Would you think
twice about purchasing a book if the cover depicted a man with graying or
totally gray hair and an attractive mature heroine? An aging biker and a
fiftyish Marian the Librarian wearing sensible shoes? What would happen if the
aging biker rescued Marian from a mugger? What if they hadn’t seen each other
in thirty years and he regrets—oh heck, before I plot out an entire book, I
think I’d better finish this blog.
That’s right,
both the hero and heroine have been around the block or at least glanced
longingly at it and wished they had been brave enough, once upon a time to
throw away the map and have an adventure.
The hero/heroine
may have been so focused on their career that they never married or their
marriage didn’t survive their demanding workload. They might be widowed or
divorced or surprised that someone might think of them as a love interest. They
may have children or not. Whatever is going on in your character’s lives, they
have reached a point where they’ve realized that change is inevitable and
necessary.
If this is a
romance, they will be making some hard choices that will probably include being
forced to consider life without the person who has been driving them insane
through most of the book.
Wait a minute.
What makes a romance between these fiftyish contemporaries so different from
any other romance? Nothing—except the age of the protagonists and their unique
perspective of whatever problem gets thrown at them.
The
possibilities for an interesting story and fascinating characters are endless
and that is fodder for any writer’s imagination—which is probably why I stopped
working on this blog for a minute and started jotting down the story inspired
by Marian the Librarian. I’m a hopeless romantic.
But then again,
maybe I’m just hopeful. It isn’t that I can’t admire or want to read about a thirty-something hero
and heroine but I’m looking at situations from a different perspective these
days and I wouldn’t mind reading about a sexy, fiftyish hero falling for
someone in his immediate age group.
Most of us are
familiar with the older hero/younger heroine and even the younger hero/older
heroine theme, but what if both protagonists were closer to fifty? Would the character’s age
matter if the story was compelling and the excerpt intrigued you or would age
be the deal-breaker as to whether or not you wanted to read past the blurb?
Until next
month,
Happy Reading!
Paris Brandon
Bend
Over, Cowboy-5 Stars, Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews
Petting
Kitty-Ellora’s Cave
Cross My Heart-NOR Top Pick
Head Over Heels-5 Hearts, The Romance Studio
Assassin’s Kiss-4 Stars Romantic Times Book Review
No Holds Barred-4 Stars JERR
