4 Tips for Writing Adventure Romance
Author Carlie Walker shares her top four tips for writing adventure romance that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.
Picture the busy side streets of Rome, Italy—local florists, quaint gelaterias, little shops with postcards and trinkets. Now add two characters, zipping through the bustle on a motorcycle.
Assassins are chasing them! Oh, no! These characters, they hold on tight to each other, their hearts pounding as one—knowing that together, and only together, they can make it out alive.
That’s adventure romance in a nutshell. Place your characters in a thrilling environment (Barcelona! The high seas! An Indiana Jones style temple, with a priceless artifact waiting to be rescued!), add sky-high stakes, and make sure your characters lean on each other for support. The tricky thing is, these elements must be balanced meticulously.
Too much focus on the suspense, capers, and bad guys, and you’ll have some readers saying, “Um, excuse me? Why isn’t there more kissing? Where’s the emotional development?” Too much focus on the romance, and you might be missing out on all the swashbuckling, the high-speed chases, the treks across the desert . . . And who’d want to skip that?
So, here are four tips to help you nail the adventure and the romance, simultaneously.
Pair your action beats with your romance beats.
Treat every action sequence as an opportunity to further explore your characters’ relationship. The opening of my new novel, Code Word Romance, really does feature a getaway from assassins on a motorcycle. There’s plenty of go-go-go drama, but what’s most important is how Max (my main character) feels about being on that motorcycle with the love interest. Does she have a strong desire to protect him? Does she feel safe in his (impeccably sculpted) arms, or totally panicked that they’re both in danger?
While we’re at it—how physically close is the love interest? What is the exact sensation of pressing up against his body? Any time you can layer romantic tension over an already stressful situation, go for it. Think of it as the romance hitching a ride on the adventure.
This applies to climactic moments as well. When the adventure plot ramps up, the romance has to follow. A declaration of love, for example, might come when the bad guys are closing in, and your main characters must depend on each other more than ever.
Give the romance breathing room.
As with any adventure story, readers are going to get fried if you give them unrelenting action. Realistically, your character will have to rest and—I don’t know—eat a sandwich every once in a while. Use this refueling time wisely. Whenever the action pauses naturally, your characters might want to have a meaningful conversation—about their families, their hobbies, anything that gives them common ground.
And let them laugh with each other! They could joke about the precarious situation they’ve found themselves in, or release some steam with a round of good old-fashioned banter. Once again, it’s a balancing act. Scene after scene, are your characters showcasing their bravery? Cool. But they’re also human beings. Let them reveal their ultra-human sides to each other. (“Hey, you like pickleball? I also like pickleball!”)
Wound-tending scenes are another staple of the genre that gets this balance right. Maybe your characters have—as in Code Word Romance—just escaped an explosion. They’re coming down from an adrenaline-fueled sequence and need to feel safe and whole again. Who can help them regain their strength and composure? Ding, ding! That’s right, the love interest. Linger here. Have your characters exchange meaningful looks as they literally and metaphorically bandage each other up. Wait . . . are they falling for each other now?
Pick a setting where danger can thrive—and where love can blossom.
Take Paris, for instance. It’s a city of love (fancy restaurants, beautiful parks to stroll in), but readers will also believe that an international crime syndicate is operating there. Your setting needs to check the romance box and the adventure box equally well.
That’s why I picked Positano, Italy, for my latest. You can easily see characters falling for each other over gelato—and falling into trouble with hit men on the beach.
Bonus: A strong backdrop will give your readers that armchair travel element.
Make it twisty.
Readers of adventure romance are looking to be on the edge of their seats. They want page-turning cliffhangers, and to gasp when they’re least expecting it. Do yourself a favor and feature at least one big twist!
When it comes, the twist must impact both the adventure plot and the romance. Maybe the twist leads your main character to wonder, Is the love interest who I thought he was? Or maybe the twist shocks your characters so much, it’s the catalyst to bring their relationship to the next level.
Put these four tips together, and you’ll have a novel that gives readers exactly what they want from the genre: a story that makes your heart race in more ways than one.
Check out Carlie Walker's Code Word Romance here:
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