I picked up an old copy of Fever by Elizabeth Lowell the other day and it reduced me to tears — that’s a good thing! It means I was caught up in the emotion.

On the whole, I try not to analyse why some books “work” for me as a reader. But this time it was so damn obvious that the story’s emotional conflict drew its strength from the fact that in real life, a relationship between the very different hero and heroine would be nigh on impossible. But I got caught up in the story. I wanted, needed, love to find a way for a happy ending … and because this is a category romance, love did find a way. After a satisfactory cry, love triumphed and the hero and heroine went on together into a bright future.

Except, once I put the book down and thought about it, there was no way their happy ending could last. They were too different.

So, Fever ended up supplying me with two lessons:

1. as a writer, setting up characters whose natures and/or experience provide a huge divide establishes a powerful conflict to drive the story.

2. as a reader, I’m willing to suspend disbelief. I’m satisfied by a most unlikely resolution. Any mental gymnastics are acceptable as long as I get a happy ever after — now if only I could be sure editors felt the same!