Thursday 7 February 2013

Can A Heart Truly Break?


Welcome to the Heartbreaker Blog Hop. Leave a comment to qualify to win!
1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet
2nd Grand Prize: A $100 Amazon or B&N Gift Card
3rd Grand Prize: A Swag Pack that contains paperbacks, ebooks, 50+ bookmarks, cover flats, magnets, pens, coffee cozies, and more!

(All prizes are international with the exception of the Swag Pack)

Can a heart truly “break”?
Physically, of course, it could break down and we might suffer a cardiac arrest. But that is not what we are referring to on this blog hop.
Why do we associate the misery of lost love, or unrequited love with the heart? After all it’s an organ of the body—albeit a vital one—nothing more.
Yet we would be judged odd if we talked about having our lungs broken, or our liver!

“What’s wrong with you?”
“My lover left me with a broken liver.”

(Come to think of it, men do sometimes refer to having another part of their male anatomy broken when things don’t go their way.)

Do we actually feel pain in this “heart-shaped” organ when love kicks us in the teeth? (Sorry!)
Actually, we do! Acute shock, or disappointment, triggers an adrenaline release in the body, which rushes to the heart. We want to fight the “heartbreak”, argue with the person jilting us, or flee, never to see the cad again.

Too much adrenaline can trigger palpitations, tachycardia, arrhythmia—all symptoms we “feel” in our heart.
It can also bring on headaches, but we don’t talk about having our heads broken!

If there was no such thing as a broken heart, romance authors would be in a bad way! If relationships were easy and worked out smoothly every time, I’d be out of a job!

But life isn’t like that, is it?

Nor was it, thank goodness, in medieval times, my favourite period to write about! In fact heartbreak was rampant then, when women had little choice or say in whom they married, and precious few rights.
But the nice thing about romance is that it is “happily ever after”, so we can mend our heroine’s broken heart with a stroke of the pen (or a tap of the keyboard).

Our heroes can be just plain chauvinists, like Ram de Montbryce, in Conquering Passion, and we can right that silliness by giving him a feisty heroine (Mabelle) who insists on voicing her opinions. He discovers he actually likes that about her and her broken heart is mended!


Sometimes it takes an enormous personal sacrifice to make a hero understand just how much a woman loves him. In Dance of Love, Farah leaves behind her most precious possession when she has to leave her hero. She knows it is necessary for him to resume his life as a warrior after he is stricken by a crippling affliction. Her actions eventually prompt him to pursue her and both are relieved of their broken heart!

My medieval heroes are heartbreakers, but not because they are “bad boys”. It’s just they can’t see the wood for the trees! They don’t mean to break the hearts of their heroines, they simply put other things ahead of love—things like honour, vengeance, fear of rejection.

It’s understandable really when you consider the times these men lived in. They often had to fight to protect what was theirs. It could be dangerous to let down one’s guard. Even within families treachery existed. But not in my medieval family. The Montbryces are intensely loyal to each other. And the men all suffer from the “Montbryce curse.” They are noblemen in love with their wives—supposedly an anomaly in the Middle Ages. It was not “manly” to show loving feelings, even for one’s spouse and/or children.

If you would like to qualify to win a free copy of one of my romances, leave a comment with your email address spelled out. Thanks for visiting the blog hop.

http://carrieannbloghops.blogspot.com/p/heartbreaker-hop.html

46 comments:

  1. Lovely Blog!!
    alslagle06(at)live(dot)com

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  2. We all want to love a Heartbreaker. Maybe its because of his chiseled good looks, his bad boy attitude, or the mysterious nature of him. Some Heartbreakers are just that, they know what they got and how to use it to get what they want. Then there are those Heartbreakers that don’t even realize that they are doing it. The best part about a Heartbreaker is that there is always a woman that turns their world upside down until they realize it is love. I have read many Romance Novels over the years and have run into many memorable Heartbreakers and my favorites are usually the ones that don’t even know they are Heartbreakers! Some of my personal favorite Heartbreakers are :

    Kade Jamenson (Werewolf) from An Alpha’s Path. Kade is a sexy werewolf that will make you burn but a mishap with a potential mate makes him not think he will find love.

    Ian MacPhie (Vampire) from All I Want For Christmas is a Vampire. Ian is a heartbreaking Highland Vampire that was frozen in his immortality when he was only 15. With the help of his friend he is given a drug that helps him age to 28 so he could look like a man instead of a child after hundreds of years. He has no idea that he looks of a warrior and the lover.

    Lothaire Daciano (Vampire) from Lothaire. Lothaire is definitely a heartbreaker and his cocky attitude proves it! Thinks he’s a gift to women! Its just the sucker punch from a woman he doesn’t realize is his equal that brings him down a notch.

    Marius Parker from His Contrary Bride. Marius is every part the gentlemen but doesn’t realize he could also easily be the rogue!

    Benjamin Gateway from To Win His Wayward Wife. Benjamin doesn’t realize that he is a heartbreaker because the one woman he loved, he lost….or did he?

    Fury North (Human with Canine DNA) from Fury and Valiant North (Human with Feline DNA) from Valiant. Fury and Valiant are strong New Species and gorgeous to boot, but because they are damaged they doesn’t think they can hold onto to the women they love.

    Sigimor Cameron from Highland Conqueror. Sigimor is every bit the Highland Laird and warrior but can he hold onto to the beautiful English lady?

    Joshua Striker (Werewolf) from Alexandra’s Legacy. Joshua is a scared and battle hard enforcer for his pack and he thinks that he doesn’t have what it takes to make the women melt.

    angelheart618@gmail.com

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for these great comments. Sigimor my favourite among your suggestions.

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  3. Thanks for the giveaway and participating in the hop!
    I think that Christian Grey from "50 Shades of Grey" is a good example of a heartbreaker. He used and abused Ana at first, but then came to his senses by book two.

    mestith@gmail.com

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  4. For me the heartbreaker is a bad boy who goes kicking and screaming into love! When he falls he falls hard!

    The only heartbreakers I have encountered are literary! And my all time fav is Mr Darcy! Although, I am currently crushing on Zadist from the Black Dagger Brotherhood!

    grapeapril75(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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  5. Thanks for sharing!

    staceyprice(AT)gmail.com

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  6. My favorite heartbreaker is Damon from the Vampire Diaries.
    Thanks for the chance!
    sqwalker2@hotmail.com

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  7. Thank you. havebookwillsurvive@gmail.com

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  8. Thanks for sharing! I love the I've got a broken liver!
    -Amber
    goodblinknpark@yahoo.com

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  9. I love how you described your heartbreakers. It was refreshing to hear a definition. Thanks for the giveaway.
    kaylyndavis1986@yahoo.com

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the praise. Glad you enjoyed the post.

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  10. I love this post :)
    Thanks for the awesome giveaway!
    cassandrahicks1989@yahoo.com

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  11. Enjoyed the medical detail in this - my Other Half is an echocardiographer, so I am up on the vocab! And yes, when your heart has been broken, sometimes physically you can feel actual pain in the area of your heart.
    Sooz
    soozbuch@gmail.com

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  12. Thanks so much for participation in the hop!
    swordlily_girl(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  13. Thanks for hopping! I like the cover of Dance of Love.

    AnnaM.
    doxisrcool at aol.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for visiting. I am fortunate to have a great cover designer, Steven Novak.

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  14. Gorgeous blog and I LOVE the cover for Conquering Passion!! Yummy!!!
    Thanks for the great giveaway!! So many great prizes!! Happy Valentine's Day!
    Ashley A
    ash_app(at)hotmail(dot)com

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    Replies
    1. Glad you like the blog, Ashley. Thanks for the compliment for my cover.

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  15. Thanks for the giveaway!

    anasmith1919 at gmail dot com

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  16. Thanks for the giveaway!
    Mary
    mary_reiss @ hotmail.com

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  17. My favorite heartbreaker is the one that your heart can’t live without. One of my best is Lucas from D B Reynolds book “Lucas” (Vampire in America series). Strong mind, well put together and tender when he needs to be.

    Judy Peterson
    strawberryrose@earthlink.net

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Judy. I am not familiar with this book. Have to check it out.

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  18. Keep writing so I can keep reading. Thanks for being in the Heartbreaker Blog Hop. Thanks Mary. roya-clan@sbcglobal.net

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for he encouragement. I hope to be writing many more stories about my medieval families.

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  19. Thank you for being part of the blog hop and for your insightful post.

    j.m.platt83 (at) gmail (dot) com

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  20. Thanks for the giveaway!

    xo_veronica16[at]hotmail[dot]com

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  21. Thank you for the giveaway.

    Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com

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  22. I absolutely love your post for this hop. The humor with a broken liver, that would be rather funny to hear. Also, I absolutely love the cover for Dance of Love. The red is stunning. Thanks for the chance to win and for writing happy endings. sbereza22(at)gmail(dot)com

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    1. Thanks for your encouragement, Shannon. Glad you enjoyed the post. I am very happy with my cover designer, Steven Novak.

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  23. Thanks for sharing your comments, Veronika.

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