This week's post is about lovers returning. This could be an ex who has come back into the protagonist's life, but since this is paranormal romance, it could be a lover who has died and has returned as a vampire or ghost. It could happen the next day or years later. Imagine the inner turmoil. It's ripe material for a story!
Here are some tips to help when writing the return of one loved:
1) When a person loses someone they love, they tend to idealize that person. They remember more of the good times and color the bad times to make them seem not so bad. Your character will likely still only want to remember the good stuff even after her love returns. Example : the protagonist's old boyfriend returns as a vampire. She remembers a sweet and tender man, and she'll be blind to his new vicious attitude, making it easier for him to coerce her.
2) A person goes through intense shock and grief when losing someone they love. This can create anxiety, depression, and fear. Such a loss greatly changes an individual. Your protagonist can be transformed into an entirely new character. Example: The protagonist's lover returns hoping to find his demure and loving girl, but she has changed into a paranoid and emotionally numb woman using black magic to protect herself.
3) The protagonist might be in denial that their love is dead. Example: She believes he really is still alive when he's actually a ghost.
4) Returning to a lover after a break-up creates a lot of conflict. When people break-up, the individuals tend to remember more of the negative things than the positive (the opposite of what happens when a loved one dies). It likely isn't going to be a happy reunion. Example: The protagonist is an agent with the paranormal division of the FBI and discovers that her ex is involved in a werewolf murder case she's handling. She's going to be more suspicious of him than the other suspects, and it interferes with her being able to do her job.
5) There's also the break-up where one person doesn't understand why their lover left. They tend to react to the loss more like a death than a parting of ways. When their lover returns, no matter what his reasons for leaving, they aren't going to fully mend her heart. Example: Demon hunter had to leave his beloved as not to endanger her, but he has to return when she becomes the target of a hungry demon. It might be an honorable and logical reason why he left, but emotions aren't reasonable. She can't forgive him and she puts herself in even more danger by not letting him help her.
The most recent book I read with this theme is Blue Diablo by Ann Aguirre. The protagonist's ex-boyfriend comes back into her life. She'd left him, but it was because she believed he didn't truly care about her. Aguirre deals with the warring emotions within her character wonderfully.
Do you have any favorite paranormal romances where a love returns?
