I confess I struggle to find a balance of angst in my romance reading. Though I adore Meredith Duran, I did not enjoy her last published romance, The Sins of Lord Lockwood. My issue is not with Liam’s horrific past but rather the detail and time spent on exploring it and its impact on him. I’m down with leads who overcome a rough past or experience but I don’t want vast swathes of the book to be about that. I don’t want to read about a torture scene or a child who was starved and beaten in a romance. That past can exist–if an author renders it with sensitivity–but I start flipping pages if the abuse is extensively explored on the page.
To be fair, I am also the sort of person who avoids on-screen violence in a TV show or movie. When Dr. Feelgood and I were watching Game of Thrones, I read the synopsis of each episode before watching so I knew, ahead of time, when to close my eyes and plug my ears.
Thinking about this, though, makes me wonder if I’m just not reading the right angsty romances. I mean, I am a lover of Jo Goodman’s and Patricia Gaffney’s work, so obviously, there are some tragic pasts I’ve enjoyed. I dunno.
What about you? Do you like angst and trauma on the page in your love stories? If so, what are your faves? And if you don’t, why not?