by Special Guest Leslie Parrish
There’s a line in one of my favorite musicals, Les Miserables, that asks, “Can people really fall in love so fast?”
Good question. I’ve often pondered it when writing romance. And considering much of my career has been spent writing short category romances that span a brief period of time, my answer has been a resounding yes.
Well, sort-of.
Believe it or not, I have not always given readers a traditional “happily ever after.” Yes, there’s always been at the very least a “happily for now.” But I’ve written a few books where the hero and heroine just aren’t ready to commit to one another for life. I can’t force the characters to suddenly change who they are to fit the parameters of the romance genre.
One of my favorite books written as Leslie Kelly, WICKED & WILLING, features a hero and heroine who have both been players of the first order. They had each appeared in previous books and there was no changing the fact that she was pretty easy and he was a real dog when it came to women. Bringing these two together was a joy and I truly believed they were falling wildly in love and would make a go of their relationship.
But would they say that after a week? No. They wouldn’t. They admitted they were falling for one another, but there were no “I love you’s” exchanged in that book. There couldn’t be, not if I wanted to maintain the integrity of the characters I’d established. Believe it or not, readers seemed fine with it. I never heard one word of complaint about how it ended and that book ended up an RWA RITA finalist.
I had a similar situation arise when writing my new Black CATs trilogy for NAL. Though these books have a broader scale, much of the time the heroes and heroines spend together is wrapped up with the dark suspense plot into which they have been thrust. Yes, the characters were falling in love, but there were certainly no quiet, candlelit dinners, roses and romantic gestures. All of them had baggage—serious baggage that couldn’t be waved away with a few lines.
This became a big issue especially in the second book, PITCH BLACK. It takes place over the shortest amount of time and Alec and Samantha, the main characters, are both completely against having any kind of romantic relationship. By the end of the book, they honestly aren’t certain how they feel about one another, or where their relationship is heading. They suspect they’re falling in love, and, as Sam forces Alec to admit, know something important is happening between them. She asks him to stick around long enough to figure out what. And he does.
No, it wasn’t a traditional happily-ever-after. There’s no big declaration, no promise for tomorrow, no proposal, no grand gestures. In fact, the ending moment is a very quiet one, simple and even a little unsure. In my mind, however, it was absolutely the right ending for Sam and Alec’s story. I know they love each other, the reader knows they love each other. The happily ever after is just a turn of an imaginary page away….
I’m curious about how other writers handle this, and how readers feel about it. Do you feel shortchanged if there’s no absolute declaration of love and commitment at the end of a romance novel? What defines a HEA to you?
Related posts:
I don’t like the big declaration (especially from heroes).
I think it often reads staged and hokey.
I like the HEA to be shown through action.
In Invisible,
my heroine is the one who is commitment shy.
The hero, at the end, does ‘trick’ her into admitting she loves him but her actions show that she does way before that happens.
“Do you feel shortchanged if there’s no absolute declaration of love and commitment at the end of a romance novel?”
No! I feel shortchanged if the characters and narrative are violated with a rushed declaration and wedding bells just for the sake of a neat and tidy HEA.
I think there’s that suspension of disbelief when reading a romance, that two people can fall in love quickly is possible.
However, I don’t like consciously putting my disbelief aside. I’d rather finish the book (without that epilogue showing the wedding or baby, thankyouverymuch) and then think, “Oh, that was quick, but it worked.”
In my books, I have no weddings. I do have the ‘I love you’ thing going, but it’s more like a “This could work out, don’t you think?” kind of thing. I’ve never ended a book with a wedding.
In fact, I ended Finding Sarah with the h/h reuniting, but the HEA is implied, and I went on to write a sequel, Hidden Fire, where I picked up those same 2 characters as h/h three months later and let the relationship play out a little longer.
For the record, I met my hubby-to-be in October, we were engaged in February, married in August. That was 40 years ago this August, and we’re still together.
A big CONGRATS on 40 years, Terry! Here’s to 40 more!
Well…it depends. If I’m reading category, I expect HEA (not HFN), which means “I love you’s” are definitely exchanged, even if I don’t need marriage and babies.
If the romance is mainstream, I’m much more flexible, although the ending has to be satisfying. I have very specific expectations when I pick up a category, however, and for me, HEA is a defining element in category romance.
And yes, it it CAN happen that fast: hubby and I dated for a whirlwind ten days before we were married–and 21+ years later, we’re still living our HEA.
I struggle with that a lot in my writing–how to stretch out the plot to give them time to really fall! So far, it boils down to working hard at showing them in intense situations that naturally speed up the process.
I don’t mind HFN endings as long as the outlook is sufficiently optimistic that I feel satisfied. Also, I really don’t mind them, almost expect them, in series books following the same characters.
I’m not a writer, just a reader. I’m pulled out of a story when the characters tell each other they love each other and it doesn’t feel right. Sometimes it’s just fine, but sometimes I find myself thinking, “He or she wouldn’t do that!” For example, if there’s a woman who has always been suspicious of men because of her past, has spent her life afraid of commitment, the author has to work pretty hard to get me to believe that this woman would agree to marry a man she met a couple of days ago. If, on the other hand, the woman is a free spirit, then I could totally believe it. If it doesn’t jibe, then I don’t believe the happy ending, and the book isn’t as satisfying to me. I’d much rather have the suspicious heroine
I don’t know why that was loaded… Was I too wordy?
Anyway, I’d much rather have the suspicious heroine take a significant step without agreeing to marriage. That way, I can believe that the happy ending in the book will lead to a more permanent happy ending in life.
Yes I feel short-handed, yes I need the 3 words, I do need a wedding or at least a proposal and of course a baby is always welcome
No seriously, I know it’s un-original and that things in real life are much more complicated but I know that when a book ends with a “let’s move in together” I do feel disapointed. Especially if I’ve loved the characters.
I’m a reader also, and I’m afraid I do need the the HEA and the ‘I love you’s’. The book doesn’t have to end in marriage, but it has to be at least implied.
As the previous poster said, I know that’s not real life, but I’d read chick lit if I wanted real life
. I read romances because I want the HEA.
There’s something for everyone in this genre, though.
I think the happy ending should fit the characters and their circumstances. I don’t need the three words nor a wedding nor a baby. Actually, since I hate weddings and don’t find them in the slightest bit romantic, I vastly prefer it if there is no wedding. Declarations and babies are welcome, as long as they fit the characters and context.
As a matter of fact, there have been cases where a rushed marriage ending between two people who had known each other for maybe two weeks made me doubt that their HEA would last more than “Let’s try this thing and see where it goes” would have.
For me, a HEA is if the author has managed to convince me that these two people love each other and have a future together. I don’t need specifics about their future, my imagination can take care of the details.
Quoting Cora,
“For me, a HEA is if the author has managed to convince me that these two people love each other and have a future together.”
That’s all I need, too!
I am old enough that I read category romance when the heroes were nasty, mean, hateful and vicious up to the last page, where they would suddenly declare they loved the heroine who had loved them at first sight despite their nastiness. I learned to hate those endings. I found nothing heroic in either character and because of it, I quit reading romance for many years. I much prefer an ending that fits the story and the characters rather than one that only fits a certain category’s guidelines.