20 Responses to “Happy Together”

1. Epilogues have killed more books for me. I don’t have to see (or read) about kids, dogs, houses or far into their future. If a story has worked for me I come to my own conclusions. I also prefer that the HEA suits the couple and the story. It’s just not realistic or suitable for every couple to end up, to borrow your phrase, in suburban nirvana. While I do like to know the couple has resolved their conflict and found a way to be together, it need not be the traditional “together”. I would have to agree that I want the ending to make sense to the story and journey I’ve been taking with the characters.

   by Rose Garrison on May 12th, 2008 at 9:45 am
   
   

2. You hit a nerve with this post. Rant ON.

   “those last few pages and paragraphs are so often a disappointment to me… that I am tempted to stop reading”

   I sometimes finish a book just to see whether I’m right about the direction I think it’s going–particularly if it’s a new author. If I have misgivings, though, I might skip straight to the end to help decide whether to finish the book. If the ending’s too trite, it’s a bad sign for the remainder. (My approach is probably the opposite of readers who check the back *for* a happy ending.)

   “that ‘happy but not delusional’ final scene seems harder and harder to find.”

   The delusional endings are so unsatisfying that they drive me away from authors. I’ve tried skipping the ending, but that’s ridiculous. Better to know if an author’s prone to the big cop-out at the end. Issues? No no, all issues are gone. Even issues that weren’t issues are no longer issues. Every sacrifice and compromise is now rendered unnecessary. It’s happily-ever-after time! *sprinkling fairy dust*

   It’s not just the extreme examples like Seize The Fire where I resist a “delusional” happy ending. Even in quieter romances I’m not a fan of endings in which the author appears to forget all the characterization and plot that came before, and simply *will* the characters to abrupt, unlikely bliss.

   I gripe about deus ex machina endings (in which the evil stepfather is suddenly struck dead, etc), but at least they have some external force changing the logic of the story. I actually prefer the deus‘ tinkerings to endings in which the story’s logic is forsaken completely. E.g. if I’ve bought into a story in which the characters learned something about themselves, or accepted something about themselves or each other, it’s disappointing to see that undercut by a miraculous pregnancy or an apparent personality transplant.

   Now, if things change because life does that sometimes, that’s another matter. Does romance have such a thing as a wry epilogue? Or for some characters this might work: “Their plans for a houseful of kids didn’t work out, but she took up piano and he dusted off his old trumpet, and they filled the house with friendly jam sessions instead.” Better yet, kill off the epilogue and move the conversation into the main book:

   “If we can’t have kids we’ll take up SCUBA, or music, or just spend more time in bed on weekends.”
   “Yes dear, but I’d still like the author to increase your sperm count.”

   On the other hand I’ll buy a lesser degree of ever-after reality in a romance written explicitly as a fairytale. Unfortunately I’ve even seen that abused–I’ve read a couple of historical romances that had fairytale endings abruptly cobbled on. It’s as if just because it’s an epilogue it’s all right to violate everything that was set up earlier in the story.

   And finally, it’s possible that I dislike the pat endings because my reading of the story is not what the author intended. Perhaps where I see a couple with serious incompatibilities, the author sees minor issues that can be resolved by a commitment. That’s one concern I often have when I find an ending jarring: if the author really thinks a twee ending is right for this story, perhaps I’ve been misreading her and she’s really not the author for me. If that’s the case… on one hand, who am I to dictate what the story’s *really* about? On the other hand, leave room for my imagination and I’ll keep reading the books.

   by RfP on May 12th, 2008 at 10:18 am
   
   

3. If a story has worked for me I come to my own conclusions.

   Exactly! It’s interesting, because if a book ends without that tight little bow, I actually feel like there are more happy scenarios for the couple — scenarios I am free to imagine because the author has not closed those options off for me. ITA about having an *emotional* resolution for the couple, and that’s what I read the genre for, in the end.

   Does romance have such a thing as a wry epilogue?

   I think some people might call the ending to Crusie’s Bet Me such an ending, because Min and Cal end up with a cat and a dog, no children (by choice), and no full resolution with one of the in-laws. In fact, the Crusie book is interesting because she wrote it explicitly in the fairy tale form, but did not want the final chapter to be read as an epilogue, even though it reads exactly like an epilogue. I don’t know how successful that ending is for readers in breaking the traditional HEA epilogue, but I do think Crusie was trying to revise and update the classic fairy tale model. I don’t think the ending to the new Chase novel is wry, exactly, but there is a very unusual condition to the hero and heroine’s relationship that makes it different, IMO.

   And finally, it’s possible that I dislike the pat endings because my reading of the story is not what the author intended.

   Which, of course, is the prerogative of the reader. In a way, it’s irrelevant what the author intended, because once the book leaves her hands, it’s no longer in her control. And that’s assuming, of course, that the author was in full control of her book while she was writing it. In any case, I think this is one of the most powerful reasons for a reader to feel cheated by a book ending, and IMO one of the most compelling reasons against having the nice, tight bow on the book. As I said in my comment to Rose, when a book doesn’t map out the couple’s entire future, I think it can offer even greater potential for the couple’s happiness, because I, as a reader, can entertain many possible happy destinations for the couple. That phenomenon of having even issues that weren’t issues resolved (as you put it) IMO can actually diminish the couple’s potential for long-term happiness by shutting down possibilities not considered in those kid filled epilogues. Especially when, as you point out, the ending changes the logic of the whole book previous to it. I agree that a book can literally be ruined by that, which, of course, is so ironic when you think about why that impulse to the closed down HEA is so strong.

   by Robin on May 12th, 2008 at 11:53 am
   
   

4. I can’t think of an instance in which a too-pat HEA ruined a book for me. If the author hasn’t developed the romance in a believable, satisfying way, the problem isn’t the ending, but everything leading up to it.

   I liked Jenny Crusie’s Bet Me. I don’t need wedding bells or buns in the oven. And while I believe two people can fall in love very quickly, sometimes it’s too much of a stretch to think they’ve overcome every problem they’ve ever had over the course of a few days together. A relationship is always a work in progress, and I don’t mind if there are still wrinkles to be ironed out.

   Here are a couple of odd endings/epilogues:

   Susan Johnson’s Seized by Love. The hero cheats on the heroine throughout the novel and never promises to be faithful! In the epilogue, it’s explicitly stated that he continues to see other women, and yet their marriage is happy. I don’t know how, but this book still worked for me.

   Jennifer Weiner’s Goodnight Nobody. SPOILERS! Not a romance, and no HEA. The heroine refuses to choose between two men, both of whom are less than perfect. This giant question mark of an ending left me feeling empty. Still a great book.

   I prefer kids and committment to uncertaintly. Part of the appeal of romance is closing the book with a smile.

   by Jill Sorenson on May 12th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
   
   

5. “Min and Cal end up with a cat and a dog, no children (by choice), and no full resolution with one of the in-laws.”

   I think Crusie succeeded in creating a fairytale ending that doesn’t curtail the reader’s imagination as much as the more common epilogues. (Though I don’t care where she puts it, it’s still functionally an epilogue.)

   Bet Me is unusual, though. The book is explicitly a fairytale, the epilogue doesn’t violate the characters or the story’s logic, and it describes multiple sets of futures. Min and Cal aren’t disappointed not to have children; it’s a choice. The other characters make different choices (suburbs and singledom), and those are honored in the epilogue too. I think those attributes put Bet Me’s ending in a whole separate category. If there’s just one couple described, and if one or both have to compromise to be together, constraining their future has higher stakes.

   To my mind there’s a difference between a non-puppies-and-babies future and an unspecified or imperfect future. Crusie did give her central couples varied but perfect futures, for what they wanted. But I’d argue that there’s room for imperfect futures. Whether or not it’s been a high-tension story, the couple’s future may not go exactly as planned. If the book convinced me that they’re a good couple, I assume they’ll work out any future problems. No need to reassure me that problems are no longer allowed in their world. My belief in a happy future is *lessened* by a too-happy ending in which an infertile career woman gives up her job to bear miracle babies, a globetrotting CEO (fertile, of course) hands over the reins to become a farmer, and his mother gets over her alcoholism and moves in with them to garden with the grandbaby. It makes me wonder if it’s a Stepford future–likely to slip a cog as soon as the honeymoon ends.

   “when a book doesn’t map out the couple’s entire future, I think it can offer even greater potential for the couple’s happiness, because I, as a reader, can entertain many possible happy destinations for the couple.”

   There’s not only the matter of how the reader construed the relationship and how the reader likes to imagine the future. There’s also how seriously the reader took the book. If I saw the couple as playing out a real-life dilemma, then resolving everything with a wave of a fairy godmother’s wand could be insulting.

   by RfP on May 12th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
   
   

6. “So how about you; do you love the blissful ending/epilogue, or is it enough that the couple is together, even if you know it may take a while for them to have a normal life of togetherness? What is your favorite Romance novel ending and why?”

   In most romances I find the epilogue irritating, irrelevant, or cloying. I have little to no interest in the number and gender of children they might have, and, in general, don’t need to know much more than that the couple has resolved the major barriers to their being together, and that they are fully committed to each other.

   On the other hand, I have to really, really believe that the major barriers are resolved, otherwise I have no belief in the couple’s long-term happiness. To use the example Robin cited, I have always had serious doubts not only about Olympia and Sheridan’s long-term happiness, but about their mental stability. I’ve seen enough of depression and other mental disorders to have very little confidence in either of them being able to take care of themselves, let alone help each other *at the point the book ends.* If only serious trauma or mood disorders could be healed by avowals of love! So, that’s an instance where I just didn’t believe in any kind of HEA, based on what Kinsale showed us by the ending of that book.

   One of my favorite endings is in Connie Brockway’s All Through the Night. Although the H/H are together, you literally have no idea of where they are going, what they are going to do, and, most importantly, whether they remembered to take along the cat. The reader is left with the image of swirling mist, and with the conviction that somehow, as long as they are together, Jack and Anne will be all right.

   by Aoife on May 12th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
   
   

7. I can’t think of an instance in which a too-pat HEA ruined a book for me. If the author hasn’t developed the romance in a believable, satisfying way, the problem isn’t the ending, but everything leading up to it.

   I’ll give you an example of a book I liked up until the end — Anna Campbell’s Claiming the Courtesan. I loved the first half of the novel, but the second half disappointed me, and the ending was, IMO, wholly unconvincing. I felt that she had taken on this really complex relationship and then flattened it out to fit within a more “traditional” Romance formula. Then there’s JR Ward’s most recent Brotherhood book, in which IMO she had to take apart her entire mythology to make the ending work. That definitely ruined the book for me, lol. But I definitely agree with you that if an author has not built a relationship well, the end of a book will really highlight that.

   I haven’t read the Johnson book you cite, but I definitely think Johnson has a knack for giving her characters a happy ending without fully taming either of them. Oh, how I wish she would go back to writing those big, lush historicals!

   I think those attributes put Bet Me’s ending in a whole separate category.

   In a sense, I see the ending as a whole rather than in terms of individual characters. So Shanna gets the whole baby and SAHM thing with her partner, and Cal and Min get the more hipster HEA, with everyone else somewhere in between. It’s like a fairy tale for the whole community of the novel (even Min’s mom gets a HEA, lol).

   If I saw the couple as playing out a real-life dilemma, then resolving everything with a wave of a fairy godmother’s wand could be insulting.

   This is always where books seem to get zealous adherents or critics, because, of course, readers relate so strongly (or not) that their investment in the story as a whole is greater. In fact, thinking back to Bet Me, it’s interesting because Cal and Min definitely seem to have common male-female issues, but they never face *really* adverse circumstances, which makes the ending much more believable, IMO. You know that even though their personalities will continue to clash on some points, that they will not likely face anything between themselves that they can’t get over.

   I have always had serious doubts not only about Olympia and Sheridan’s long-term happiness, but about their mental stability. I’ve seen enough of depression and other mental disorders to have very little confidence in either of them being able to take care of themselves, let alone help each other *at the point the book ends.*

   STF definitely seems to split readers. Thinking about how it is that the book works for me, I think it has to do with Sheridan’s persistent drive to save Olympia, that selfless part of him that has him coming back again and again. That, combined with their time on the island, which served as an incubator for their emotional bond and mutual trust, gives me hope for them. And ultimately, I think that I fell so in love with these two characters, that I simply cannot imagine them suffering anymore. Which, probably, surpasses any logical reasoning re. the end of that novel.

   One of my favorite endings is in Connie Brockway’s All Through the Night. Although the H/H are together, you literally have no idea of where they are going, what they are going to do, and, most importantly, whether they remembered to take along the cat. The reader is left with the image of swirling mist, and with the conviction that somehow, as long as they are together, Jack and Anne will be all right.

   I think I must be the only reader of historical Romance who has not gotten on the Brockway bandwagon. But I agree with you about the ending of ATTN; even though it was not a book that blew me away, I thought the ending was wonderfully evocative and appropriate for the characters and the whole “stealing away” theme of the novel. I like that sense that these two people might turn up anywhere . . .

   by Robin on May 12th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
   
   

8. as long as there together i am good with that

   by kim h on May 12th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
   
   

9. Reading your first few paragraphs I thought, “I’ll have to ask her in the comments about STF.” So I’m glad you mentioned it. I totally love the pat epilogues. I’m an absolute sap. SEP’s epilogue to It Had to be You, which ties up ALL the threads, was wonderful, even if I’m laughing at myself for liking it when I read it.

   STF is a tough one for me. I adore that book–it’s so perfect, and if she added more, she’d have to add a LOT more. So the ending’s perfect for the book, but I want a novella about their future to make sure they really are okay. That image of Sherry fading from himself into the mist until Olympia’s hand touches his haunts me at odd moments.

   My class the other day asked about La Nora’s endings. Some of them were disappointed that she ends so abruptly with the declaration and betrothal. Others liked it. I think that’s what’s so wonderful about her trilogies. You get the abrupt ending sans epilogue AND you get to see the characters later in their relationships in the next book in the series.

   by Sarah Frantz on May 12th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
   
   

10. as long as there together i am good with that

    I have actually read some books where I wish the hero and heroine *weren’t* together, which is the worst feeling, lol. And I’ve also read some books where I don’t love one or the other character but I am willing to accept the judgment of the other — in other words, if she/he’s good enough for him/her, then she/he’s good enough for me. It’s a real treat when I love both characters and am thrilled to see them together at the end of the novel.

    So the ending’s perfect for the book, but I want a novella about their future to make sure they really are okay. That image of Sherry fading from himself into the mist until Olympia’s hand touches his haunts me at odd moments.

    What really got to me was the letter Olympia writes to Sheridan while he’s out of it. The heartbreak of that letter, her total love for Sheridan and the incredible loss she’s dealing with — it makes me cry every time I read that part of the novel. And the way Sheridan carries it around like a talisman, like a treasure map, was such a wonderful way to show how he has changed and how he has opened himself up to his feelings for Olympia. So I agree with you that a novella would be such a temptation, and I have wondered so many times if Sheridan and Olympia ever made it to Vienna. But I also fear that if I did read more that it would diminish the intensity of that potent mixture of dark and light in the book and in their relationship.

    My class the other day asked about La Nora’s endings. Some of them were disappointed that she ends so abruptly with the declaration and betrothal.

    I held a grudge against Roarke for like ten of the In Death books, because of the way I thought he pushed Eve into marriage after the second book. NR explained that she was initially contracted for three books, so that drove some of the time frame. But I still felt that the abruptness, especially at the end of Glory In Death, made Roarke seem dictatorial. And to be honest, I find many of the endings in that series of books to be very anti-climactic. If I didn’t know there was another book coming in a few months, I think I would have been *really* disappointed with some of them.

    by Robin on May 13th, 2008 at 1:30 am
    
    

11. Susan Johnson is a great example. Her characters often have to take a chance on each other–her rakes (of both sexes) can be truly rakish, and they don’t necessarily reform.

    “If the author hasn’t developed the romance in a believable, satisfying way, the problem isn’t the ending, but everything leading up to it.”

    I know what you mean, but I guess I’m thinking of books in which I absolutely believe in the romance, or rather A romance, but the ending doesn’t fit the romance that I thought was being developed.

    “Cal and Min definitely seem to have common male-female issues, but they never face *really* adverse circumstances, which makes the ending much more believable, IMO.”

    I think they do face real adversities that many couples don’t make it through. Family disapproval, friends’ disapproval, rage, shame, feelings of inadequacy…. It’s rather a dark book depending on how you look at it. They don’t face adverse circumstances like a stalker, a duel, or PTSD, and Crusie’s light tone downplays it all; but there’s enough adversity to demonstrate that they’re stronger together, and the ending doesn’t change the balance of their relationship.

    That highlights a couple of things about epilogues. For one, I mentioned “quieter” romances above–it’s obviously difficult to go from gang rape to bliss in 100 pages (unless you’re Bertrice Small : ) but I find just as many unbelievable endings in books that don’t make such a dramatic turnaround. For two, some epilogues have a very different tone from the rest of the book. Bet Me is humorous throughout, and doesn’t change tone *or* logic for the epilogue; in some books you get a turgid tale followed by a lighthearted epilogue.

    by RfP on May 13th, 2008 at 7:46 am
    
    

12. So how about you; do you love the blissful ending/epilogue, or is it enough that the couple is together, even if you know it may take a while for them to have a normal life of togetherness?

    I don’t want an epilogue. Really, I don’t. Because most of the time, the epilogue’s sickly sweet ending makes me think of the Duggars with their 18 children, living a “pure” life out in the country. Which just isn’t an HEA in my mind. Let me know that h/h are together and ready to face whatever comes next together; don’t actually tell me what’s coming next.

    I’ve been reading Lois McMaster Bujold’s Passage lately. Admittedly, it is the third book in the series and a romantic fantasy rather than genre romance. But as I was reading, I wondered about where Dag and Fawn will end up, ultimately. Their “romance” occured in the first book (meeting, falling in love, marrying). The second and third books, while continuing the story that grew out of their romance, are ostensibly about larger issues. I don’t need an epilogue at the end of book 4 telling me where they settle and how many children they have (although Fawn has some definite thoughts about where it should be and how many at one point in book 3), but I do wonder if a traditional sort of HEA is possible for them, given the conflict that LMB has established in the series.

    by jmc on May 13th, 2008 at 9:14 am
    
    

13. I think they do face real adversities that many couples don’t make it through. Family disapproval, friends’ disapproval, rage, shame, feelings of inadequacy…. It’s rather a dark book depending on how you look at it. They don’t face adverse circumstances like a stalker, a duel, or PTSD, and Crusie’s light tone downplays it all; but there’s enough adversity to demonstrate that they’re stronger together, and the ending doesn’t change the balance of their relationship.

    Oh, I agree with you that the obstacles are “real,” but, as you say, they don’t rise to the level of, say, STF, which is why, IMO, the fairy tale structure works in Bet Me. Regardless of the serious undertones, there is still enough functionality to the characters and to the relationships that the fairy tale, as filtered through Crusie’s particular renovations, does not seem discordant or laid on the movement of the book. I don’t know how much darker Crusie could have gone and still made it all work the way it did. As it is, I think she overplayed Min’s weight issue, because while I understood that she was trying to show us that Min was over-obsessed and that Cal saw her as beautiful and sexy, if you loosely calculate Min’s weight by the tight corset she tries on at the beginning of the book — which is a size 8 in wedding wear, which, I’m thinking, makes her like a size 12 at most, which made the compulsive mentions of Min’s weight and her insecurities about her weight wear on me after a while. Although I did really love it when Call told Min that “Some things are supposed to be made with butter. You’re one of them.”

    Because most of the time, the epilogue’s sickly sweet ending makes me think of the Duggars with their 18 children, living a “pure” life out in the country. Which just isn’t an HEA in my mind.

    What you say in that last sentence is the key for me, I think — if the book is too closed within its ending, if the couple ends up somewhere I don’t think is ideal, then it’s not an HEA for me. Now, there are authors who can pull this off, but those instances are, IMO, part of a really strong writing pattern overall. For example, I really got irritated with James from Judith Ivory’s Sleeping Beauty, but since Coco loved him so much, and wanted him above all others, I accepted their togetherness and wished them well. Ivory is such a compelling writer that she made me get over my feelings that James wasn’t good enough for Coco by writing a heroine in whose strength and intelligence I could trust.

    I don’t need an epilogue at the end of book 4 telling me where they settle and how many children they have (although Fawn has some definite thoughts about where it should be and how many at one point in book 3), but I do wonder if a traditional sort of HEA is possible for them, given the conflict that LMB has established in the series.

    I have only read book one, and still have to finish the next two books in the series, but even now I know what you mean here. Actually, this is one of my favorite aspects of reading — not knowing how the couple will end up, if they will be able to stay happy and together. I already feel quite invested in Fawn and Dag’s happiness, so I really hope they can find satisfaction in their relationship somewhere, somehow, but Bujold is such a fabulous writer that I want to trust that she will do the right thing for her characters — whatever that is.

    by Robin on May 13th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
    
    

14. If Min is a size 8 in wedding wear, she is more likely a size 4 or size 6 in everyday wear. Having just been through this with my older daughter’s wedding recently (Oh, the trauma of bridesmaids who are used to wearing one size having to order a larger size–You have no idea what “drama” means until you have to deal with this).

    “What you say in that last sentence is the key for me, I think — if the book is too closed within its ending, if the couple ends up somewhere I don’t think is ideal, then it’s not an HEA for me.”

    That’s it for me, too. On the other hand, I think some books really need a little more than a fade-out as the H/H walk into the sunset. I was thinking about this last night, trying to remember any books where I actually did like the epilogue, and I thought of Carla Kelly’s “Beau Crusoe.” Because the hero’s (James?) trauma was so extreme, and there was so much potential for him to be shunned because of what had happened, I really felt the e-mailed epilogue added a lot to the ending, without being sentimental. I wish it had been included in the book as published.

    by Aoife on May 13th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
    
    

15. The epilogue tends not to bother me too much. They are often so pat and so cheesy, but I’m used to them. I almost expect them. I only notice when something is out of the ordinary.

    I don’t like “miracle babies”. You know, in the epilogue, when the heretofore barren heroine suddenly realizes she hasn’t had her period in several months? The hero’s sperm is so powerful, she manages to get pregnant. Unassisted pregnancy=HEA. I feel like it takes away from the way other people make their families. Unless they are adopting a partner’s child from a previous relationship, adoption is rarely discussed, and I’ve read only one book (an HP by Lucy Monroe) where the hero and heroine used ART to have a baby. I think it was invitro, but may have been a surrogate, blanking here. I find it a bit disturbing that these things don’t seem to be options in romancelandia.

    by Devon on May 14th, 2008 at 9:32 am
    
    

16. don’t want an epilogue. Really, I don’t. Because most of the time, the epilogue’s sickly sweet ending makes me think of the Duggars with their 18 children, living a “pure” life out in the country.

    Precisely, JMC!

    I just read Vampire Lover, Robin, which I loved. The ending was just right - a beginning, really, and I was happy to leave them there.

    by Meriam on May 14th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
    
    

17. If Min is a size 8 in wedding wear, she is more likely a size 4 or size 6 in everyday wear. Having just been through this with my older daughter’s wedding recently (Oh, the trauma of bridesmaids who are used to wearing one size having to order a larger size–You have no idea what “drama” means until you have to deal with this).

    LOL, I was thinking the same thing (why, oh why, do they size wedding clothes that way — like the bride isn’t already under so much pressure to be thin!), but I don’t know if Crusie was using it that way, because Min talks about how she wasn’t a size 8 when she was born, etc. And I think the corset is custom made, not ready to wear (but obviously made without measuring Min, which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, since Min bought the same fabric to make her comforter and was clearly around when it all happened). Anyway, even if the corset is a regular 8, and Min is like a regular 12, well, the whole size thing just bugged me, that’s all. Every time Cal went on about how “round” and “soft” and “hot” Min was I felt like it was reminding me of something I wasn’t supposed to be focused on, something that wasn’t such a “big” deal to begin with (except in Min and her mother’s minds). I think it’s very difficult to strike a good balance with these kinds of situations, because you want to show that Min is really underconfident when it comes to her less than model thin body, but you don’t want to make the reader obsessed with weight, or we become as bad as Min (and clearly the obsession is what’s happened to me, lol).

    Because the hero’s (James?) trauma was so extreme, and there was so much potential for him to be shunned because of what had happened, I really felt the e-mailed epilogue added a lot to the ending, without being sentimental. I wish it had been included in the book as published.

    Honestly, I think authors are sort of damned if they do, damned if they don’t when it comes to endings and epilogues. As Sarah said, she loves them, and then some of us don’t. I wonder, really, how much mail authors get about their endings as compared to other issues in their books. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was proportionately higher.

    Unless they are adopting a partner’s child from a previous relationship, adoption is rarely discussed, and I’ve read only one book (an HP by Lucy Monroe) where the hero and heroine used ART to have a baby. I think it was invitro, but may have been a surrogate, blanking here. I find it a bit disturbing that these things don’t seem to be options in romancelandia.

    You know, Devon, I wonder if the increased use of ART in RL will result in MORE miracle Romance babies. Sometimes I think that societal changes are met with reactionary throwbacks in the genre, if only to create the fantasy that isn’t available in RL. Or, it’s possible that ART and adoption will become somewhat of a norm in the genre, especially if more authors who have experienced these things themselves and feel strongly about them start incorporating them into their novels. It will be interesting to see how the genre develops over the next decade.

    by Robin on May 14th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
    
    

18. I just read Vampire Lover, Robin, which I loved. The ending was just right - a beginning, really, and I was happy to leave them there.

    Did you feel that it was rushed after the domination scene? That was my one complaint — that things seemed to go so fast after that, when I wanted a little more working out of the, uh, psychological dynamics of the relationship. But didn’t you love that the heroine (forgot her name) had no compunction about taking things into her own hands, especially with her sister?

    by Robin on May 14th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
    
    

19. She was frighteningly manipulative and controlling! Cold blooded, even. I loved it.

    Yes, definitely rushed. But I really felt that she (Clare) was the strong one in that relationship - God help Denzil if he ever tried to ’step out,’ as they say.

    It was sort of a cautionary tale - what happens when a Presents’ heroine cracks?

    by Meriam on May 14th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
    
    

20. It was sort of a cautionary tale - what happens when a Presents’ heroine cracks?

    OMG, Meriam, I LOVE that!!

    by Robin on May 14th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
    
    

Leave a Reply

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website