Reading Time: 3 minutes

The hallmark of the romance genre is two people falling in love. So if it’s a series – usually a fantasy romance series – what happens when the main couple has gotten together early on? Officially and happily? Is it boring, or heartwarming?

My answer is, unequivocally: boring. Except when it’s a story with a romance subplot.

And I’ll tell you why.

Miscommunication, cheating, and pregnancy tropes

In a story that is billed as a romance (meaning the romance is the story), once the couple is together there are usually only a few specific plot wrenches the author can throw at them to keep the story moving without breaking them up. And all of them are the worst plot clichés.

• Miscommunication: when the omission of information moves the plot forward. As in, one or both characters intentionally chooses not to have a mature, adult conversation and instead just keeps their feelings or thoughts to themselves. Or worse, makes a bad assumption and jumps to conclusions without ever pausing to ask if their assumption is correct. Stop it, already.
• Cheating: when one or both characters decides to be unfaithful. Not only is this just icky, it’s even worse when this behavior is forgiven and they get back together. Immediately, no.
• Pregnancy: when their happiness is so transcendent, their story can go nowhere else but pregnancy. Or, when an accidental pregnancy brings them together. Because what’s more romantic and sexy than morning sickness, sleep deprivation, and babies screaming? I’ll begrudgingly accept these in an epilogue, but if the plot depends on this – please, for the love, no.

Fighting and breakups

Outside of the above tropes, the other option is just for the established couple to be together…unhappily. They fight a lot. Someone is constantly lying or hiding secrets. Someone is making demands the other can’t meet. Or they just keep breaking up and getting back together.

I don’t want to read a romance about a couple that can’t stop fighting. This is acceptable before they’re lovers, especially if they’re sworn enemies or workplace rivals or something along these lines, but after? No thanks.

Worse, still: no plot twists at all

I hate all of the aforementioned plot setups, but at least something is happening in those stories. It’s infinitely worse when nothing happens at all. They’re together…and that’s it. The rest of their story is just them being happy and together.

This is just fluff – and I’m not a fan.

So if my options for established couples are terrible tropes, a breakup, incessant fighting, or nothing at all – what reason do I really have to be invested in them anymore?

Why established couples in romance subplots work

In a romance, the plot is the couple getting together. But with a romance subplot, the love story is happening in the background of the larger plot. In these kinds of stories, the romance only matters in how it impacts the main character.

In this case, established couples work perfectly. They can be together happily, and we don’t need any terrible tropes to keep it interesting. The love interest can be a wholesome and welcome respite from the harsh world of the plot. They might even impact the decisions of the main character. The MC might go out of their way to keep their love safe from harm, or their partner could be the one person who can speak bluntly and honestly to them.

The love interest is a sounding board, a confidant, and a source of hope and comfort. And they’re free to be so because the story doesn’t revolve around them falling in love. The love story is just one layer in a multi-faceted, complicated web of overlapping plot points.

This is my fatal flaw. I own that.

I often lose interest once the main couple is together – and that’s evident in my reviews for most fantasy romance series. It’s why I prefer slow burns, and even romantic intrigue about who the main character will choose in the end. Betrayals that turn the romance on its head, leading to a (permanent) breakup that drives the MC into another’s arms (aka the real true love), are my jam.

I want to keep guessing because that’s what makes a story interesting.