Guest post written by Broken Souls and Bones author LJ Andrews
LJ Andrews is a USA Today bestselling author of fantasy romance. She could live in dark worlds with brutal romantic heroes all day. When she isn’t writing, she’s keeping her four kids alive, spending time with her hot husband, or enjoying the mountains of Utah.
About Broken Souls and Bones: Together they’ll restore a divided kingdom—or burn it down—in this new romantasy from USA Today bestselling author and TikTok sensation LJ Andrews.
Morally gray characters are beloved and celebrated in romantasy (fantasy romance). But when did loving the more villainous characters become more appealing than the most valiant heroes?
This is one of the complexities I wanted to explore in my latest book, Broken Souls and Bones. It’s a common theme in the story that we all have a darkness inside us, but how we embrace it, accept it, and use it is what forms the line of right and wrong.
There is something fascinating and intoxicating about characters who cross the line for those they love—a distinguishing trait compared to the villains who will cross those lines for themselves alone—and it is more than a beloved trope.
I believe the aspect of morally gray characters gives us a glimpse of how far we might go to protect those we hold deep in our hearts. Yes, it’s fantasy, but there is something relatable about the notion of being so fiercely in love, or so fiercely protective, that you would cross a line that to some could leave you perceived as more villain than hero.
In Broken Souls and Bones the underlying theme is that to see a true heart we must see the darker edges. It is how we truly come to know someone. It is a story about a passionate romance, but also a brutal world with twisted politics, magic that causes more chaos than good, and finding the darkness of another soul and loving them anyway.
Some of this theme can be seen in the following excerpt from Broken Souls and Bones. Note: the MMC of the book uses sign language so his dialogue is italicized:
***
She dragged her plump bottom lip between her teeth. Her fingertip traced the wolf head stitched over my gambeson. “You are unexpected, Roark Ashwood.”
And you’d be wise to keep a distance. I did not lie when I said I am not a good man.
She stepped closer, arching her neck so our noses nearly touched. “You never truly know a heart until you see the darkness inside. I might like to see yours.”
I tilted her chin, our noses grazing, my fingers danced against her cheek. Lyra closed her eyes, listening, feeling the words. That would be a mistake.
***
While the trope of morally gray is a blast to read (who wouldn’t want someone so ridiculously in love with them, they’d tear down kingdoms to keep us alive) it also explores more layers to the human existence. It is deep, passionate, and can speak to many of us by causing us to ask ourselves: How far would we go for the ones we love?
