Romance And Mystery Together In Books

Back in the 1960s, Harlequin books used to be the preferred reading for teenagers. They were torrid (for that time) and had to be kept hidden from parents and teachers. Today, romance novels with a clever mixture of mystery or horror is the perfect combination for a hungry market. Names of the female protagonists, Carlotta Wren, Emelina Caddington and Lizzie Love, seem to be from another era. In fact, the mystery books of old were called gothics. These were about spirits, ghosts and haunted mansions or castles, with a love interest in the books. The new blend leaves the old in their dust.

Clues to the popularity of these novels is the characters that have seemed so real until the reader feels like they know this person. Also, inter-mixed with the peoples of the story is an excellent mystery, with these characters following the threads of the novel. It takes a great deal of talent to make this formula work so that the reader isn't aware of the inter-woven story. The reader loves or hates the characters and roots for some until the satisfying end.

Some of the authors of the romance-mystery novels are Mary Margret Daughtridge, Lisa Beth Darling and Stephanie Bond. Their characters are so alive they can exhaust (in a good way) the reader as if on a thrill ride. Lisa Beth Darling in her novel, "Dream Weaver," shows the raw courage of the protagonist so that the reader keeps turning the pages. Your heart seems to be ready to jump out of your chest, your body is sweating and you are not sure if the antagonist isn't going to get away with murdering the protagonist. So, you keep reading to fill your exciting curiosity.