SBD: the HEA

[jmc_bks]

'Tis Monday.  I didn't have anything to write about...until I finished my commute book on the ride into work this morning.

A copy of Sherri Erwin's To Hell With Love arrived on my doorstep on Friday.  From Amazon.  I don't remember ordering it.  Did I read a review?  An interview?  I don't know.   But The Devil as hero was intriguing...I was trying to figure out how it was going to work, since he obviously is tied to Hell.   Was the heroine going to be a modern day Persephone/Proserpina?
   

Dear Zebra Publishing:

WTFO?  You have labeled this book as Paranormal Romance -- those words are stamped on the spine.  I think your advertising is misleading.

You probably know this, being a fairly big publisher of the romance oeurve.  But just in case you had some kind of temp working the press or handling quality control when the cover/design of this book was done, I'll restate the Rule of Romance Genre Publishing:  The formula or recipe for romance includes a wide variety of spices and flavorings, but the general gist of the romance genre is a focus on the relationship of two individuals ending in an HEA.    What's an HEA?  Well, the mileage varies on that one.  Marriage with 2.3 babies?  Yes, for some.  A promise of a relationship of some sort?  Yes, that's enough for other readers.  

One recent book has what is an HEA for some -- the heroine comes back as a ghost.  Okay, that didn't work for me.  Why?  Because in my mind and in the supernatural world established in all the fiction I've read, ghosts are the manifestation of the person at the moment they died.  They cannot grow, they cannot change, they simply are.  Which means that they are not growing and changing with their beloved (who's still alive).  That doesn't strike me as healthy or happy, but as stagnant and sad.  So I have a hard time seeing a ghost as a partner capable of participating in an HEA, and nothing Ward wrote, not even in the slice of life on her website, has persuaded me otherwise.  But obviously other readers disagree; the two characters are together in the end and happy, thus an HEA.  The key word there is together.

What is my gripe about To Hell With Love?  Well, that there is no HEA within the confines of the book.  That crappy epilogue in which Owen/The Devil is so pleased to see his daughter from afar?  Sucked.  Telling Kate that they'll be together eventually?  Screw that.  Eventually being together in the afterlife is not an HEA to me.  Is she supposed to be celibate and loveless for the rest of her life, waiting to be reunited with him in Hell?  Ugh.  If not, how am I (as reader) supposed to think of her new love?  Just a stand in until she kicks the bucket and gets to be with The One?  More ugh.

Being separated for a lifetime due to Great Sacrifice and Great Love are romantic in an epic saga kind of way...but they do not make for a genre romance's HEA.  

Disappointed for The Devil,

jmc

ps  I've had this problem with several paranormals in the past year or so.  Is the genre trying to grow?  Or just trying to scam more bucks from sucker readers who want to see those characters get an HEA and are willing to pay for two or three or more books to get it, rather than just the one book?

pps  I think this may be the book that Meljean was talking about here.

Comments

[eackerman.livejournal.com]

I read this book last weekend based on an excellent review. I was intrigued by the story all the way until the end, and then it was puzzlement that this book had been labeled a romance. Frankly, I felt cheated. It's not that it was a bad book, but if you're going to label something romance, then there should be an ending with two people together.

And it also felt to me like there were two different storylines going here. One was the "chicklit-let's-laugh-about-dating" story, another was about dysfunctional families. The two didn't meld as well as they might have.

Frankly, I think the author took the easy way out. It would have been much more difficult to twist the story and the characters for the HEA, but ultimately more rewarding.

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

As I read, I kept trying to figure out how the HEA would work, how the author was going to get around Hades and the mortal/immortal problem. So to get to the end and learn that she didn't? Big disappointment. If the book hadn't been labeled as a romance, I wouldn't've been disappointed.

The book felt a little bipolar to me in some ways. It felt very comedic and slapstick-y in the first half, then very angsty in the second half, without a good transition. Kate's attachment to her family didn't really resonate for me, because she seemed isolated and outside of them for most of the book, despite the family dinner parties.

I think the author could've worked out an HEA that included them together...except she would have to have the characters sacrifice some things [instead of each other].

Okay, as I typed that last sentence, I got to thinking about the sacrifice that the author chose and one that she could've chosen. What does it say about the nature of the romance genre that the "proper" choice for Kate was to sacrifice romantic love for family obligation? And the choice between romantic love and having a child?

From Carrie http://lovelysalome.blogspot.com

[carrielofty.livejournal.com]

So she'd have to be really nasty during life, too. Murder folks. Kick babies. Be damned. And for a religious person, this might be quite a challenge. Life eternal with God...or an interminable distance from Him in Hell? Interesting theological stuff there. BUT NOT AN HEA. I agree completely.

Re: From Carrie http://lovelysalome.blogspot.com

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

Well, in this case, she would not have to be nasty. Erwin's Devil is the Hades of Greek mythology. There's Tantalus as hell, but also Purgatory. After death, everyone (I think) ends up visiting Hades, and then either going to Tantalus or moving on to Zeus's Elysium (either directly or after a stint in Purgatory).

Which brings up another point: if The Devil is going to be your hero, you may want to share a little more of his world and theology.

[menage-a-kat.livejournal.com]

Wasn't there a post on DA ages ago about a publisher who was trying to redefine "paranormal romance"? Maybe there is a bit of boundary pushing going on.

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

I think I remember reading about that at DA, must go check their archives. For me, I like the labels. I don't mind reading the other stuff, but I want to know what to expect. When the labels aren't consistent with my expectations, I get frustrated. Now in the back of my mind, I don't trust that Zebra properly uses the "romance" label, so it diminishes the chances that I'll be willing to buy another one of their books, especially by an unknown author.

[menage-a-kat.livejournal.com]

I find it strange, too, considering it's trying to cross genres (i.e. why not call it paranormal and leave it at that?). My guess is that some books straddle both genres but don't completely fulfill the expectations of either. For example, if it's paranormal but focuses more on the characters' relationships than the paranormal elements and it's labelled paranormal, readers will be disappointed by the lack of world building, but if you label it romance, it doesn't fit the HEA requirement. I'm not saying I agree with it or that it applies to this book (because I haven't read it); I'm just trying to think of reasons why a publisher might want to push the boundaries. I agree that, as a reader, it's misleading and it would taint my impression of the imprint.

[nm-eviled.livejournal.com]

This is the book Meljean was talking about in that post.

At some point, I put this book on my Paperback Swap wishlist. It came available for me last week and I went to read the reviews at Amazon. And promptly canceled my request. Some pissed off readers over there ;)

[meljeanbrook.livejournal.com]

I still haven't read the rest of the book, which is too bad. I read the end, just to make sure that my sister just wasn't on crack and misinterpreting it, but since then I haven't felt like picking it up, even though she said it was a great book up until the end (and now I don't have HEA expectations so at least I won't be disappointed). But I would have felt cheated if I had been the one to read it first.

But the labeling ... sigh. There's just enough at the end where I can see how they can argue for a HEA and labeling it a romance in a technical sense, but to most readers, HEA means they're together now, not in the future. Your points about future love interests is spot-on ... they might be happy and satisfying, but with Hades waiting in the background, what does that say about the future guy's role and the heroine's chance for romantic fulfillment in this life? Gah.

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

Y'know, as I typed my post, I thought a bit about the happy eventually in the ever after, which this is supposed to be. If I'm okay without a concrete ending (as in much chicklit or in books that don't end with a wedding and babies), why am I so not okay with this one? And I think it is all about the time lapse between the action of the book and the eventual HEA. An HEA sooner or later is okay; an HEA that won't occur until the death of a character is not. Because either I have to hope for a sad, early death, or I have to accept that one or both characters will be lonely for a long time before their HEA proper arrives.

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

I wish I'd gotten my copy from PBS. But I've posted it there and someone else wants it, so it'll soon be off my hands and out of my sight.

[tinyluv.livejournal.com]

Scam the readers is my vote.

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

Do you think any envelopes that get pushed are a happy accident? Or is most genre "growth" to scam the reader?

Being a cynic, I tend to assume profit as a primary motive, with any other "good" that may come out as an accidental benefit.

[tinyluv.livejournal.com]

I don't know what benefit is achieved by pushing the boundary to include ghosts and death. It's not like you can't write a book that has a) romance and b) an ending such as is written in Erwin's book but to label it romance seems only for financial purposes rather than expanding the genre to unnatural (imo) boundaries.

Lyvvie says...

[(Anonymous)]

I agree a HEA should be in place for a Romance. I read Where Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern and was left with the same let down feeling with an ending that seemed more like a beginning. 584 pages and they don't even kiss. Their HEA begins after they each are able to get their pensions out, even though they've known each other since they were five. It really bugged me. Apart from that I rather liked the book, but it was a great build-up to a disappointing ending.

We shake our fists and cry to the heavens.

Re: Lyvvie says...

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

Not even a kiss? *splutters* I could get past that, maybe, but no HEA on the page? That's not (genre) romance.

I don't think I've read Cecilia Ahearn, though I've seen her books at the library. Worth picking up?

I was about to break down and order this but changed my mind

[(Anonymous)]

After reading your post, I am very glad to have changed my mind. Like Jane said, scamming readers seems to be the new thing now. I depend on labels, too. Ghosts and lets meet in the afterlife does not a HEA make for me either. Thanks for the warning.

Keishon

Re: I was about to break down and order this but changed my mind

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

I'd offer to send this one to you, so you could try it for free...except I posted it on PBS and someone had it auto-requested.