Raine Balkera - Romance Author

THE WEATHER It's raining here in SE Michigan, and after a severe drought that began in late May and lasted until late August, RAIN is a welcome weather occurrence. Except when it lasts for days (like it has) and causes flooding (which it is). please ignore the word EPIC The clouds are rolling in not from the West but the East to bring Atlantic moisture, which means heavy downpours (since Wednesday). It also means clean, fresh air that smells semi-tropical, and I love that. Of course, this puts a "damper" on my nightly sky viewing pleasure, and it's also being reported that the Northern Lights (aurora) may be visible as far south as here for the next few nights. In other words, once this Low moves off to the east in a few days, the sky will clear and the Aurora sightings will have passed. It's a bucket list item, and one of these days I'm going to head WAY up north with camera in tow, hopeful about catching a glimpse of ...

After having read at least a handful of Romance novels in at least three different sub-genres that all utilized the Hate Turns to Love trope, I started to wonder about the reality of such an occurrence. Which is odd coming from me because I don't read (or write) Romance for the reality factor, but bear with me. You've likely come across at least one story in a Romance where the H and h start out loathing one another (use of the word Hate inserted here) and fight like crazy through 3/4 of the book before eventually calling a truce and getting busy between the sheets. I've read at least two Regency's where the H and h don't waste any time in that regard yet continue to bicker, argue, fight, and loathe one another 3/4 of the way through the story before finally calming down and acting civil. It's crazy! I've also watched even more Asian dramas that utilize this hate-start trope, so I feel somewhat expert on the topic and I don't care for it ...