Ya know, when I started writing I didn't set out to write romances, I read them...sorta....actually at the time I'd only read a few of Nora's books shortly after she ventured into single title (as opposed to when she wrote for Harlequin...which I never go out of my way to read...no offense to my Harlequin writing friends). For the most part I read John Saul, Michael Crichton or Dean Koontz type books. But then I started writing my first book, Forget Me Not which I'd penned as a suspense, but somewhere in the middle it became a romance. When it nearly sold to Kensington a couple of years ago the editor wanted me to add more suspense....to give it more of an equal billing. I did the changes (and have done a bit more over the last several months) and I'm happy with it...unfortunately it's still not selling. *sigh*

Anyway, as I was writing Forget Me Not I was also writing Dark Obsession (or rather I was plotting Dark Obsession, I didn't start the actual writing until I'd finished FMN...which only took two months)  Now, I'd started DO with the idea that it would be a romance...kind of City of Angels meets Charmed meets Supernatural....because of the paranormal/supernatural elements.  

My second agent (and now EX) submitted DO to a few house without much interest (except for the same Kensington editor who thought it needed liposuction in the middle cuz...you know...it sagged.)  The editor totally loved the romance and sexual tension throughout the book. Anyway, I decided to use this book to try to get another agent and I've been pitching it as a romantic suspense with paranormal elements (because that is what the EX said we should pitch it as initially).  Last month I got a request for the full manuscript from an online publisher. Yesterday I got the rejection letter...boo hoo, right?   In this letter the editor states (and I'm paraphrasing) that the book is not a romance it's a mainstream mystery. Why? Because the hero and heroine don't meet until 18 pages in (it's really 14 but must have been 18 on her computer) and they're supposed to meet within 5 pages.

Now...although that's been the rule for romances per Harlequin's guidelines it's a bit antiquated. There are no real rules to romance except that there should be a Happy Ever After. As one friend and reader says  

Getting them together in the first five pages seems awfully rushed to me. I like to get a feel for what they're like without each other so I can see how they change each others lives/perspectives...but people seem so impatient nowadays. I'm not sure if it's the readers or just the editors who have to read too many manuscripts. Personally, I'd rather sink into most stories than be dropped into one.

Amen Sistah!

The editor also states that there's too much emphasis on the mystery/suspense and not enough on the romance (there is definitely ALOT of sexual tension before the H/H consumate...which incidently doesn't happen until around page 218--on my computer-- of a 370 page book).

Now, I've been mulling her comments over in my wee little brain (with help from someone I'm more than proud to call a friend..I'd say who, but I don't want her bombarded with emails from writers seeking free help...but for the record, I will be paying her to copy-edit this book before I start resubmitting.)

A N Y W A Y... I've been mulling this over and as much as I hate to admit it...this book is in fact more mystery/suspense than romance...BUT that's not to say it isn't a romance because actually it's a LOVE STORY (that happens to be surrounded by mystery/suspense).  Semantics anyone?

So, my dilemma now is, how do I pitch this book? Btw...the editor totally loved the story she just couldn't 'buy' it because it's too mainstream and not enough of a "romance" for their lines.  

So, where is the line drawn? What do you consider a romance? If you read romantic suspense do you like the suspense peppered in or do you prefer to see more of the romance?  If you're reading romance, how soon do you want to "get to the good stuff?"

Personally, I prefer, as my friend above says, to get to know the characters more before they all of a sudden fall in love.  And as a writer, I want the reader to be so invested in the characters that they feel the wants and needs and heartache. And, according to the few who've read my work, I've accomplished this.

And, since you've made it this far...here's a bit of an excerpt from Dark Obsession. (it's the end of chapter four).  In case you don't know, this book is about a woman who has escaped an emotional and psychologically abusive relationship and now her ex is stalking her using black magic. The hero is Ray, this is one of his scenes.
       
       

Ray awoke two hours before sunrise, his mind dazed and clouded from another restless night of dreams. He couldn’t blame it on alcohol this time since he didn’t have more than two beers all night. Maybe it had been Sylvia’s initial concern about Lexie playing at the back of his mind. Or maybe it was because he had to sleep on the sofa amid the creaking sounds of the house settling around him. His grandmother called the sounds the footsteps of their ancestors and as a child the thought had terrified him. But whatever caused his fitful night, he couldn't shake the feeling that the dream had not actually been a dream but a look into the life he was destined to live.

Christ, he was starting to sound like Sylvia now.

Ray scrubbed his hands over his face and blew out a frustrated breath. He wasn’t enjoying these early morning wake up calls.

He pushed himself off the sofa and grabbed the shirt he had tossed over the arm of the love seat. He needed air. Maybe a quick walk in the fields would clear his head. He always found comfort in his fields.

He grabbed his boots and carried them with him outside. The temperature had cooled during the night bringing with it a soft desert breeze. He stepped from the porch, careful to avoid the loose floorboard that creaked under pressure. Sounds of the predawn night surrounded him; crickets and frogs battling in a symphony of noise; rustling in the dried grass made by a snake or small animal.

He followed a path around the front of the house and continued to the edge of the field. The grooves he and his grandfather had recently plowed lined the earth. Dried dirt and fertilizer scented the air.

He continued along the length of the ground, absently checking the texture of the soil in places with the toe of his boot. They would be planting soon, lining the land with stalks of sorghum this time instead of corn.

When he was a child he would spend hours playing among the tall stems, waiting for the sun to drop so he could listen to the sounds of the night as if they were speaking directly to him. Sometimes he would hear the soft beat of a drum or the whispered chant of a song. But those sounds stopped coming to him when his parents died. Or maybe he just stopped hearing them.

He knelt and picked up a handful of dirt, letting the dry earth spill out between his fingers. The land had been in his family for four generations and he spent his whole life working it with his grandfather. It was something he had been born to do and he never once doubted that this was where he belonged. Even the four years he spent away at college hadn’t been as hard as he anticipated because he always knew he would be back. And when Victoria told him she no longer wanted to marry him and called off their wedding, this was the first place he came for solace.

He grabbed a clod of dried soil and stood. Rearing his arm back he threw the dirt as hard as he could into the field.

It wasn’t comfort he sought now, but peace of mind. The dream that had awakened him, though somewhat sketchy, had left him with a sense of foreboding he wasn’t sure he could shake off. But what bothered him most about the dream was that it hadn't been just about him. It involved Lexie as well.

And in his dream, he killed her.