The Ghost Paradox

The Week of Giveaways Has Begun!

This weekend, at the conference, I was talking to erotica author Megan Hart about the current popularity of paranormal romance, and we touched upon the subject of picking your paranormal creatures with care, because of the insurmountability of certain conflicts.

Vampire: “He’s an immortal bloodsucker and I’m a human woman.” Most vampire books on the market today resolve this conundrum by turning the human woman into a vampire, or into a vampire-like creature of the book’s world choice. Because it’s not an HEA if she dies a few years down the road and he mourns for an eternity. Only very, very rarely in the current market is the vampire cured of vampirism through love of a good woman.

Werewolf (or other animal-human hybrid or shapeshifter): Usually the conflict here involves the acceptance of the other, with a real world correlation of marrying into a different culture. The human has to learn to accept the pack and pack ways, or vice versa. Sometimes the human is turned into a werewolf, too, but most often, they just go on with their lives, with the understanding that occasionally, dude’s going to shapeshift. Ditto with the aliens.

Demon (or Angel): Same problem as vampires, but the guy is usually “cured” and turned into a human.

Time Traveler: It varies. Most often, the time traveler returns to the present, person from the past in tow. Occasionally, the time traveler ends up with a descendant or reincarnation of their old love in some sort of strange, last-minute switcheroo. Rarely does the time traveler stay in the past with their lover.

Time travel tends to leave a bad taste in my mouth because of the commonly-used reincarnation trope. I was talking to my friend Julie Leto about this the other day, and she said the problem was, if you marry the reincarnation of your medieval Highland warrior, it’s not really him. It’s a dude who grew up in the 80s, listening to rock music and playing Nintendo.

Which leads us to the Ghost Paradox. Ghosts are not a popular trope in the current paranormal romance market, and the reason for that is, there is no “cure” and for the human female to join said ghost, she’d have to die. Doesn’t sound like such a happily-ever-after to me.

But then I read Julie Leto’s newest book, Phantom Pleasures, in which she solves The Ghost Paradox. The hero of the book is a spectral, magic-wielding being from centuries past, but he’s not dead. He’s cursed, thereby allowing for the “ghost” trope without that sticky insurmountable conflict biting you in the end. Brill, huh?

I’m giving away copies of Phantom Pleasures this week. To win today’s copy, leave a comment to this post saying what your favorite type of paranormal romance is and why.