. Sometimes they're on opposite sides in a fight, be it a family feud or intergalactic war, and that makes for powerful barriers to their happiness. The novel usually works because they are both working to overcome those barriers rather than just shooting at each other.

And that is the key term -- barriers. Conflict in a novel is the stuff that gets between the character and his or her goal. In a romance some of the barriers will be between the couple and their future happiness, and for me as a reader it better not just be head-butting, but that could be because my idea of a wonderful relationships is one mostly of agreement.

We readers don't all love and hate the same books, thank heavens, and so it's good there's something for everyone in romance novels.

There's hardly any fighting between my hero and heroine in A Scandalous Countess, but they have all kinds of barriers to overcome.

Superficially, they're a bad match.

Lord Dracy was until recently in the navy and he has no experience with or interest in fashionable, courtly London society. Now he's inherited an impoverished barony he's duty bound to put all his efforts into restoring his country estate to prosperity.

Georgia, dowager Countess of Maybury (and she hates that "dowager", being only 20) has lived three years as a wealthy, fashionable London lady, a darling of society. It's her world. Her husband's death and the scandal surrounding it have taking that life from her and her chief goal is to get it back. The obvious way is to marry a rich, highly-titled, Town-loving gentleman. She positively dislikes country living.

A horse race brings them together -- and they like each other. They spar a bit, but both recognize that unexpectedly and undesirably, they've found a friend.

Perhaps you can see how that is a new barrier. Dracy wants the best for his friend, and he's not it. Georgia values this new friend, but she sees the danger that he might fall in love with her and she can't break a friend's heart.

The reviving scandal and the machinations of an enemy both push them closer and challenge their plans, and thus a novel grows. You can read their first encounter on my web site here.
http://www.jobev.com/ascancexc.html

The reviews thus far are excellent, and A Scandalous Countess is a top pick from Romantic Times. I hope you enjoy it. I'll give a signed copy of the previous countess book, An Unlikely Countess, to a random pick from comments here about conflict and barriers in romance novels. I'll choose someone at midnight EST, 1 February.

Oh, and lastly, my publisher has produced a short video of me talking about the book. Americans seem to enjoy my English accent. http://youtu.be/V149m0JXGck

Happy reading always!

Jo

Jo Beverley has an Author's page at: http://www.romancebooksrus.com. Come and visit the website!

BLURB:
Georgia, Countess of Maybury has it all, but then her husband is killed in a duel and she loses her homes, most of her possessions, and her reputation as well. Innocent of all charges, she returns to the beau monde determined to regain all through a second brilliant marriage, but a scarred ex-naval officer threatens to tempt her in a different direction.

BIO:
Jo Beverley is one the few authors writing English-set historical romance who is English. She was born and raised in England, and has a degree in English history from Keele University in Staffordshire. She and her husband emigrated to Canada, but have now returned to England. They have two sons.

Though Jo started to write as a young child, it was only in the eighties that she began to think that it was something ordinary people could do, and after a talk at a local library, she settled to seriously writing her first historical romance.

Now, she is the author of over thirty romance novels and many novellas -- see Jo Beverley's booklist which have brought her many awards, including five RITA awards from the Romance Writers of America and awards from Romantic Times including two Career Achievement awards. She is a member of the RWA Honor Roll, and the RWA Hall of Fame.