HEA - Too Cookie Cutter??

borrowed from scrabblesense.com

I absolutely, positively LOVE a happy ending.  I mean let's be real, it's what dreams are made of.  Right?  That's why I've always loved reading romance novels so much.  Every little girl starts planning out how her Prince Charming will race onto the scene riding his strapping white horse, razzle-dazzle her, literally and figuratively sweeping her off her feet.  They ride off into the sunset and live HAPPILY EVER AFTER. End Credits.

Okay so maybe it's not quite so simple in romance novels.  You have the tug and pull of two opposing forces: enter hero and heroine.  They spend a portion of the story either denying their love for each other or questioning their love for each other.  Outside forces may be thrown at the couple from every conceivable angle, making an already difficult love feel even that much more impossible.  But somehow they conquer all of those perceived roadblocks and discover, rediscover or finally accept their mutual love, and then they live HAPPILY EVER AFTER.


While I can't live without my regular dose of HEA I don't always enjoy the "cookie cutter" endings that I could almost read in mind without seeing a single word of the last few pages of the book.  Sometimes reading an excellent love story can be somewhat of a disappointment when the author chooses to use what I consider to be a cookie cutter ending.  Therefore reading the last few pages or epilogue is something that is at times no fun for me and I simply scan it rather than reading it.  Yes we all want the couple to end up together and remain deliriously in love, however what I don't think is always realistic is having all of their issues magically just disappear in the span of a chapter that wraps up the story.  What I can appreciate in some of the stories that I've read is when the heroine and hero are comfortable and confident enough in their love to admit that they still have things to work out and work on.  This is in fact more true to life and easier to relate to, even if we are reading a genre based in the fictitious fantasy worlds that we wish we lived in.  Yes we want to escape to a world where love conquers all but love is a work in progress which in my mind means you can love someone and want to be with them but not have every single issue resolved.  Sometimes what we could and should love most about someone is their imperfections and how it shapes who they are.

So am I saying that all HAPPILY EVER AFTER's should have unresolved issues?  No.  Absolutely not.  I am simply saying there could be a bit more variety in the endings.  Even though I want my heroine and hero to ride into the sunset, everything doesn't have to be nice and tidy for that to happen.  They simply have to be willing to work on their love.