Greetings friends!

Sorry for the hiatus, but between the site being down, the start of Marching Band season (yes, north Texas marching bands practice and compete about 1.5 times what the football teams do), and the launch, it’s been mucho hectic.

I also want to take a moment to sincerely thank everyone who supported the Finding Perfect launch. It’s been great, and I’m very thankful for you all.

For those of you waiting for something new, I have two projects currently underway. I’m working on a Zoey sequel for Finding Perfect, and I’m completing edits on Uprising. That one goes to the editor toward the end of October, and I’m still shooting for a mid-late November launch. There will be a cover/chapter one reveal in mid-October, too. For those of you who want more than a snippet of chapter one, sign up for my newsletter, and you’ll receive the full version.

All righty! On to a topic I’m dying to discuss:

Do y’all love dark, twisty relationships as much as I do? I’m not talking about abusive relationships, or anything toxic or hateful, or degrading. I’m talking about pairings so wrong, they’re right. What’s so interesting to me about these, is that we all know these people are damaged. That in some ways they might even be unlovable. But we still find something enticing–and maybe taboo–about watching them fall for one another. Usually, no matter what happens, there’s a powerful connection there. I’m a sucker for these. I might write sweet romance (and I really love those, too! I cry when I watch Cinderella), but those who’ve read my SciFi/UF books know I have a dark streak hiding inside.

So who are my So Wrong, They’re Right power couples?

For starters–Lizzie and Tom Keen from The Blacklist. Let me caveat this by saying I’m only in the first 5 episodes of season 2. I have no idea where this is going, so if you’ve seen it all and think I’m tripping, please don’t spoil it and I’ll print a retraction later.

But <SPOILER ALERT!>  He lied to her. FOR YEARS. He manipulated his way into her life, but at the end of the day–he actually loves her. Like for real. Even though it’s dangerous for him, and for her. He can’t stop caring, or trying to contact her, to the point he takes on a whole new persona and goes to Germany to attempt to escape his feelings. The whole “sneeze tip” before he left was just so strangely, awfully sweet. Here this villain in Lizzie’s life is giving her tips about going under cover. Even after she kept him locked in the hold of a ship–in the dead of winter. Even though he killed someone to protect her (albeit, yeah, not a good idea and pretty dang awful of him) and left her to deal with the consequences. When Tom was just a fourth grade teacher who seemed a lot like Lizzie’s doormat, they were so boring. But now? NOW? I totally want them together. That’s so, so, so very wrong of me. But there you go.

Next up: Once Upon a Time. I love a good bad boy. Not one who has to be “saved” by a good girl, but one who’s good and bad and dangerous all on his own. Here we have The Savior (Emma) falling for a pirate–literally falling in love with Captain Hook (or Killian Jones to the faithful). He really isn’t good for her at the start of things, but when he’s there for her every time she needs him, she starts to realize that her guyliner-and-leather wearing anti-hero is actually her best chance at a happy ending. Then again, this is a show where Peter Pan is a bad guy, and you actually feel sympathy toward Maleficent.

But after Prince Charming’s unfailing goodness, a little bad is just what the doctor ordered, in my opinion. Emma struggles with her gift–she’s not sure she wants to be this person (and her as the Dark Swan? This relationship is going to be straight out tested), and having someone who struggles between dark and light is a great match for her.

(P.S. Belle and Rumple are always interesting, too. I just don’t think he’s ready to change enough to work it out.)

Finally–and this qualifies, to me, as the most “So wrong, it’s right” on my list:

Fisk and Vanessa from Daredevil. Fisk is a villain so complex, you can be terrified of him, sorry for him, and gleefully delighted in him–all in the same episode. Vanessa, an art dealer who sells him a painting, knows what she’s getting into, but through her, what we find is Fisk is a man who can love. Sometimes so deeply it hurts. When she’s injured, he won’t leave her bedside. Minutes before he’s captured by police, he gives her instructions on how to flee the country–and an engagement ring. They are awkward, passionate, and so into one another that you can’t help but believe that, no matter what he is, or the fact she’s okay with it, that they are a perfect, true (twisted) love match.

There are a lot more examples out there–who are some of your favorites? It can be from any media: TV, Books, Movies. Criteria are: they might be bad, they might be bad for each other, but they aren’t intentionally abusive in any way. (Key word, intentional. In Mr. and Mrs. Smith, they beat each other senseless, under orders to each kill the other, only to figure out they can’t do it because they still love each other. Not looking for a Christian Grey situation–he was intentionally, many-times non-consenually, abusive. That’s a no-go.)

Tell me about them in the comments. (Yes, Sicarius, Amaranthe fans–they most definitely qualify. :D)