Newly widowed and desperate to protect her estate—and housemaids—from a predatory brother-in-law, Martha Russell conceives a daring plan. Or rather, a daring plan to conceive. After all, if she has an heir on the way, her future will be secured. Forsaking all she knows of propriety, Martha approaches her neighbor, a London exile with a wicked reputation, and offers a strictly business proposition: a month of illicit interludes… for a fee.
Theophilus Mirkwood ought to be insulted. Should be appalled. But how can he resist this siren in widow’s weeds, whose offer is simply too outrageously tempting to decline? Determined she’ll get her money’s worth, Theo endeavors to awaken this shamefully neglected beauty to the pleasures of the flesh—only to find her dead set against taking any enjoyment in the scandalous bargain. Surely she can’t resist him forever. But could a lady’s sweet surrender open their hearts to the most unexpected arrival of all… love?
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Some years back I read an interview with the actor Patrick Dempsey. He was two or three years into his role on Grey’s Anatomy, and the interviewer wanted to know if his character and the show’s title character, Dr. Grey, were finally going to get past the various issues that had been keeping them apart, and be a happy couple.
And may Mr. Dempsey forgive me for the paraphrase, but his answer was something to the effect of, “I’m actually not sure that would be a good idea. Because what viewers are responding to in that relationship is the yearning, and once you get the characters together, the yearning’s gone.”
I love that quote, because it takes what could be a touchy, vaguely derisive observation – “Oh, you fickle romance-happy viewers; you’re all so keen to get Maddy and David/Sam and Diane/Jim and Pam together, and then when we do it, you say we’ve jumped the shark” – and frames it instead as a simple problem of storytelling.
Characters in fiction need to want things in order to propel the story along. Characters in the emotionally heightened world of romance need to want especially hard. They need to hunger, and what’s more, they need to face up to their hunger; to acknowledge the long odds against getting that hunger met; to admit that their lives will be lesser without the hungered-for thing.
Like Dr. McDreamy said: they need to yearn.
The great thing about the romance-novel form is that it ends when the yearning arc ends. As a writer, you’re not left scrambling to find some other way to make the characters interesting now that their vital, forward-propelling passion has been resolved.
But the most compelling romances, I find, are the ones where the characters do yearn for other things besides romantic fulfillment – especially when those other things are things that come into direct conflict with the romance.
Martha Russell, the heroine of A Lady Awakened, hungers for purpose, for a sense of effectuality, for some grand sacrifice through which she can prove her mettle. When she learns that her late husband’s estate is set to pass to a brother-in-law with a history of preying on housemaids, it’s a crisis – but it’s also the occasion to which she’s been waiting to rise all her life.
After striking her desperate bargain with only-too-willing neighbor Theo Mirkwood, Martha gathers the female servants, apprises them of the threat, and promises to do “everything in my power” to keep them safe. She doesn’t, of course, tell them exactly what she’ll be doing. But it’s vivid in her thoughts:
If only everything in my power could have taken some grander shape! If she could face down Mr. James Russell with a sword in her hand and an army at her back, for instance. Or lead every last one of these women to safety through smoke and flames. She ventured a smile round their ranks – they were all watching her as though she were some wild-eyed stranger come to impersonate the mistress – and reached for her nettle-brew again.
She would do what she must. Lie still and bear the breaching of her body by a stranger, and then hope the stranger’s seed bore fruit. Sacrifice came in different shapes, for a woman, and if it brought about the proper result, that would have to be grandeur enough.
What she neglects to consider is whether Mr. Mirkwood has any wish to be the altar on which she sacrifices herself. Or whether there might come a day when her relations with him won’t feel so much like a sacrifice.
Or whether one or both of them might develop new yearnings, inconvenient yearnings, that will force her to rethink her whole plan.
Readers: Do you like your heroes and heroines to have longings independent of the romantic relationship, or do you prefer your romances to be all romance, all the time? What are some memorable stories of yearning you’ve read?
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To find out more about Cecilia Grant, please visit www.ceciliagrant.com. And for a chance to win a signed copy of A Lady Awakened, leave a comment answering Cecilia’s question. Giveaway open to U.S. and Canada. Good luck!
Honorary Mention of Book Sluts 'R' Us Blogger Awards by 
The most memorable story of yearning I read was Waking Up With the Duke by Lorraine Heath… such an amazing and tear-jerker of story of awakened passion and yearning. Loved it! I have a feeling I would really love this one too! Thanks for the great giveaway!!!
I remember reading one of Karen Ranney’s Highland books and the heroine fell in love with the hero but ALSO with painting again as she was an accomplished painter. Everything worked together and it just seemed right that she needed both to complete her. (and he was fine with that… sigh…) Thanks for the contest!
I like the love hate theme, necessity, theme and the opposites attract theme. It would take a rake to stimulate this repressed lady. I’d love to read how Theo does this!
I like it when the H/H have somethings going on in life outside of the romance. It makes the characters more complete, more human. (But it’s way too early in the morning for me to offer credible examples!) I’m looking forward to reading Celia’s debut.
In historical romance I have read of heroines who have longed to be artists, writers and scientists that i remember.
I have read many novels of longing which are profound and memorable. These are deeper and also emotionally beautiful. The Time In Between by Marla Duenas was a story which was special because of this.
Love the cover of this book.
Thanks everyone for the comments. It’s interesting that we’re all coming up with examples of heroines yearning for things other than love. I think the stereotype, especially in a historical romance, would be that the heroine bases all her hopes and dreams around being swept away by the knight on the white horse. I’m glad to see that’s not the case.
So now I’m trying to think of examples of heroes who have a compelling yearning for something other than love, and I’m having trouble coming up with any! Is it possible that “yearning” is just too vulnerable a stance for a romance hero, and we reserve it only for his reaction to the heroine? Surely there are some yearning guys out there, and I’m just not thinking of them.
I have read a few books that had the main characters longing for something other than romance… it is always interesting to see what a characters dream and wants are… to see if they try to go for them.
i enjoy the secondary yearning because I think it gives the character more depth. The storyline sounds good, cannot wait to pick it up
I’m coming across your book everywhere. Congratulations on the book AND the good press! I was a huge Grey’s Anatomy fan…but I got tired of the getting them together then breaking them up AGAIN dynamic. Way more poignant for them to yearn forever. Then I’m hooked…forever. Even better if they have other yearnings in direct conflict with their love/lust yearnings. Barbara Samuel does this really well in The Goddesses of Kitchen Avenue. Several heroines battling for self-actualization and romance.
I was lucky to win an ARC of this book and it’s quite good. As for the yearning hero, how about Theo? Doesn’t he yearn to be a responsible adult and all that entails, thus earning Martha and his father’s respect? Theo didn’t realize he wanted this in the beginning, but he did by the end of the book.
I like my hero & heroine to be well rounded, so it’s good if they have individual interests, that they respect each others interests, & that those interests are compatible in their relationship.
I think I want the hero and heroine to have other longings other than romance. I think it makes them more interesting for them to strive or pursue something.
My favorite story of yearning is Again the Magic by Lisa Kleypas.
Aline and John love each other but were separated by circumstances — I think it was great that the focus of their yearning was each other — it really served to emphasize how deeply they wanted to be with each other.
Having the hero or heroine chasing a dream in addition to each other is always better for the story. It makes the characters more interesting. I especially love when a heroine has a passion for a career or vocation that is usually a man’s domain. I like to see her fight for her dream.
I definitely want my heroine to want more than just a romance. I want her to have a life outside of her emotions and that usually requires that she have a yearning for something else. I think it’s because it’s how I was raised….my maternal grandfather died before I was born and my grandmother went on to live her life without him for another 30 years after his death….luckily she hadn’t just yearned for love. Thanks for the giveaway.
I think that whenever the main characters have a desire or yearning for something other than love it adds poignancy to the story. I just finished The Fortune Hunter by Diane Farr and in it, the hero sets his sights on marrying a rich woman because his dream is to restore the estate that his father ruined and to improve the lives of his tenants. This drives all of his actions and makes him a sympathetic character even though his motives initially regarding the heroine are not the best.
While I do love romances, I like for the characters to have lives and loves outside of each other. That makes them more well rounded characters. I have read many stories where the heroine in particular had interests and passions outside of marriage and family, and did not want to give those up even for the loves of their lives.
Yes to having things go on for the characters outside of the romance. In real life, people are multifaceted, with interests they share with their significant others as well as on their own. I want to read about characters who aren’t just focused on the romance, even if that is mostly the case in a historical.
I do like to read about characters desire for other thing in their lives along with the romance, makes the story more interesting and realistic, and adds depth to character development I think. Waking up with the Duke, mentioned above, is a great read, full of yearning.
I love romances with either. I do prefer them to have other stuff going on besides just the romance. Sometimes makes the book boring, but I like to read either.
One of my favorites is Night Huntress series with Cat & Bones. Even though there is a romance going on she is still hunting all the bad vampires. She still has time for the loving and romance.
I like heroines who have yearnings outside of the romance and in many ways it can enrich a romance more and make them more human. Romance is good but a little something beyond it can be surprising or interesting, whichmakes it great.