A romantic game of chicken—and they’re both too stubborn to flinch.
Lucy Fairchild, lawyer and heiress to the Fairchild fortune, has just had the worst day of her life. Her father has found the perfect man for her to marry. Yes, she’s thirty and single, but that doesn’t give her father the right to run her life. She’ll choose her own husband—someday.
Jake Dalton is struggling to make his fledgling construction company a success. Ever mindful of his father’s derogatory comments that he’d never amount to anything, he’s spent his entire life trying to prove he’s not a failure.
From their first meeting on a construction site, verbal sparks fly. Their argument escalates into a dare for a date—and the game is on. Lucy thinks Jake is the perfect fake boyfriend to parade around in the hopes of getting her father off her back. Jake is amused by the chance to annoy both Lucy and her dad—he doesn’t intend to take the dating thing seriously.
But the heart is a fickle thing, and not above playing dirty. In their quest to prove something—to each other, or maybe to themselves—they find themselves building a case… for love.
And suddenly all the rules have changed.
It’s all about the characters.
When I sit down to write a book, whether it’s an erotic romance, a paranormal romance or a contemporary romance, the first thing I think about are the characters. They’re what drive me, what compel me to create a story. It doesn’t really matter what the setting is, the time period, what’s going on around them. The first question I ask myself is: Who are these people? What is their story? How do they relate to each other? From there, I plop them into a setting, into a scene, and gradually build a story around them. That’s where the plot comes from.
In my Samhain Publishing contemporary romance, Dare To Love, I had this idea about two people who came from completely different worlds. Lucy Fairchild is a lawyer, born into wealth and privilege, who works for her daddy’s law firm. Jake Dalton owns a construction company he built from the ground up. He came from nothing, knows what it’s like to be poor. I couldn’t think of two people with less in common.
So of course I thought they’d be perfect for each other. Heh.
Why? Because Lucy isn’t spoiled or privileged. She loves her father, even though her father is a snob who thinks she shouldn’t marry beneath her. But she isn’t blind to his faults. And she also isn’t happy with her life, senses there’s something missing.
Jake sees something in Lucy that no one else sees. He’s the first one to see the loneliness, the need within her. He’s also the first one to make her realize that what she’s doing with her life isn’t making her happy. And he accepts her, just as she accepts him, on a base level. Because Lucy does the same thing for Jake, breaking the social barrier, making him see that he is good enough for her—for anyone he chooses to be with. They are drawn together not for social standing or for what they can do for each other, but because of what they become to each other. It’s a fundamental love story about opposites attracting that I so enjoyed writing.
I love characters who are polar opposites of each other. I think it makes sparks fly and provides barriers that only real love that overcome. What are some of your favorite stories of opposites attracting?
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Visit Ms Burton’s website for an excerpt and browse her site for information on the rest of her backlist. Don’t forget to leave a comment to enter the drawing for a copy of Dare to Love!
Humm I’ll have to think today about the books I’ve read to come up with names/titles for some I’ve loved with opposites. I mostly adore Alpha heroes and to me if you are an alpha hero you need an Alpha heroine so there can’t be too many differences. Does that make sense at all? I’m rushing out the door.
But I wanted to stop by and say “Hi”. I’ll be back later if I can come up with some titles/names.
I love your writing BTW.
hugs,
WendyK
I think my own personal story is a good one of opposites attracting. My husband was born and raised in a small town, while I was born in the bright lights of the big city. He had a stay at home mom, while mine was a career woman without a doubt often even working two jobs! He’s a homebody who doesn’t care at all for a crowd, and I’m a let’s travel who cares about the crowd sort of person.
We do of course have some things in common…we’re both the babies of our families. We graduated from the same university…where we met. We both couldn’t wait to own a home so we could have a dog.
So yes, opposites can make it work, but it helps if they can find some little common ground first!
I do love these kinds of stories myself 🙂 Opposites attract, yes please.
Need I say more than Pride and Prejudice. And all those stories I read as a kid when the poor girl gets the prince. Or the big city girl falling for some farmer. those always promises a good laugh
Opposites attracting always makes a great read–although I think that at the core, there’s often also some sense of “we have something in common” that also makes it work. Sebastian and Evie (Devil in Winter) are outwardly opposites (confident rake; stuttering wallflower) but also share a “I know what it’s like to feel alone” sense, and I think that finding common ground bridges the opposites part. (Oh, I think Sandi said that better!)
Hi, Jaci~~I have Dare to Love, so don’t enter me~~but I love opposites attract stories. One of my all time favorite stories is by Susan Elizabeth Phillips, It Had To Be You. Pheobe and Dan are total opposites, and it makes for a tough time, but they’re so clearly made for one another.
Another that pops to mind is really the whole Midnight series by Lisa Marie Rice. I think it makes for a great central conflict in any book, and LOVE to read how they deal with the differences in their life styles, attitudes, etc…
I love books with characters that are “opposites” on the surface but are actually very similar in outlook and ambitions. Often the characters emphasize their differences to disguise the attraction they feel for each other.
I recently read “Practice Makes Perfect” by Julie James that operates from this premise. The H comes from a wealthy and priveledged family and wants to prove that he can make partner at his law firm without his family’s connection. The h comes from a family of modest means with a single, free spirited, flower child type of mother who loathes the “establishment” type of people the H represents.
The H/h allegedly hate each other and have both been competing and undermining each other for 8 years as they try to outperform each other in their cutthroat competition to make prtner.
As the story unfolds, it becomes obvious how similar they really are. They are both driven, ambitious, and passionate about their work.
I won’t reveal the ending, but rest assured it is a wonderful HEA!
And this writer was skillfull enough to get me to enjoy a book about LAWYERS!!!
Hi Jaci,
Thanks for writing such great stories. I too believe it’s all about the characters and everything else is just icing on the cake.
Opposites attract isnt’ my fav kind of love story, but maybe your’s can change my mind 🙂 One of my fav reads I guess was a kind of opposites attract:
He was a street smarts cop raising a troubled younger brother. She was wealthy, priveliged only child who has led a sheltered life due to her deafness. The book was Mouth to Mouth by Erin McCarthy and is one of my alltime favs…ever. I didn’t know if I was going to like it when I first started reading it, but I quickly changed my mind. I loved this book.
More importanly, any kind of love story that has well written characters is a good read, no matter the premise.
I also love opposites. This one looks good; I havent read any of your books yet; sorry to say.
I love the sound of this book! 😀 Opposites are wonderful and make things quite interesting… It can be very interesting to watch two people battle it out and then find out that the heart has involved itself… I definitely want to read DARE TO LOVE after reading the excerpt and post! Thanks for sharing! 😀
Hi Jaci. Your book sounds wonderful. I love books where opposites attract. One of my favorite themes is rich man/poor woman.
Just stopping by to say Hi Jaci! You know I love your books, all of them!
Dare to Love sounds like a great read!
Oh yeah, great excerpt. I love that build up of sexual tension, with that hint of chemistry just under the surface that slowly unfolds as trust develops.
Its been my experience when opposites attract the story becomes very dynamic, but to make the romance and interests to work the characters have a common life experience. As an example, I just finished Natural Born Charmer by Susan Eliz. Phillips where the heroine was poor and the hero was rich and privileged but both shared in common a very uncertain and loney childhood. Thanks for the excerpt. Sounds like a great read. I loved Jaci’s Wild, Wicked and Wonton. Hot and secy read.
Hey thanks y’all for visiting and thanks so much to Novel Thoughts for letting me guest today.
Thanks for sharing your opposites attract stories. Love hearing about books with that theme, since it’s one of my favorites. And yay Sandi for having a real life story!
okay first i have to say I saw this novel at my local barnes and noble yesterday! i was like ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh this is kewl of course people thought i was nuts but hey let them look!
my favorite opposites attracting.hummmmmmmm well i do like dom and submissive stories….. kinda spank em kinda girl what can I say…
Sounds good, looking forward to this one!
The characters are definitely the most important part of the story for me. I can read the same type of plot over and over if I love the characters in the stories.
I just bought this as an ebook yesterday. I think I’ll run off and read it.
I just wanted to pop in and say hey. That’s all my brain can handle at the moment.
I love it when 2 people who seem wrong for each other but they are unable to fight the attraction. It seems that with everything in life we need a balance, even with our partner.
I do love the opposites attract story lines too- as long as they are believable together.
This book sounds great.I really like opposites attract stories,all that sexual tension/attraction popping off the page.
thanks for the chance too win a copy.
Hi Jaci!
I’m reading a fantastic book right now about opposites attracting…..One Reckless Summer by Toni Blake! I’m LOVING it so far!!
the opposites attract story is always intriguing to me because my boyfriend and I are opposites.
It is hard to pick one book – but I love Susan Elizabeth Phillips’s ‘Ain’t She Sweet’. The main characters are Colin (a british man that is very structured) and Sugar Beth (the town’s ex miss popularity). They are just the sweetest couple though and they really balance each other.
Eve Dallas and Rourk in JD Robbs Death series.
Slow Heat in Heaven by Sandra Brown, Welcome to Temptation and Fast Women by Jennifer Crusie and Simply Irresistible by Rachel Gibson come to mind immediately.
Dare To Love sounds terrific! I have to agree with Armenia about Wild Wicked & Wanton, it is one of my favorite books by you.
Hello Jaci,
Your book “Dare To Love” sounds like a book I can sink my teeth into. Have a great day.
Hm… I love the premise of this book, Jaci, but I have to admit I’m wildly jealous of the heroine. I wish I was wealthy and privileged and daddy had a law firm for me to start working at 😛
As for opposites attracting… I think one of my ultimate favorites is from Heaven, Texas, with Gracie Snow and Bobby Tom Denton. And yet they’re *so perfect* for each other.
I love opposites attract stories when they do find a common thing or two and that plays into the story along with the ‘opposites’ just so there is some sort of balance.
Dare to Love sounds awesome.
Definitely want to read this book and I love how both characters are opposites of one another, which makes the story a lot more interesting.
Hi Jaci~
I am definitely looking forward to reading this and I love your writing!
I love opposites attract stories and I think that Susan Elizabeth Phillips does a great job of creating these stories.
Hi Jaci!
I love character driven books. Dare to Love has definitely caught my attention, and not just because of the cover. The whole premise sounds fantastic and I look forward to reading it when I get a chance.
I definitely want to read this book! It sounds intriguing!
At the moment the only story that comes to my mind with opposites attract theme is Afterglow by Catherine Coulter. It was okay…
Other than living my own life w/ my husband as we are totally opposite, I have not experienced reading a novel of this nature. I would love for yours to be the first. I hope I am lucky enough to win this book.
For the life of me I can not think of a book about opposites attracting; although I have read many. I think that people have better chemistry together when they are opposites. It is what makes the relationship so exciting.
The plot sounds really good. Please enter me.
I actually just finished an e-book with opposites attracting it is an ebook called Like Coffee and Doughnuts. An M/M romance but the guys are total opposites slob vs neat, cultured vs roughneck, interesting read.
opposites can always spark good and evil, right and wrong, happy and sad….pls enter me in your contest.
congrats on your books
please enter me
opposite attracts attracts me