I took Drama Queen (that’s my younger teenage daughter), two of her cousins and my mom to see Disney Princesses on Ice the other night. We had quite the adventure getting there. Driving downtown – *in the dark* – is not my favorite thing to do and since I took my mom, we had to take her car as it’s fitted for the scooter she rides. (I never minded pushing the wheelchair, but she likes the independence.) Anyway, so her car does not have a GPS and true to form, I took a couple of wrong turns and ended up going through a pretty rough part of the city. Did I mention this was AT NIGHT? Yeah, lots of fun. I got turned around in the parking garage too , but that’s another story. Fact is, we made it. In one piece, or five people as the case may be.

And the show was awesome! Beautiful skating, amazing pageantry, lots of glitter and humor and happy endings for all involved. It got me thinking about what is absolutely necessary for me in a romance. And that is the HEA. I call ‘em happy beginnings, ‘cuz it takes work to keep that happiness and love alive, but I assume the romance protagonists I read about are going to do that. Right? That’s why they’re in romance for me.

When I was finishing Deal With This, I kept going back over the beginning of the book – not to rewrite it, but to make sure that the victorious ending was believable. That it built on the beginning. That my story would leave readers feeling good deep down inside. And that only works for me when all the elements come together. So, I struggled with the ending, argued with the epilogue and finally finished the book. I love the story and the characters and I’m hoping readers will feel the same way.

About a year and a half ago, I read two books in a trilogy. The second book overturned the happy ending for one of the couples. They broke up permanently, leaving the most giving and heroic guy without his love or pretty much any hope at the end of Book 2. I wrote the author…I wanted to know if the hero was going to get another love…I wanted to tell her she was uber talented ‘cuz she really tapped into my emotions (both good and bad). She assured me Book 3 would have the HEA, but when it came out a couple of months ago, I couldn’t make myself buy it.

Totally surprised me. If that book had been available when I finished the other one, I’d have bought and read it in a heartbeat, but now I don’t want to. I realized that there are certain things *I* need in my romance and one that I absolutely will not compromize on. I want the HEA and I don’t want to read a book down the road that flips that HEA and doesn’t resolve the pain of loss before the end of the new book. I discovered that I couldn’t make myself trust the author enough to buy the next book. Maybe I get more involved with characters than the average reader…because I’m a writer. All I know is that my characters feel real to me and so do the ones I read about by authors who know how to tap into my emotions. I become emotionally invested in the outcome of the book.

I know this is a personal thing. It doesn’t mean an author isn’t wonderful or that his/her books don’t absolutely rock when she flips a happy ending. We all have our hot buttons and when they get pushed, we react. This is one of mine. The readers and reviewers I love talking to the most are the ones that truly recognize this reality – that personal preferences do not a bad book make. Being aware of our own limitations is a good thing, I think. It helps us avoid falling in pits in the future. I’m a huge fan of MovieEndings.com because it helps me avoid that hollow sick feeling I get when an ending I expect to be victorious isn’t. I know not to read authors that make a habit of writing endings that will make me cry or flipping endings that didn’t.

So, what element (or elements) is a total must for you in your favorite books? Well developed characters? A strong plot? An absolutely error-free book? (Trust me there *are* readers who need this and if you’re one of them – that’s cool, right? ) A heroine who is strong from the beginning? One who grows emotionally during the book? An alpha hero? A non-alpha hero? Marital faithfulness? An exotic setting? A familiar setting? A paranormal element? A little suspense? Steamy love scenes? What?

I do not want to focus on what bugs us in books. That’s just not me. But I’m keen to hear what you most desire to be present. What element(s) do you absolutely need to make a story work for you and that help keep you reading a particular author?

Hugs,
Lucy

P.S. I’ve got a month long party going on at my personal blog to celebrate the Nov 27 release of DEAL WITH THIS. Pop by and say, “Hi,” and get entered into one of the many drawings for prizes going on.

After years thinly veiled hints and not so thinly veiled flat out pleas from the teenagers, we bought a hot tub. We did it for them, we really did. Just like we installed a pool in our very tiny backyard this summer (the deck was for me – but that’s another story). Only, I soon discovered a new love. A new passion…gasp, a new hobby almost. It’s called sitting in the hot tub until I’m a puddle of goo. Some of my best ideas used to happen in the shower…now it’s the hot tub. And it’s lots of fun when dh joins me, but the truth is, I love it just as much when the teens come out and we sit around talking, all nice and relaxed.

I wish I’d done it years before, but then maybe I wouldn’t appreciate it so much now. The truth is, it’s helped me carve bits of relaxation out of my schedule. With my writing on one hand, six teens/young adults in the house, my mom (who hasn’t been well physically for years) moved in just down the block, sisters with health issues and well, just life on the other, I can go days without coming up for air. But now, even if I only have ten minutes to call my own, I can use them to truly, totally relax. It’s a little slice of Heaven right here on Earth. LOL

So, darlin’s…what do you all do to relax???

Hugs,
Lucy

P.S. I’m the Queen of Giveaways, or at least Crown Princess – so I’ll be selecting a randomly drawn name from the comments on this blog to receive a signed copy of WILLING and of course a bit of chocolate. What’s a prize without chocolate?