Smooth Sailing – A Second Chance Romance
I’m so excited to introduce you to Linda Rettstatt. Linda is a fellow “Seasoned Romance” author and wonderful writer. I have confidence you’ll enjoy her post and her books. Hello Linda!
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I began my writing career later in life and writing women’s fiction.
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I realized that most of my characters in my women’s fiction work were women in their forties or older, some in their thirties. I also discovered a sub-plot of romance sneaking into those books. I lived through the era of ‘sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll.’ But sans the drugs, sex and love aren’t only reserved for the young and might be set against a backdrop of a different tune.
I wrote my first romance novel featuring characters of about thirty. That went well, but then I wondered about older characters looking for second chances at love. I discovered a whole new layer to the characters and their stories—the layer of the past and what the characters carry with them into a new relationship—good and bad. Heroes and heroines in their forties and fifties can still be very vibrant, very alive, and still fall in love. Sometimes they even fall in lust.
In my first ‘second chance’ romance, The Promise Tree (Wings ePress, 2012), I brought together Trudi and Wynn who were childhood friends and later became teenage lovers, then separated and went their separate ways for college. She’s now divorced, he’s a widower. Both are in their late forties. I found in these characters a different set of fears and doubts and a different kind of abandonment and freedom. My newest ‘second chance’ romance, Smooth Sailing, features characters in their fifties. Edie and Adam prove that love and romance have no expiration date and that sex can be even better after fifty.
Some of us look for romance novels that have a little spice to them, and some look for characters that have some seasoning. Sometimes, they might have both.
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SMOOTH SAILING: A Second-Chance Romance
When recently-divorced Edie Montgomery discovers the cruise she’s been booked on is called the Meet Your Mature Match cruise, she wants to grab her luggage and run. Widower Adam Armstrong is kicking himself for taking on the assignment of reviewing a cruise catering to the over-fifty crowd. Sure, he’s over fifty, but he’s not seeking a match–mature or otherwise. But romance and love aren’t only reserved for the young.
For a chance to win a signed copy of SMOOTH SAILING, just leave a comment answering this question: Which is more important to you in a romance novel—the romantic relationship or the sex?
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Linda Rettstatt is a best-selling and award-winning author of women’s fiction and contemporary romance. You can visit Linda’s website at www.lindarettstatt.com or visit her Facebook page at Linda Rettstatt, Writing for Women.
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Wow this is sounds great. I love second chance romance. To me the sex just is not as important as we get older it is more important to have a solid relationship.
I agree with you Terri.
I hope it has nothing to do with my age. I have just always thought this way. Sex can be great, but there are more important things in life.
I’d say, it might be that as you’ve aged you’ve also matured and that’s where we become our true selves.
I love the conection the feel of being and holding their hands and arms around me
I agree with you.
The romance is more important. Sex is important too, but if your not feeling it and don’t have that connection, sex is just sex and then to me just not worth it. I’d rather be with someone who makes me feel special and be honest and talk about everything.
I agree with you Doreen. Right on.
I apologize for getting here days late. Between computer issues and health issues, the week took off without me. Thanks, P.J. for having me here.
No worries, life has a way of doing its own thing. Glad your better.
Thanks everyone for your comments. I have to say, it’s fun writing romance with a more mature couple. We’re all familiar with the negative connotations given to the term “baggage”, but sometimes baggage equals experience that enhances a relationship. I had a friend who met and later married a man who had been widowed. She often said she wished she could thank his first wife for smoothing out his rough edges before she met him.
That’s a great way to think about it.