Romance and thrillers are among the best-selling genres in literature. Readers love them separately for the excitement and intrigue they offer, but imagine a story where both are beautifully balanced and harmonized into a single, sensational story—Virginia R. Degner has that covered!

The author has written perhaps one of the most compelling romantic suspense novels with murder and mayhem incorporated in it. Without Consent is the perfect literary cocktail, balancing hints of love and mystery while sprinkling havoc and disorder. It’s sentimental with a kick of conspiracy, charmingly cryptic at its best.

The irresistible blend of love, danger, and a tinge of crime is made even more captivating by Virginia R. Degner. The author mastered providing emotional satisfaction while pumping adrenaline from her readers—everything loved in literature into a single storyline.

What Are Romantic Suspense Books?

Is it romance or thriller? It’s both!

Romantic suspense books such as Without Consent seamlessly weave the emotional intensity of romance with the thrilling elements of suspense. Such a genre provides authors with ample space to experiment, either having romance as a central plot and having characters swim around a mystery or focusing on a suspenseful event and having romance bloom despite the backdrop.

For Virginia R. Degner, she wrote Without Consent following the latter’s pattern. It’s a suspense book with characters solving a murder mystery and surviving through mayhem while finding themselves finding love throughout the journey. What sets this book apart from competitors is that it’s simply beautifully chaotic. On one end, characters are scurrying to solve a life-or-death mystery, and on the other, they’re also fleeing from their feelings, believing this could make things worse.

Romantic Suspense Books Perfectly Balance Both Ends of a Spectrum

They have readers zooming in and out of sentimental plots while beguiling them with questions that purposefully disjoint the story. It’s either thrusting couples into high-stakes situations that test the integrity of their connection or them grappling around agonizing experiences and seeing feelings spark while they rely on each other to survive.

And while it’s fitting two genres in a single story, romance suspense books don’t feel lacking. It’s not cutting down a portion of one genre to fit the other or vice versa. Romance suspense books masterfully balance two genres, meaning there are equal romantic situations as suspenseful ones.

Why Add High Stakes? The Thrill of Romantic Suspense Novels with Murder and Mayhem

“Excitement” is an understatement of what this genre offers.

But why is there a need to sprinkle in murder and mayhem? Why must authors overcomplicate stories and combine multiple flavors into a single plot? If one were to ask author Virginia R. Degner these questions, she should probably retort a simple: “Why not?”

Authors are creative individuals. They write stories precisely to express their creativity, and one way to fully convey this is by crafting complicated narratives and mixing flavors that others wouldn’t deem possible or even consider. Romantic suspense novels with murder and mayhem incorporated in them showcase authors’ skills the most. At the same time, this also entertains readers the most.

Romance suspense novels with murder and mayhem play with the characters and the readers’ strong emotions: one of affection and the other of frustration.

It dives into the rawness of human nature, highlighting the two-edged nature of passion and devotion. How, on one hand, these are the most beautiful things people express to each other, birthing a magnificent emotion. On the other hand, these can also cause significant damage and betrayal.

Is Romantic Suspense a Popular Genre?

Suspense is a popular genre, and so is romance—this should already be a strong enough statement to show how attractive romantic suspense is to readers.

Perhaps, at the top of what makes the genre popular is its cost-efficiency. For those who love both sappy love stories and a bit of adrenaline-pumping, mindboggling suspense novels, these books cut down trips to the bookstores. Instead of scanning the market for two separate books, readers get to buy a single romantic suspense book to satisfy both appetites.

These stories hit multiple birds with one storyline. They offer intense emotional connections tested by shocking revelations and betrayals. It’s no wonder such stories are popular amongst not only romance and thriller lovers but readers in general.

Best of These Novels to Keep Readers on Edge

• Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
• Out of Sight by Elmore Leonard
• Verity by Colleen Hoover
• The Darkest Corner by Liliana Hart
• And Without Consent by Virginia Degner

Whether readers are looking for a tension-filled romance that ends up relieving an emotional payoff from a high-stakes love or psychological tension adding depth to a relationship, these books are the perfect choices. Each showcases not the perfect balance between love and betrayal, a feeling blooming and dying into a mystery. They also capture the magnificent balance between strength and vulnerability.

How to Choose a Page-Turner Romantic Suspense Novel?

The answer is pretty simple and is enveloped in a classic quote—Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. In choosing perfect romance suspense novels with murder and mayhem that’s right up one’s alley, the decision falls solely on the reader. Articles like this only outline the genre and recommend classics and best-reads. However, when choosing which fits one’s preferences, the standard and metrics are up to the reader.

Do they want fast-paced narratives or slow burners?

Are they fond of cliffhangers, or are they frustrated by them?

Do they want a more romance-focused story, or would they want it to be more of a mystery?

These are the common questions readers would have to settle with themselves when choosing the perfect material among romance suspense novels with murder and mayhem in them.

Find Your Next Thrilling Read!

Romance suspense is never dull, regardless of the book and who wrote it. After all, the genre is a perfect amalgamation of two literary favorites. If anything, these books are already a written success. If you’re looking for a story that masterfully harmonizes the beauty and ugly of romance and suspense, you can start with Virginia R. Degner’s Without Consent!

It’s about a woman who’s targeted to be killed after her stepmother and husband are murdered. Now, she’s conflicted between the thin line of curiosity and indifference. Should she chase after the killer/s or protect herself from the impending danger? Throughout this turmoil, she finds peace in love with a man stepping in to help her along the journey.

It’s love and war into one, a story of trust and betrayal, of death and life. Grab a copy of Without Consent by Virginia R. Degner now!