Love Stinks

Romeo and Juliet

"These violent delights have violent ends,

And in their triumph die like fire and powder,

Which as they kiss consume."

                       -- Friar Laurence, Act II, scene 5

You've come to the wrong place today if you're looking for hearts and cupids. I am thrilled to have my longtime blogging buddy Julie Flanders, author of the newly released Polar Night, here to tell you why love stinks and why that isn't always a bad thing when it comes to stories...

“Love Stinks (Yeah, Yeah)”

I'm singing along with the J. Geils Band today for this anti-Valentine’s Day Valentine’s Day post. :D Thank you for having me as your guest, LG!

In all seriousness, I am not opposed to Valentine’s Day and I wish everyone out there a happy one.

While I want all real life love stories to be filled with joy and happiness, I can't deny that when it comes to fiction, that all goes out the window. While Polar Night is by no means a love story, love is a core element of the novel, as both of its main characters are dealing with love gone horribly wrong.

Love really does stink for the characters in Polar Night. When the novel begins, both the protagonist Danny and the antagonist Aleksei  have already lost the loves of their lives. Danny’s way of coping with his loss is to try to drown his grief in alcohol. Aleksei’s coping mechanisms are much more twisted and evil.

I may be a bit twisted myself, but my favorite love stories are those that end in misery for the lovers. Romeo killing himself before Juliet woke up. Scarlett realizing too late that it was Rhett she loved. Angel the vampire and Buffy the vampire slayer. 

So as we celebrate Valentine’s Day today, I’m raising a glass to all the doomed fictional lovers who have captured my imagination and my heart over the years. Here's to many more stories of loves lost and hearts broken.

What sort of love story do you prefer? Do you enjoy tragic romances that are filled with loss and longing? Or would you rather see your lovestruck characters happy and content?

Whatever your preference, Happy Valentine's Day! 

Polar Night Now Available

Book Blurb: When Detective Danny Fitzpatrick leaves his hometown of Chicago and moves to Fairbanks, Alaska he wants nothing more than to escape the violence and heartbreak that left his life in pieces. Numbed by alcohol and the frozen temperatures of an Alaskan winter, Danny is content with a dead-end job investigating Fairbanks' cold cases. That all changes when a pretty blond woman goes missing on the winter solstice, and Danny stumbles upon some surprising connections between her disappearance and that of another Fairbanks woman three years earlier. Forced out of his lethargy, Danny sets out to both find the missing woman and solve his own cold case.

The investigation points Danny towards Aleksei Nechayev, the handsome and charming proprietor of an old asylum turned haunted tourist attraction in the Arctic town of Coldfoot. As he tries to find a link between Nechayev and his case, Danny's instinct tells him that Nechayev is much more than what he seems.

Danny has no idea that Nechayev is hiding a secret that is much more horrifying than anything he could ever have imagined. As his obsession with finding the missing women grows, Danny finds his own life in danger. And when the truth is finally revealed, the world as he knows it will never be the same.

Bio: Julie Flanders is a librarian and a freelance writer who has written for both online and print publications. She is an avid animal lover and shares her home in Cincinnati, Ohio with her dog and cat. Her debut novel Polar Night, a suspense thriller with a supernatural twist, is now available from Ink Smith Publishing. Find Julie online at her blog, on Twitter, Goodreads, and Facebook.

 Available for purchase at: Amazon Kindle and Smashwords. 

Okay, Julie(t), you got your Love Stinks...but now I get my Romeo and Juliet for Valentine's Day. :)

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