Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Do Opposites Attract?



Do Opposites Attract?
By N.J. Walters

We’ve all heard the cliché before. But is there any truth to the statement that opposites attract?

Yes and no.

Being attracted to someone who is opposite in you in every way is natural. They’re different and exciting. A taste of the forbidden!

It’s why movies and books are filled with stories about the “good” girl attracted to the “bad” boy. Just the thought of the leather-clad loner, winding down the long highway on his motorcycle, his long hair flowing in the wind, is enough to make us all stop and look. What’s his story? Why is he on the road? What deep, dark secrets are in his past. Every woman wants to be the one who will tame this road warrior or at least go on one of his adventures with him.

I’ve used that storyline once or twice myself. Seth in “A Love Eternal,” my story in the Ellora’s Cavemen: Legendary Tails IV Anthology is such a man. He’s mysterious and dangerous in ways that the heroine, Genevieve can’t even begin to comprehend. She knows she should be frightened of him. Instead, she is drawn to him. He takes her on a wild ride for one night that could end sooner than either of them thinks.


My Shadow Ryders—Gideon from “Shadows Stir,” my story in the Ellora’s Cavemen: Dreams of the Oasis IV Anthology, and Blade in the upcoming Beyond Shadows—are dangerous, leather-clad warriors from the Shadow Realm who will fight to protect the women who are destined for them. These two women—one of whom is a cop and the other one who is an accountant—get far more than they ever bargained for with these extraordinary men.

What could be more romantic?

But what about the salt-of-the-earth guy who is dependable and hardworking. You know, the kind of man you can count on in a crisis. He can be just as exciting as the leather-clad warrior. What happens when an apple farmer hires a new housekeeper, who just happens to be a New York designer on the run from a stalker?


That’s the premise for Jackson’s Jewel, the latest edition in my Awakening Desires series from Ellora’s Cave. Jackson took over the family farm and practically raised his younger siblings. Now that they’ve both married and moved out, he lives there alone. His sister hires a housekeeper to give him some temporary domestic help. Unfortunately, the woman she hires, Emerald Jewel, is on the run from a stalker. The apple farmer and the designer. The country mouse and the city mouse. These two are definitely opposites. The sparks fly between them immediately and neither one of them can resist the lure of temptation.

Maybe it’s their differences that attract them to one another. But it’s what they have in common that keep them together. No matter how different people are on the outside, it’s what inside that counts. Both Jackson and Emerald believe in the importance of family. They are both hardworking and reliable and have goals they want to achieve. It’s these things that will allow them to get past their differences to have a chance at a relationship.

The differences between people add spice to any relationship. It keeps them both guessing what the other person might do, what they are thinking. Those things will keep a couple interested in one another for years.

The waitress and the millionaire, the lawyer and the cop, the heiress and the carpenter—the list is endless. While opposites do attract, it’s the underlying similarities that will help keep them together once the initial heat dissipates—assuming it ever does. :-)


Emotional~Sensual~Satisfying Reads!
http://www.njwalters.com/
http://www.njwalters.blogspot.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/awakeningdesires/ (newsletter group)
A Legal Affair—Samhain Publishing
Lily Blossoms—Ellora’s Cave

6 comments:

Jenn said...

Hi NJ,

I would have to say that while tall, dark, and dangerous is definitely hot, a character like Jackson just does something for me. He's like you said the man you can turn to, rely on and when he loves it's forever and for me that's very appealing.

That being said I still want to sink my teeth into Blade as soon as he is released. But hey I'm fickle like that. LOL

N.J.Walters said...

*g* It's not being fickle. Just means you are a woman of varied tastes.

Blade is more the fantasy, while Jackson is more real.

Anonymous said...

Yes Opposites do attract! My husband and I are very different from each other. What we like in just about everything but what keeps us together is our values and our love and our family and faith in each other. Great blog. Oh Yes and I love your books. Please keep them coming.

N.J.Walters said...

Thank you so much, Tracy!

Being opposites can add spice to a relationship. :-)

Nicole Austin said...

Great topic. I'm with you, NJ. While the bad-boy opposites may draw us like magnets draw iron filings, without those underlying similarities its shallow, meaningles and doomed.

N.J.Walters said...

Thanks, Nic.

And thanks to the Hussies for having me here. :-)