#RomBkLove Day 31: HEAs
05/31/2017
#RomBkLove Day 31: Why are HEAs are essential & necessary for you? What must a HEA deliver? What makes for a swoon-worthy HEA?
HEAs saves lives. #RomBkLove
— Melissa Blue (@mel_thegreat) May 30, 2017
And that is tomorrow's prompt in a nutshell! #RomBkLove https://t.co/9hkAr0Mx9C
— Ana Coqui (@anacoqui) May 30, 2017
Melissa Blue is not wrong. I came to romance when my family was going through a rough time and I just couldn't read one more dark dystopian fantasy. The security of the HEA, lets me ride out dark or angst-heavy conflicts and to take risks with settings and premises because I can trust the author will not leave me in despair, but always work the couples back from the brink.
However all HEAs are not created equal. Some are rushed, others too pat. For me the HEAs have to be earned on the page, rather than magically resolved pages from the end. Character growth and true repentance for bad actions and choices, needs to happen on the page in order for the restoration or establishment of relationships to be believable. However I don't need babylogues or extensive epilogues. I am comfortable with HFNs, especially when relationships are new or couples are very young.
My husband and I are approaching our 19th anniversary in less than a month. We married young, and have now outlasted our parents marriages by more than half a decade. We have had to figure out this HEA business on our own and our marriage has evolved as we have grow up, finished educations, changed careers and raise our family. So for me a HEAs doesn't mean the lovers will never again struggle, and that things will always work out how they want, just that they are committed to facing those struggles and setbacks together.
What do you look for from a HEA?