Keeping Secrets
In The Cancan Dancer and the Duke
Charise, my heroine, has a huge secret. One she can’t let the hero, Ethan,
know. She manages to keep her mouth shut, despite certain events (that will
remain undisclosed), until she is exposed.
Keeping secrets is usually not a
good thing, but sometimes it is necessary. In her case, she originally had no
intention of her secret coming to light (they never do). Then when it became
apparent that her secret could shift things a certain way, she still refused to
divulge it. This despite the fact that the knowledge would have given her the
very thing she discovered she wanted.
When the truth comes out (it always
does) everyone winds up happy. Of course, this is fiction and real life doesn’t
really work that way. A relationship, a healthy one anyway, is based on
honesty, trust, and integrity. Those things can’t survive in the same space as
secrets.
That said, secrets are a very
familiar plot device in romance. There are secret babies, secret pregnancies,
secret millionaires, deadly secrets, and even secret lovers. Honestly, I could
be here all day listing all the variations on the secret trope used in romance.
Of course the key to the HEA is always the discovery or exposure of said
secret.
Do you like secret based plots? Are
there versions you don’t like? Honestly, I’ve never been a fan of the secret
baby trope. How about you?
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Can a lady on
the lam and a duke on the make find love at the Moulin Rouge?
Cathedrals and
museums are not Lady Charise Colton’s idea of European adventure.
Turn-of-the-century Paris beckons, and she wants to grab it while she can…or
rather, cancan. Flirting with fate and half of Paris, Charise eludes her
chaperones and joins the cancan revue at the Moulin Rouge.
Ethan Greer,
Duke of Lofton, is in Paris to settle some estate business. Chafing under his
responsibilities, he discovers an enchanting distraction at the Moulin Rouge, a
flirtatious dancer who stirs his lust and something more. He must have her—even
if it means offering carte blanche.
Terrified of
discovery, Charise tries to hold her persistent suitor at bay, though her heart
has already surrendered. Will she lose him if he learns the truth, or is love
enough to bind the cancan dancer and the duke?
Excerpt:
The singular sound was a soft whisper at first. The audience strained
forward to catch even a note of the eerie melody
carried on the fetid air of the cafe. As the song picked up, her voice grew
stronger, the words more clear. Ethan relaxed into his seat and let the warm
rich alto caress him. His body grew warm with the promises carried by the
witch’s husky tones.
He remained
unaware of anything in the room except the siren walking toward him. Each
steady, unhurried step she took further drew him in. His gaze feasted on the
curve of her hip, the swell of her breast. Ethan rode the knife’s edge between
lust and propriety.
The song
described, in lurid detail, two lovers in the throes of passion. Upon reaching
him, the dancer propped the toe of her boot onto the edge of his seat—square
between his thighs. The luscious creature presented impossibly sheer bloomers
which hid everything and yet nothing, causing him to let out the breath he,
until now, unknowingly held. His cock grew rigid, the uncomfortable throbbing
causing him to shift. The desire to haul her into his arms and demonstrate
every action she described with the most sensuous mouth he’d ever seen rode him
hard. Her full lower lip begged for his kiss. Ethan wanted to see it slick and
glowing pink from his attentions.
The wanton
dancer continued to taunt him, but his good breeding won out. Forcing himself
to stay seated, his fists balled and his jaw grew rigid with frustration,
but his raging lusts remained leashed. The song ended, sending her into the
nether regions of the cafe in a swirl of skirts.
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Enjoyed your excerpt and your cover is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your book...sounds like a winner.
As for secret tropes, I do enjoy a good secret baby story from time to time...but it has to be a bit different than the norm and I also enjoy a good read where it's secret that one of them is wealthy...you can always have fun with a story like that!
Hey, Dara,
ReplyDeleteI like secret plots as long as the reader knows the secret because I think that's where the build up comes in...waiting for the hero or heroine to learn the secret.
Good morning, Dara. I have to admit I like the secret baby plot only if it's not the same old, same old. It has to have a twist of some sort to elevate it out of the ordinary.
ReplyDeleteHi Dara and Katherine! I'm not a fan of secrets. At least not in contemporary or maybe I should say in MY own contemporary writings. I do enjoy reading about them in some instances. If done well. It has to be a secret worthy of protecting and not something that wouldn't matter to anyone but the character holding the secret. Great post, excerpt and cover!
ReplyDeleteSecrets? To me, it's hard to pull off. I don't like the emotional angst of the person keeping the secret. So often it seems melodramatic and I grow bored with the constant internal struggle--should I tell? shouldn't I tell. I get annoyed with the characters--and bored with the book.
ReplyDeleteIn my current WIP, I had the heroine share a secret she'd kept for years, to the hero. At the time I wondered if I was giving too much of her away in chapter three, that perhaps I should drag it out and reveal later in the book. But decided her revealing to him what happened to change her opinion of marriage would be a basis for the forming of their trust in each other, leading to love.
Loved you excerpt. Wishing you great sales.
Thanks ladies! I know the whole secret or no thing can be a hot button for some people. I too hate all the angsting that comes with it, and yes it hes to be a pretty freaking big secret or it just looks like a flimsy plot device. :)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your new release! I love that cover!!
ReplyDeleteAs for secrets, I use that device a lot in my own stories. In my post Civil War romance, the hero is a Pinkerton Agent and has returned to town to invetigate a physician, but can't tell the heroine he's an agent, even though they'd had a past relationship. He finally has to reveal his secret for fear of losing her again.
I also have stories with spies and time travelers who can't always reveal the truth when the story starts, but it all has to come out in the end for that HEA.
I like stories with secrets!
Your post Civil War novel sounds interesting, Susan. I like stories that have spies and the like where the character has to pretend to be something he or she's not.
ReplyDeleteDara, thank you for being my guest today. I enjoyed your post, blurb, and excerpt. :o)
ReplyDelete