Sniff... it's just something in my eye

by Joanne Rock

Truth- I can’t make it through the first stanza of Miranda Lambert’s The House that Built Me without getting tears in my eyes. I love Miranda’s music to pieces, but I skip over that gorgeous song sometimes because I don’t like being teary. I tend to avoid movies with weepy endings, missing children or domestic violence because they hit me hard. Give me laughter and romance, I’ve always said! There is a quote from Robert Frost that says, “No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader” so I guess it’s telling that I usually opt to write stories that are more light-hearted than gut wrenching.

Tear in her dark eye
by Milad Gheisari, Flickr CC

But this is less true for me recently. My work with Harlequin Superromance has sent me deep into the emotional terrain of songs like The House that Built Me. My characters grapple with some truly heart-wrenching life experiences and sometimes they make me cry. Interestingly, I’ve chosen to send them back to the proverbial house that built them in order to heal. All the Finley family members have ghosts in the little town of Heartache, TN and they can’t move on without dealing with those issues. (Some of them don’t know it yet, but trust me, it’s so!)

My upcoming NIGHTS UNDER THE TENNESSEE STARS is book #2 in my Heartache series and I really enjoyed getting to know even more about this small town and the people who live there. Erin Finley goes back to Heartache to heal from a broken heart, only to meet a hero far more broken. What I learned as I wrote this couple is that the past doesn’t need to define them. Their story isn’t weepy… it’s touching. Emotional. And might make you teary when you least expect it. But that’s only because these characters are working so hard to overcome where they’ve been. I really wanted them to find a happy ending.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that a few tears are going to be allowed in a Joanne Rock book. I promise there will still be lighthearted moments. Sexy, steal-your-breath scenes. To-die-for heroes. But every now and then the emotions steal up on you and remind you how hard a Happily-Ever-After really is to achieve. It’s a lot of work. The price is sometimes exacted in tears and heartbreak. Yet deep, abiding love is worth every moment. I hope you’ll join me in Harlequin Superromance for a new kind of romantic journey!

***

What song is sure to make you tear up? Chime in and I’ll give one random poster a signed copy of PROMISES UNDER THE PEACH TREE so you can catch up on my Heartache series!