Lynne Marshall with a Giveaway!

Today we have Harlequin Mills & Boon Medical and now Harlequin Special Editions author Lynne Marshall. Lynne Marshall writes contemporary and Medical Romance for Harlequin and The Wild Rose Press.  The first book in the Grady family trilogy, Courting His Favorite Nurse, is a March 2012 Harlequin Special Edition.  Also coming in March in e-book only is, An Indiscretion, a contemporary romance with strong medical elements, from The Wild Rose Press.

 You can connect with Lynne Marshall on the Web:

 Website    Facebook     RomanceWiki      Author Page

So over to Lynne now....

MY FIVE FAVORITE ROMANCE BOOK PREMISES

It is a well known fact that there are only a limited number of plots for books – I’ve heard anywhere from twenty to thirty-six – such as human against nature; Human versus society; human against human; human against self; human against supernatural; and the list goes on.

It is also said that there are sixteen to forty-five master character archetypes depending on which books I refer to, and I have a few favorites. I love the plucky heroine, or the seductive muse.  Who doesn’t love a protector hero or the bad boy?

Writing romance forces the author to learn about the “hooks” readers have come to know and love.  Again, this number varies depending on your resources. Today, I’d like to share my top five favorite romance story premises, and why I love them so.

1. Marriage of convenience.  Ever read one of these?  It takes a real skill to write forced proximity stories well, and I drool when I read a good one. I used this premise in Assignment Baby. I find many of these types of stories in historical romance, which lends itself to barter brides or mail order brides. A great example of a recent marriage of convenience story was the wonderful contemporary movie starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, The Proposal.

2. Secret baby.  Ah, who doesn’t love a good “I got pregnant but never told you” story?  I’ve written one or two of these books, and I found it very challenging to make the situation believable while not making the reader mad at the heroine for keeping the super big secret. In Temporary Doctor, Surprise Father I added a special twist to this plot and it was a book that wound up being a finalist in the Greater Detroit Book Buyer’s Best contest in 2010.
3. Pregnant with another man’s baby.  Also known as – How to make a man fall in love with a pregnant woman in nine months or less? This is an incredibly tough plot to pull off due to limited time and the exceptionally touchy subject of a man accepting a woman carrying another man’s baby.  One false move and the story may ring untrue and turn off the reader.  Fiona Lowe did a wonderful job of pulling it off in Pregnant on Arrival.  I also have an as-yet-to-be-published book titled Her Baby, His Love that tackles this very topic. I confess that I loved writing it!
4. Beauty and the Beast. Who doesn’t long to take a dark and brooding male, with or without some sort of disfiguration, make him fit for society again, and have him fall in love with you in the process?  Anyone remember the old TV show back in the 80s – Beauty and the Beast, where Vincent read Dickens and Shakespearean sonnets to Catherine? Very romantic.

5. Mentor/Protégé also known as Boss books.  This is a hugely popular plotline from the number of titles I’ve seen with “boss” in the title. I’ve written one of these too.  The Boss and Nurse Albright put a brooding doctor to task when the new nurse practitioner showed up with many out-of-his-comfort-zone ideas on her list of how to change his clinic.  I adored pitting the hero and heroine against each other until they were hopelessly in love!

I also confess to having a few plots that I’m not crazy about.  For instance, I cannot buy into amnesia books.  Sorry.  It just doesn’t work for me.  Also, there is one other story I love to read and write – reunion stories.  I love when couples who weren’t able to get it together in the past, get a second chance at finding love.  I used this plot for both Courting His Favorite Nurse, and An Indiscretion – my March books.

As readers or writers I’m sure you all have your personal favorite plots, too.  What is yours? Or, if you prefer, share a plot you’re really tired of or have never liked.

I have a copy of either Temporary Doctor, Surprise Father or The Boss and Nurse Albright to give away to one commenter.

 

COURTING HIS FAVORITE NURSE Harlequin Special Edition, March 2012 #2178, US

Anne Grady knew better than anyone that love was complicated. When she’d left her hometown, she thought she was leaving her past heartbreak behind for good, as well. But practically the moment she returned to care for her injured parents, she stumbled headlong into their confidant—her first love, Jack Lightfoot.

 Jack had been unable to deny his feelings for Annie when he was a teenager dating her best friend, and he certainly couldn’t muffle the spark twisting between them now—even if memories of the past kept threatening to push them apart. This time Jack wasn’t going to let history repeat itself—he was going to show Annie that the two of them were meant to be much more than best friends!

 Buy Links:

Harlequin      Amazon      Amazon UK      B&N        Book Depository

   

And the next for Lynne is:

An Indiscretion

A doctor... A nurse... An indiscretion...

Paul Valverde is stretched to the limit, caring for an elderly relative while running a business and maintaining a full-time medical practice at St. Stephen's Hospital--with no time for a relationship.

RN Carrington Hanover leaves her money-hungry fiance at the altar and moves on to a new job at St. Stephen's Hospital in Los Angeles. The next man in her life must love her, not her money.

All work and no play has made Paul an unfulfilled man, and the resurrected redheaded crush from his youth is driving him to distraction. Can their complicated past become untangled by their newfound attraction--or will their love be doomed by mistrust and long-held resentment?

Thank you Lynne for this fantastic romance premises and friends, Lynne is asking.....

As readers or writers I’m sure you all have your personal favorite plots, too. What is yours? Or, if you prefer, share a plot you’re really tired of or have never liked.

She has a copy of either Temporary Doctor, Surprise Father or The Boss and Nurse Albright to give away to one commenter.