The Romance in My Romantasy Books

I love romance novels. It’s most of what I read, whatever else be part of the genre–suspense, historical, contemporary, fantasy, you name it. 

So when people ask me what I write, that’s always my honest answer too. I primarily write romance. It isn’t the only thing I write (my mysteries for Guideposts aren’t romances), and my books always have something else in them too, sure. But generally speaking, that’s how I’d classify them.

So I always find it funny when people bring my books up in conversations where folks have asked for recommendations for books that are not primarily romance. There’s always a part of me that goes, “What? Y’all, that’s a romance! Follows all the conventions and everything!” And yet at the same time, I definitely appreciate that people who aren’t as romance-crazy as me love my books and recommend them to other people who prefer their romances to be not-central. What that tells me is that the history and suspense are indeed playing an equal role in the plot–which is in fact the definition of those compound-genres like “historical romance” or “romantic suspense.”

Then I launched my first romantasy with Awakened. And…I got a couple questions. So I thought it would be fun to take a day and talk about the romance–the levels, the amount, the type–in the Awakened books, who they’re aimed at, who they’re appropriate for, and why I made the choices I did.

What Is Romantasy?

First, let’s talk about the genre. The name “romantasy” is only a few years old, and you can no doubt tell by reading it what it is. Romance + Fantasy. Before some brilliant person coined this word, authors had two choices when classifying their books: romantic fantasy or fantasy romance.

They may look the same–but they’re not. Romantic fantasy was used for a book that was primarily fantasy but had a romance thread in it. Fantasy romance was used for a book that was primarily romance but with light fantasy elements.

But what about books that were equal parts BOTH? That were firmly fantasy, with grand world-building, high stakes, and epic quests…but also very much about the romance, where it was the relationship between hero and heroine that fueled the plot?

Maybe in years gone by, there weren’t enough of those to need a new name. But in recent years, such books have EXPLODED in popularity. And so, a new name was given. Romantasy. And for lovers of this genre, they know exactly why the word works and why the genre has grown so incredibly popular.

Romantasy books have both a world and a romance that sweep you away. They have heroes that make you swoon and heroines you’d love to be. They’re rather famous for the “fated mate” trope, which is the concept of this love being fated, bigger than emotion or attraction, written in the stars, so to speak. Ordained. Necessary. Usually, this match has world-wide/kingdom-wide impact. They can do together what neither could do apart.

I LOVE THAT. I have always loved that, and I love that there’s a genre that celebrates that kind of love. Because isn’t that what we all long for? Someone who loves us so completely, at a cellular level, down to the soul?

My Romantasies

So when I decided to write a romantasy, I knew I wanted to hit those same notes. I wanted the fated love, I wanted the BIG love, I wanted that strong attraction that those sorts of loves always have in the extremely-popular mainstream romances. But I wanted it to do something else too.

I wanted it to show this big, swoony, fated love in a God-honoring way.

See, the majority of mainstream romantasies are unapologetically steamy. Those big, fated loves come with big, overwhelming attractions that lead the characters into rather predictable situations. They’re about real love, yes–with a lot of lust thrown in.

And here’s the thing…while I think most of them are depicted in extremely unrealistic ways, I also know very well that most of us will experience a tempting attraction at some point in our lives.

It’s real.

And because it’s real, it can be devastating. I know so many Christians who chose not to wait for marriage because that love and its physical side overwhelmed them. Or because societal expectations swayed them from what they’d been taught. Or for whatever other reason. 

Attraction is REAL. Lust is REAL. Temptation is REAL. And today’s society is so welcoming of it that it’s hard to avoid the message that it’s also good and enjoyable and totally fine to indulge in. Even when we know better. Even when we’ve been taught that there’s a proper order, that there’s a right and a wrong way to handle it.

With Awakened, I wanted to show that big, could-be-overwhelming love. That deep attraction. And I also wanted to  show how you could feel it and still honor God.

In that first book in this series, my hero is attracted to the heroine almost immediately, and he falls hard and fast. He also refuses to disrespect her. He refuses to dishonor his God. This hero is meant to show readers that you can feel these strong emotions, the ones God Himself created mankind to experience, and not sin.

And the heroine? Arden had always been overlooked. She never thought of herself as pretty. So to have that attention of a very attractive man would be heady. In mainstream romantasies, she probably would have been swept off her feet. I’ve read many books with such a heroine where the hero’s attention is even termed “worship,” as he shows her very physically how beautiful he finds her and so boosts her ego.

In my version, he shows her in a God-honoring way how attractive he finds her…and she pushes him away in an attempt to protect his heart. Because she truly believes someone else is that fated love for him, and she will sacrifice whatever she must to see them happy.

Why did I choose to write Awakened like this?

In part because I’m writing these books for romantasy readers–readers who are THERE for the big romance, who COME for the big romance.

But also because I wanted to show that “big romance” does not require sin. Big romance does not require falling prey to temptation. Big romance can in fact be God-ordained.

And when embraced with God, when properly ordered–when the two want to respect and honor each other and stay true to faith–God rewards that.

In this series, I also have married couples, even honeymoons. They are “closed door” in that we do not EVER get anything more than kissing in my books, aside from vague phrases like “when they could catch their breath again” or even “they made love” in a list of things they did the night before…because this is right and good in marriage. Married couples should be enjoying each other. There’s nothing wrong with it. No shame in it. So while I will never describe it, I find no problem in mentioning that such things happen.

Why?

Because, again, I want to remind us all that God did NOT create us as merely spiritual beings. He created us as physical beings. He created attraction. He made mankind with a sex drive–and then, as with our every other drive, He instructed us in the good and proper way of using it and also set boundaries for what was not good and proper.

We see so much of that “not.” Both where it’s celebrated and, in Christian circles, where it’s condemned. But what about the celebration of the right way?

I have long been of the mind that by ignoring problems, we don’t fix them. And the world’s view of sex is a problem, friends. It’s undervalued and yet over-indulged. Which means it’s degraded. The unity that should be one of the most rewarding, amazing experiences in a couple’s life is downgraded to a “fun hookup.” And yet if Christian fiction just ignores that people feel that physical attraction, how does that equip them to deal with the emotions and temptations when they strike?

In my historicals, I’m usually dealing with societies that have norms quite different from ours. Their society and expectations were stricter. It was expected that attraction would be constrained. But today? And in fantasy worlds? Very different expectation. And so, while my historical romances may by some be classified as “not that strong a romance,” I wanted my romantasies to be something different.

I want them to appeal to all the people like me who are THERE for the big romance, for the characters who feel that strong physical attraction, for the fated loves…and to remind us all that God still needs to be in the midst. He is there in our hearts as those hearts fill with romantic love. And that, too, is good. He made it, and He meant us to enjoy it…in the right way.

So Who Are My Romantasies For?

First and foremost, I wrote these books for people who love the genre but want books that choose that God-honoring approach to romantic love. I also wrote them in the hopes that people who love mainstream romantasies might find them and get a glimpse of God without even knowing that’s what they were signing up for. I wrote them, too, for readers who love Christian romance and want something new and fresh–because while there are quite a bit of “closed door” or self-proclaimed “clean” romantasies out there, most of them aren’t overtly faith-based, and much of it doesn’t have that same feel that the big romantasy series do.

I will also say that these are NOT intended to be young adult (aimed at teens). None of my books are explicitly aimed at teens. That doesn’t mean that they’re inappropriate for teens, but it is a family-by-family decision. I would have been totally fine handing Awakened or any of my other books to my daughter when she was in high school, but I do NOT tell every parent “They’re fine.” Because my books often talk about hard things, and I don’t know if your kids have been exposed to those yet, or if you’re ready for them to be. If they’re ready to be.

I will say that if teens are reading mainstream books–even ones specifically marked as Young Adult–then my books should all be fine for them, this series included. I read enough mainstream YA to tell you that even the “clean” ones talk about real-world things like violence, sex, abuse, etc., more than mine get into such things, and that they certainly don’t all approach it from the biblical perspective, as I will always attempt to do.

So are my romantasies for you? Are they for your teens? I can’t answer that–I can just give you all that information above and let you decide. And when it comes to handing books to your teenagers, I will also say that the great thing about sharing books with them that you’ve also read is that you can talk about it. You can talk about the contrast with other books, about whether you like or don’t like how certain things were handled, you can talk about why I may or may not have made certain decisions. Conversation is good!

Awakened Vs. the Other Books in the Series

Confession: whatever book I’m writing, I spend way more time thinking about the romance than any other part of the plot (Guideposts mysteries being the exception there). This, in my mind, is the heart of the story, and I want to make sure I’m getting those emotions just right. I could not begin to tally the hours I have spent thinking and rethinking the romantic elements in Amazed, book three, which I’m writing now. During the year that I was working on Awakened, those countless hours were spent dreaming of Arden and Seidon and their every flirtatious line, their first kiss, the whole romance arc. The same is true of my historical couples too. Because this is my brain, LOL.

You only see a fragment, because for some reason no one wants to publish a book that’s a million words long. 😉 But hopefully, the fragment you get is satisfying.

So, for all the reasons mentioned above, Awakened had a big romance. There was kissing. There was attraction. It was God-honoring. By modern definitions, it isn’t “spicy,” but there’s some heat. Again, God-honoring. Not sinful. I definitely have readers that deemed it “too much.” And others who said, “FINALLY!” Only you know where you fall that spectrum. 😉 But here’s where the rest of the series falls in relation.

In Aflame, there are four points-of-view and several romances. One main one. Early readers have deemed it “swoon-worthy,” but it is definitely NOT to the same level as Awakened. Honestly, one of my main concerns with this book which I put to my early readers was “Is the romance big enough?” It felt tame and almost after-thought-ish to me, compared to Awakened, so I did quite a bit of editing to make sure that it hit the right notes, even though the plot in this one is much more, er…plotty? Let’s pretend that’s a word, LOL. There’s SO MUCH ACTION in this book, political intrigue, a grassroots rebellion, and Kyrja has to discover faith too. So the romance is gentler, for sure. It’s soft and sweet. 

In the first two novellas in the series, Captivated and Celebrated, each has only one on-page kiss, and the stories are much more focused on getting the characters to the moment of confession-of-love/deciding to be together amidst some suspenseful events. Again, the romances are key but not quite as consuming.

The longer novella (coming soon, as of when I’m writing this) is called Consecrated, and it’s actually a dual love story. Yes, I’m insane and packed TWO romances and four points-of-view into a 56,000-word short-novel. One of the romances is super sweet. The other veers more toward Awakened levels of attraction, though again, always God-honoring. Just kisses that send pulses racing.

Eventually I will also finish the prequel novel that is sitting halfway done on my computer as of when I’m writing this, called Foretold. Foretold is the story of the First Sea King, and if you’ve read Awakened, you know he is remembered as being an evil man. There’s more to him than that…but he’s a bit of a Solomon story. And having read your Bible, I’m sure you know that Solomon began as a man of wisdom who followed God…then he fell into idolatry because of the indulgences he granted his many, many, many, many wives and concubines. He brings us the most evocative book in the Bible–Song of Solomon. And also what I might call the saddest–Ecclesiastes, which focuses so very much on all the vain and hopeless things in life.

That’s where the Sea King is when this story opens. He’s a man who was once close to the Triada but who had fallen to his own weaknesses so many times in his long life that he’d given up. Thought himself beyond redemption…and more, thought redemption not worth striving for, since he’d just fail again. Like Solomon, he has a thing for beautiful women. And like Solomon, he sees no reason to deny himself. 

So for this book, I actually start with a warning, which I have never done before. I want my readers to know that this is a story of redemption, that it is closed door, but it also has a point-of-view character who is lost to sexual sins at the start, so he’s thinking that way. Again, nothing explicit, but it’s definitely not ignored. 

I haven’t written enough of book three, Amazed, to really rank it well with the others, but thus far it’s “warmer” on the scale than Aflame…not sure how it compares directly to Awakened. Might get close, certainly no “more.”

So…there we have it. My view of romantasies in general, why I love them, and my goals with writing my own. More, my reasons for writing this series as I’ve done. And to remind us all that God has no problem with big romance and strong attraction…as long as we still honor Him through it.