Teen Romance?

I, for one, am not a fan of teen romance. I didn't like it as a teen, and the teen romances I've reviewed have only annoyed me. Especially when the heroine likes a different guy each book.

But teen girls do like an element of romance in their novels. So, how do you do this without building up fantasies in girls' minds that their current relationship will last forever, when in reality they'll most likely break up next week or month?

Give the heroine a romantic interest, but don't have the guy ask her out. Dating creates an artificial atmosphere in most teen relationships, and you can keep your characters acting more naturally by having them just stay friends. But keep a hint of a possible future romance in the writing to keep girls reading.

Catherine Farnes does an excellent job of this. All her main characters are female, and there is always a guy somewhere in the story, though the friendship between them ranges from close to barely more than acquaintances. It's effective.

Well, I did meet my deadlines for the end of July, but next month is promising to be just as full. Tomorrow my family is hosting a huge picnic for the high school and college age young people in our church, and next week I'm helping with VBS. I also have much writing I'd like to get done, plus more reviews.

I am starting to expand my author links section, though I am only including authors I've read (which should make the list quite long). If you know of any author sites I should include, post the URL in a comment. Thanks!