Fated love really is a thrilling idea, isn’t it? One man. One woman. Destined to be together because of….(whatever). There’s an intensity there, not to mention the cozy feeling of a secure happily ever after. I played with the idea myself, when I was as young as 14 or 15, dreaming up an alien race in which a matched pair were born at the exact same time, and finding one’s true love was mostly a matter of finding the right birth records.
As an adult romance reader, however, I find the concept rarely works for me. There’s no tension when you know, from the word go, that two people are destined to be together and the only thing keeping them apart is that they haven’t gotten together yet.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…romance requires tension. Well done, there is a perfect balance of conflicting forces — that which brings them together vs. that which keeps them apart. The stronger the forces are on each side of the equation, the better the story! Yes, ultimately we know that they are going to live happily ever after. Those of us who love romance are okay with that, and are more interested in HOW the two characters manage to overcome their challenges to reach that eventual HEA. The best romance writers can make us temporarily forget that the HEA is coming, because the conflicts keeping the two characters apart are so poignant and so real!
Fated love breaks the dynamic. It brings the certain HEA into clear focus and usually gives us little reason to fear the two won’t get together. This is a big problem in the paranormal sub-genre in both overt (literal) and subtle ways. Subtly speaking, you have the psychics who form some kind of instantaneous mental connection in chapter one and then spend the rest of the book hooking up. Jayne Ann Krentz is particularly guilty of this (although she has a strong enough suspense element that I still read her stuff).
Having said all of that, I don’t want to discourage writers who want to use fated love in their stories. There must be a way to make it work, in the right author’s hands. What I wanted to do here was point out the dangers, so you can find a way around them. Dig deep for that conflict, and make us fear that your fated lovers may not end up together, and you’ll have a real winner that combines a magical fantasy with edge-of-the-seat tension.
I actually love the idea of fated love. I think im fascinated with the idea that that one person is meant for you…that something beyond your understanding is bringing you together for a purpose. With that being said, do you know of any books that are of fated love?
Check out Amanda Quick/Jayne Ann Krentz/Jayne Castle (all the same author writing under three names, the first for Victorian era, the second for modern, the third for future). Her Arcane Society books almost all have the feel of fated love (even if they don’t always use the exact terminology). They are suspense/fantasy/romance so they tend to be fast-paced and entertaining.
The book that made me write this post was “The Moon Witch” by Linda Winstead Jones — it’s the second in a series and I recommend starting with “The Sun WItch” so you’re not confused. I did feel like it suffered from just what I explained in my post — that because they were fated to be together I didn’t feel much was keeping them apart or keeping the tension level high, but even so it was an engaging book and you may like it.
I’ve run into the concept plenty of times, of course, but I’m drawing a blank at the moment. If you like those books, let me know. I read a ton of romance, some with fantasy, some without, and am beginning to think I should put together a catalog with features that may help readers know if they would like a story or not. (Such as fated love, or women in need of rescuing, or nice men … I’d love a list of books with nice men myself. 🙂 )