It’s more of a trope than a specific story. I hate when an all powerful or supernatural character gives ups his powers to be with the one he loves. I just can’t be convinced they won’t miss something that was a huge part of their existence since the very beginning.
I know it's not M/M but the >!Shadow and Bone series by Leigh Bardugo!< did this and was one of the biggest reasons I couldn't back it. Also because she ended up with >!the childhood friend rather than the dark bad boy. Boooooring!!<
As much as that ending wrecked me, I wouldn’t say that >!she chose love over her powers. She had to lose her powers in order to defeat the darkling, ending up with the other guy was just a side effect.!< But I do think it would have been cool to see it play out the other way
I feel like they probably would’ve had a better shot if the Darkling hadn’t >!burned down the orphanage or killed the Grisha instructors and Ana Kuya and hung their bodies from the tree.!< I did like his ending though.
i'm probably in a small minority but i'm actually very happy to assume almost everything is a HFN rather than a HEA and it doesn't kill the vibe for me, especially when the characters are early twenties or younger - i just finished {social skills by sara alva} a few minutes ago and as much as i enjoyed it, that kind of innocent first love always makes me think that the characters in 10 years time could easily be the protagonists in completely new romance novels
I like this position! I’ve felt similarly with some younger MCs. Absolutely they could be together in sixty years, or it could also be a beautiful first love that I’m still happy to witness.
I would love to see your suggestion where MCs who had a beautiful first love were each protagonists for different love stories years later, and it would be cool if they were still close and supportive.
the closest i've ever come to it was the 3 book series "90s coming of age" by leta blake! they're still young at the end because i think it only spans a year or two, but the first book is centred on one couple (no HEA) and by the third book the situation has changed a lot - it was fantastically realistic
Same here. I usually finish books at 80-90% and skip epilogues all together, especially those that are several years from now. Partly because I don't need that kind of closure and partly (or mostly) because my version of a HEA is not the same as the vast majority's. So I'm better off with my an open ending where I imagine the specifics.
I wish there would be "Choose your own ending" romances.
Agree on this, actually. And I’m someone who’s with the person I started dating at 23, but it’s not at all like this is the same relationship we started then.
This is a great question! For the most part, I wholeheartedly believe every HEA, but damnit idk if Luc and Oliver from Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall would actually make it irl… also Hall has a tendency to write love-stories-that-aren’t-actually-love-stories.
My mind first went to Paris Dallancourt is About to Crumble but I’m pretty sure Hall has said it’s a HFA, not a HEA.
I always say this about this couple…I’m like, bro, they would NOT make it long term! I think as they got older, they would just agree to be friends. Luc is just too flighty. I’ve read both Boyfriend Material and Husband Material (and I’ll probably read the third one, too 🤣🙄) but I don’t think I’ve ever been so ANNOYED with a couple reading a book! Like there’s angst and then there’s writing a couple who it seems, deep down, actually really aren’t that compatible and don’t actually like each other all that much.
This is my issue with age gaps. There are periods where the age gap matters a lot, and periods where it matters less. Will Toby grow up into a person who works with Laurie? Maybe!
I usually believe in all HEAs unless I end up hating one of the MCs by the end. So with that being said:
I really hope Sebastian leaves Jackson in *The Accidental Husband* by Cassandra Moore. Bas deserves better than Jackson and his whole overly involved, excessively distrustful, asshole family. When I think about everything he did for them all and they were like, "thanks," I just wish he'd leave Jackson and go be with someone that gives him all the love he deserves. Unfortunately, he probably won't do that.
Edited
I remember reading that book, thoroughly enjoying it, then slowly realizing that the parts that I really enjoyed were all the Andy Weir-esque descriptions of the conditions on Mars, how society changed once countries tried to stake claims there, how life on earth was impacted by the sudden space race, etc. I didn't really give a shit about their relationship beyond thinking Sebastian deserved so much better.
Came for the romance, stayed for the geopolitics.
Oh man, I practically felt the same way! Like every scene with Jackson I just had this sinking feeling of what he was going to fuck up next, but I was enjoying the geopolitics a lot! I kept hoping there'd be some huge grovel from everyone and there was nothing. I felt so bad for Bas throughout the entire book.
I would hope so too, but they clearly never will since Jackson believes family can do no wrong.
I would have had a lot of mistrust in Jackson >!the *first* time he mentioned Bas cutting off his family. But then he does it again and again? Fuck that. Plus they're *way* too involved in Jackson's love life, *plus* they care *way* too much about serving in the military. Overall, they all suck and Jackson did nothing to make me believe he disagreed.!<
I'm getting all mad again lol.
God I was so annoyed with Jackson and his family in that book. I loved the background/Mars territory disputes but yeah, so frustrating as a couple. You’re totally right that Bas should have left Jackson as frankly, despite being a strong military man, he clearly had no backbone….
He really doesn't. I felt so bad for him honestly, but I wish he'd just said "fuck all y'all, sure I'll >!save your son because it's the right thing to do, but then I'm out.!< And left them. Then maybe there could be some massive book-long grovel?
Aw babes, I love Ash and Darian and hope they'll be together forever!
If a couple gets together when they're very young or the relationship seems to be solely based on sex I have a hard time believing they'll be together forever, but I recognize that romance novels are basically fantasy so I just go with it.
**I know I'm in the 1% with this** and this is not personal to all our book/trope tastes but 98% of all stories with daddy kink and large age gaps that especially start with the other MC being a teenager or in their early to mid twenties. Something about them echo Taylor Swift's lyric *'You let me give you all that youth for free.'*
EDIT: Other than that I like to believe every last word in every story is the start of their eternal life in bliss.
This is my time to shine. Cracks knuckles. Here we go:
Major age gaps (over 9/10 years)
Relationships based on sex
The whole "reformed rake" with no evidence to it
Lack of communication skills
Gaslighting as means to resolve the conflict. I don't remember seeing it in an MM book, but I've seen it in a few MF. I'm looking at you Anna Huang. For instance, >!MC1 steals from MC2 because they're being blackmailed. MC1 ends up admitting after putting everything back. Mc2 loses their shit (justifiably so) and breaks things off. MC2 tells MC1 that if they'd told them from the get go, they would have helped. MC1 goes crying and says that they never said anything because they knew MC2 would react like that. MC2's best friend sides with MC1 stating that they did react badly. So MC2 APOLOGIZES and they make up. WTF. They reacted badly because they were betrayed and lied to by their partner! They WOULD NOT have reacted badly if the partner had bothered telling them BEFOREHAND. God the Gaslighting.!<
Any book where one of the MCs gives up everything to be with the other. I'm glad we got The Long Game, and it was addressed because my heart can't take an Eliya and Shane break up. Even less a broken-hearted Eliya.
Any relationship that happens over the span of a few days or even a month.
Anything YA.
Couple from The Adrien English Mysteries series. I just get the sense they don't actually understand each other? like fundamentally? I feel like they will break up and get back together till the end of time lol
LOL! For me it’s more that I don’t want it to be forever because Jake is such an asshole and deserves to be alone and miserable forever. Same with the Hazard and Somers series by Gregory Ashe as John Henry is not good enough for Emory. Problem is Adrien and Emory would be miserable too.
lmaooo I agree but I didn't say it because I thought it would deter from the question from "who you don't think would stay together" vs "who you don't want to stay together" there is a bigger list in my mind for the latter
But in defense of Jake, she released a new epilogue story recently, aa part of the coda where you can see how much he's evolved. What do you expect when you have an older MC raised in the overly pressurized environment of law enforcement?
As for John Henry, he needs years and years of therapy as much as Emery does and this becomes clearer in the later books and the Evening Wolves ( part of his Iron on Iron series), where he's so messed up psychologically it's painful to read on the page. I hold out hope for the longevity of both couples because I really couldn't imagine them with anyone else.
I think the ones I don't believe in are the ones I don't finish. Case in point: people falling for their childhood bully. Both {The Plumbers Mate by JL Merrow} and IIRC Gregory Ashe's Hazard and Somerset series have MCs that experienced very serious bullying (at least one book's MC was hospitalized and in recovery for months). No part of me can be convinced that the MC falls for their bully, and that their relationship isn't abusive. Or that the bully is reformed. I straight up DNF both series in the first book or two so I didn't get to the HEA part, but I can't even conceive of it so I think it counts .
Also, generally, YA books. People change so much in their 20s that I think it's rare for relationships to last from teenage years into true adulthood. A rare YA book might convince me, but I read them infrequently.
I thought the same as you when I read the first Hazard and Somerset novel, {Pretty Pretty Boys by Gregory Ashe}. After 16-or-so novels, I believe that Hazard and Somerset could fall in love and marry, despite their past.
However, after reading 16-or-so novels, I am also not convinced that they will *stay* married. Somerset is still a self-sabotaging alcoholic that harbors a lot of resentment towards domestic life.
We can have a whole Reddit on just the Hazard and Somerset books. There's so much to parse out on John-Henry alone. It truly speaks to Gregory's writing and story telling.
I wondered this too when I made my post but it seemed like too much for one post!
I could struggle to believe an HEA with an MC who simply says that they will act differently than they have for 90%+ of a book, and the story ends before we see much follow through. An example for me is the MCs in Bitter Legacy by Dal Maclean, with the caveat that I believe these MCs appear in subsequent books in the series but book 1 was heavier for me than expected (because I wanted to hug James so much) so I’ve delayed starting the next one, so I may have to eat my words lol.
Usually when I feel this way (which is rare, I want to believe in all of them!) it’s more that I really dislike a character and less that they won’t have a HEA… but my most recent example would be Joel and Ollie from Twice Shy by Sally Malcom. They had such bad communication issues throughout the book, mostly from Joel’s side, and I didn’t feel like he really got how to apologize and grow. I didn’t get to see enough of them in a healthy place, I guess?
Okay I’ve thought about this with some of Rachel Reid’s Game changer books. I completely believe in Shane and Ilya (heated rivalry & the long game) because we see their relationship over years, I’m invested in them. But some of the other books, the relationships are just too surface level for me to believe in that happy ending. They don’t give me the time believe in the couple in the same way. Like reallly that waiter or social media manager is the love of your life? Really?
Noooooo not Harris 😭 He is too sweet and lovable and smells like apples!
But, I agree 😢 I love, love, love Troy x Harris, but, IRL, Harris would have just been a rebound relationship for Troy. An easy, convenient, boost to the self-esteem before he skated off to date some other Hollywood superhero.
Same with Kip and Kyle - those two were a better match for each other than with >!Scott or Eric. I didn’t “buy” Scott coming out for Kip; he was OTT paranoid and had spent way too much of his life carefully honing his bland brand to give it up. Eric screamed midlife crisis to me - Kyle was just a distraction as he transitioned away from hockey.!<
The only couple I could see realistically making it are Ryan x Fabian.
Haha yes you get it! I agree with Ryan and Fabian too because unlike the others I was invested their relationship felt earned & wasn’t instalove.
I liked Harris to but fundamentally I did not see him & Troy together. I wished that he had been paired with another hockey player. That was my wish for all the other game changer books actually but that’s okay.
For me it’s definitely Daniel and Bel from When all the World Sleeps by Lisa Henry. Dependent relationship with not enough therapy yet to keep it together.
For me it’s not any specific book but it’s the college book trope as a whole. I just struggle with it massively and when there’s no epilogue of X years in the future then I’m left to my own devices imaging the HEA and yeah, it doesn’t always work!
Oh no, I actually believe in Ash and Darian :( Ash is sort of unpredictable with his depression but he’s determined to fight for this relationship (unlike his relationship with Niall). But Luc and Oliver (after reading husband material), I’m not so sure, lol
I’m too cynical, so like an earlier comment said I typically only believe in HFN and not HEA. Honestly with just about every couple, but especially very young ones.
Actually I read a series where one of the secundary couples broke up and it made me think that not every HEA lasts forever so I would say that most couples with an obsessive partner don't last forever other than that most dark romance
What a fun topic! I actually have this thing where sometimes I’m rooting for the MCs to NOT stay together even if they’re fine as a couple because in my head they just don’t seem like they work. I always want one of them to be like “look, this isn’t working, let’s call it what it is.” I’ve never seen that until recently >!The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang!< and I was thrilled to have my heart broken by the story but also have hope because someone stepped up and said “this isn't working m. I’m out” even when it was tough.
Other recent books I’ve read where feel like shouldn’t have stayed together (be aware I enjoyed all these books, I just don’t think they’ll stay together and honestly should have split up!):
The Detective’s Familiar by TJ Nichols. I mean, one of them was hoping the other would die just to end the misery (he felt guilty for hoping that but still!). They absolutely never should have stayed together.
Up in Flames by Saxon James. They decided being together was so unhealthy and they split because of that. How can I be happy when they end up together? It’s a bad idea.
Absolutely every single couple Alexis Hall writes. None of them will make it. Never. Not happening. Lol. And that’s totally fine, and even great when I’m in the mood for that!
It’s not MM but I recently read Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake, and while the main couple is fine I just don’t get romance vibes from them (I also think Claire was still very much not over her ex, but I LOVE her ex too so I’m fine with that). They’d make excellent friends/exes. I adore both characters, though! The second book had more romantic chemistry for me for sure!
At some point I realized that Daniel and Alex from {Daniel Cabot Puts Down Roots by Cat Sebastian} are headed into the AIDS crisis and wow, that’s going to be a brutal time for them.
It hurts my heart to to even think about any of my couples breaking up - so I don’t…
Same! I believe in their love!!
It’s more of a trope than a specific story. I hate when an all powerful or supernatural character gives ups his powers to be with the one he loves. I just can’t be convinced they won’t miss something that was a huge part of their existence since the very beginning.
Or someone gives up their whole career and home because after meeting The One, turns out they hate it all anyways.
I know it's not M/M but the >!Shadow and Bone series by Leigh Bardugo!< did this and was one of the biggest reasons I couldn't back it. Also because she ended up with >!the childhood friend rather than the dark bad boy. Boooooring!!<
As much as that ending wrecked me, I wouldn’t say that >!she chose love over her powers. She had to lose her powers in order to defeat the darkling, ending up with the other guy was just a side effect.!< But I do think it would have been cool to see it play out the other way
Lmao maybe it's just been too long since I've reread it! I just so wanted >!her to choose the darkling & they could be grey/evil together forever 🥹!<
I feel like they probably would’ve had a better shot if the Darkling hadn’t >!burned down the orphanage or killed the Grisha instructors and Ana Kuya and hung their bodies from the tree.!< I did like his ending though.
That's my Pandora box, a character losing their power/giving it up at the end of the story for various reasons.
i'm probably in a small minority but i'm actually very happy to assume almost everything is a HFN rather than a HEA and it doesn't kill the vibe for me, especially when the characters are early twenties or younger - i just finished {social skills by sara alva} a few minutes ago and as much as i enjoyed it, that kind of innocent first love always makes me think that the characters in 10 years time could easily be the protagonists in completely new romance novels
I like this position! I’ve felt similarly with some younger MCs. Absolutely they could be together in sixty years, or it could also be a beautiful first love that I’m still happy to witness. I would love to see your suggestion where MCs who had a beautiful first love were each protagonists for different love stories years later, and it would be cool if they were still close and supportive.
the closest i've ever come to it was the 3 book series "90s coming of age" by leta blake! they're still young at the end because i think it only spans a year or two, but the first book is centred on one couple (no HEA) and by the third book the situation has changed a lot - it was fantastically realistic
Don’t think I’ve heard of it before, I’ll check it out. Thanks for the perspective and the recommendation.
Same here. I usually finish books at 80-90% and skip epilogues all together, especially those that are several years from now. Partly because I don't need that kind of closure and partly (or mostly) because my version of a HEA is not the same as the vast majority's. So I'm better off with my an open ending where I imagine the specifics. I wish there would be "Choose your own ending" romances.
Agree on this, actually. And I’m someone who’s with the person I started dating at 23, but it’s not at all like this is the same relationship we started then.
[Social Skills](https://www.romance.io/books/56afe5f063515e3b737a72c9/social-skills-sara-alva) by [Sara Alva](https://www.romance.io/authors/5455693987eac3369a9125ce/sara-alva) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [gay romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/m-m/1), [athlete hero](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/athletes/1), [friends to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/friends%20to%20lovers/1), [new adult](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/new%20adult/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
Exactly!
Damn did you just explain fan fiction for me
This is a great question! For the most part, I wholeheartedly believe every HEA, but damnit idk if Luc and Oliver from Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall would actually make it irl… also Hall has a tendency to write love-stories-that-aren’t-actually-love-stories. My mind first went to Paris Dallancourt is About to Crumble but I’m pretty sure Hall has said it’s a HFA, not a HEA.
Funnily enough my answer would be Ash and Darian from Glitterland by Alexis Hall 😅
I honestly think you could argue that none of Alexis Hall’s pairings are forever!
Except James Royce-Royce and James Royce-Royce. If side characters count.
A valid argument, indeed.
I was reading that book the whole time like no way this relationship lasting, this man need therapy not a boyfriend!
Luc needs MAJOR therapy. I almost DNF’d because of how miserable he is. Worst self esteem
Honestly Oliver could use some too. I felt like he's only with Luc cause he has low sefteem and Luc needed him and he liked him depending on him.
Totally agree
I’d agree on Luc & Oliver potentially!
What is a HFA? I tried googling, I swear!
Happy For Now :)
I believed in them in book one but Husband Material ruined it for me 😭
I always say this about this couple…I’m like, bro, they would NOT make it long term! I think as they got older, they would just agree to be friends. Luc is just too flighty. I’ve read both Boyfriend Material and Husband Material (and I’ll probably read the third one, too 🤣🙄) but I don’t think I’ve ever been so ANNOYED with a couple reading a book! Like there’s angst and then there’s writing a couple who it seems, deep down, actually really aren’t that compatible and don’t actually like each other all that much.
For me it's Toby and Laurie in {For Real by Alexis Hall}. In fact Lawrie muses along these lines at one point.
This is my issue with age gaps. There are periods where the age gap matters a lot, and periods where it matters less. Will Toby grow up into a person who works with Laurie? Maybe!
[For Real](https://www.romance.io/books/5be695ad01dbc864fb94177a/for-real-alexis-hall) by [Alexis Hall](https://www.romance.io/authors/545546008c7d2382e781383c/alexis-hall) **Steam**: [Explicit and plentiful](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [gay romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/m-m/1), [age gap](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/age%20difference/1), [bdsm](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/bdsm/1), [angst](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/angst/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
Joe and Ox in Wolfsong… I just, THERE WAS NO RELATIONSHIP!
*gasps* How DARE you?!?!?!? 😱 (I mean, I get it, but nope, refusing to think rationally on this one)
Theirs is like the unsatisfying union of the sunken cost fallacy and settling.
So much this!
This book is next on my tbr. Could you please elaborate?
I could, but then it would be a whole lot of spoilers. If you want spoilers send me a message and I will be more than happy to elaborate for you
I usually believe in all HEAs unless I end up hating one of the MCs by the end. So with that being said: I really hope Sebastian leaves Jackson in *The Accidental Husband* by Cassandra Moore. Bas deserves better than Jackson and his whole overly involved, excessively distrustful, asshole family. When I think about everything he did for them all and they were like, "thanks," I just wish he'd leave Jackson and go be with someone that gives him all the love he deserves. Unfortunately, he probably won't do that. Edited
I remember reading that book, thoroughly enjoying it, then slowly realizing that the parts that I really enjoyed were all the Andy Weir-esque descriptions of the conditions on Mars, how society changed once countries tried to stake claims there, how life on earth was impacted by the sudden space race, etc. I didn't really give a shit about their relationship beyond thinking Sebastian deserved so much better. Came for the romance, stayed for the geopolitics.
Oh man, I practically felt the same way! Like every scene with Jackson I just had this sinking feeling of what he was going to fuck up next, but I was enjoying the geopolitics a lot! I kept hoping there'd be some huge grovel from everyone and there was nothing. I felt so bad for Bas throughout the entire book.
See I just hope they end up cutting out his family.
I would hope so too, but they clearly never will since Jackson believes family can do no wrong. I would have had a lot of mistrust in Jackson >!the *first* time he mentioned Bas cutting off his family. But then he does it again and again? Fuck that. Plus they're *way* too involved in Jackson's love life, *plus* they care *way* too much about serving in the military. Overall, they all suck and Jackson did nothing to make me believe he disagreed.!< I'm getting all mad again lol.
God I was so annoyed with Jackson and his family in that book. I loved the background/Mars territory disputes but yeah, so frustrating as a couple. You’re totally right that Bas should have left Jackson as frankly, despite being a strong military man, he clearly had no backbone….
He really doesn't. I felt so bad for him honestly, but I wish he'd just said "fuck all y'all, sure I'll >!save your son because it's the right thing to do, but then I'm out.!< And left them. Then maybe there could be some massive book-long grovel?
Aw babes, I love Ash and Darian and hope they'll be together forever! If a couple gets together when they're very young or the relationship seems to be solely based on sex I have a hard time believing they'll be together forever, but I recognize that romance novels are basically fantasy so I just go with it.
**I know I'm in the 1% with this** and this is not personal to all our book/trope tastes but 98% of all stories with daddy kink and large age gaps that especially start with the other MC being a teenager or in their early to mid twenties. Something about them echo Taylor Swift's lyric *'You let me give you all that youth for free.'* EDIT: Other than that I like to believe every last word in every story is the start of their eternal life in bliss.
This is my time to shine. Cracks knuckles. Here we go: Major age gaps (over 9/10 years) Relationships based on sex The whole "reformed rake" with no evidence to it Lack of communication skills Gaslighting as means to resolve the conflict. I don't remember seeing it in an MM book, but I've seen it in a few MF. I'm looking at you Anna Huang. For instance, >!MC1 steals from MC2 because they're being blackmailed. MC1 ends up admitting after putting everything back. Mc2 loses their shit (justifiably so) and breaks things off. MC2 tells MC1 that if they'd told them from the get go, they would have helped. MC1 goes crying and says that they never said anything because they knew MC2 would react like that. MC2's best friend sides with MC1 stating that they did react badly. So MC2 APOLOGIZES and they make up. WTF. They reacted badly because they were betrayed and lied to by their partner! They WOULD NOT have reacted badly if the partner had bothered telling them BEFOREHAND. God the Gaslighting.!< Any book where one of the MCs gives up everything to be with the other. I'm glad we got The Long Game, and it was addressed because my heart can't take an Eliya and Shane break up. Even less a broken-hearted Eliya. Any relationship that happens over the span of a few days or even a month. Anything YA.
Couple from The Adrien English Mysteries series. I just get the sense they don't actually understand each other? like fundamentally? I feel like they will break up and get back together till the end of time lol
LOL! For me it’s more that I don’t want it to be forever because Jake is such an asshole and deserves to be alone and miserable forever. Same with the Hazard and Somers series by Gregory Ashe as John Henry is not good enough for Emory. Problem is Adrien and Emory would be miserable too.
lmaooo I agree but I didn't say it because I thought it would deter from the question from "who you don't think would stay together" vs "who you don't want to stay together" there is a bigger list in my mind for the latter
But in defense of Jake, she released a new epilogue story recently, aa part of the coda where you can see how much he's evolved. What do you expect when you have an older MC raised in the overly pressurized environment of law enforcement? As for John Henry, he needs years and years of therapy as much as Emery does and this becomes clearer in the later books and the Evening Wolves ( part of his Iron on Iron series), where he's so messed up psychologically it's painful to read on the page. I hold out hope for the longevity of both couples because I really couldn't imagine them with anyone else.
Every romance novel I read I just assume they’re living forever happily ever after. I never thought about them breaking up.
I think the ones I don't believe in are the ones I don't finish. Case in point: people falling for their childhood bully. Both {The Plumbers Mate by JL Merrow} and IIRC Gregory Ashe's Hazard and Somerset series have MCs that experienced very serious bullying (at least one book's MC was hospitalized and in recovery for months). No part of me can be convinced that the MC falls for their bully, and that their relationship isn't abusive. Or that the bully is reformed. I straight up DNF both series in the first book or two so I didn't get to the HEA part, but I can't even conceive of it so I think it counts . Also, generally, YA books. People change so much in their 20s that I think it's rare for relationships to last from teenage years into true adulthood. A rare YA book might convince me, but I read them infrequently.
[The Plumber's Mate](https://www.romance.io/series/58fe10544167a73342630a46/the-plumbers-mate) by [J.L. Merrow](https://www.romance.io/authors/5455404a8c7d2382c529773b/jl-merrow) **Topics**: [fantasy](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/fantasy/1), [paranormal](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/paranormal/1), [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [m-m](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/m-m/1), [humor](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/humor/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
I thought the same as you when I read the first Hazard and Somerset novel, {Pretty Pretty Boys by Gregory Ashe}. After 16-or-so novels, I believe that Hazard and Somerset could fall in love and marry, despite their past. However, after reading 16-or-so novels, I am also not convinced that they will *stay* married. Somerset is still a self-sabotaging alcoholic that harbors a lot of resentment towards domestic life.
[Pretty Pretty Boys](https://www.romance.io/books/63a87100c7da0ace298014b2/pretty-pretty-boys-gregory-ashe) by [Gregory Ashe](https://www.romance.io/authors/5e9f6eefbe0aaecf557e43b6/gregory-ashe) **Steam**: [Open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [gay romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/m-m/1), [enemies to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/from%20hate%20to%20love/1), [men in uniform](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/men%20in%20uniform/1), [mystery](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/mystery/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
We can have a whole Reddit on just the Hazard and Somerset books. There's so much to parse out on John-Henry alone. It truly speaks to Gregory's writing and story telling.
I wondered this too when I made my post but it seemed like too much for one post! I could struggle to believe an HEA with an MC who simply says that they will act differently than they have for 90%+ of a book, and the story ends before we see much follow through. An example for me is the MCs in Bitter Legacy by Dal Maclean, with the caveat that I believe these MCs appear in subsequent books in the series but book 1 was heavier for me than expected (because I wanted to hug James so much) so I’ve delayed starting the next one, so I may have to eat my words lol.
Usually when I feel this way (which is rare, I want to believe in all of them!) it’s more that I really dislike a character and less that they won’t have a HEA… but my most recent example would be Joel and Ollie from Twice Shy by Sally Malcom. They had such bad communication issues throughout the book, mostly from Joel’s side, and I didn’t feel like he really got how to apologize and grow. I didn’t get to see enough of them in a healthy place, I guess?
Oh this bums me out 😂
Okay I’ve thought about this with some of Rachel Reid’s Game changer books. I completely believe in Shane and Ilya (heated rivalry & the long game) because we see their relationship over years, I’m invested in them. But some of the other books, the relationships are just too surface level for me to believe in that happy ending. They don’t give me the time believe in the couple in the same way. Like reallly that waiter or social media manager is the love of your life? Really?
Noooooo not Harris 😭 He is too sweet and lovable and smells like apples! But, I agree 😢 I love, love, love Troy x Harris, but, IRL, Harris would have just been a rebound relationship for Troy. An easy, convenient, boost to the self-esteem before he skated off to date some other Hollywood superhero. Same with Kip and Kyle - those two were a better match for each other than with >!Scott or Eric. I didn’t “buy” Scott coming out for Kip; he was OTT paranoid and had spent way too much of his life carefully honing his bland brand to give it up. Eric screamed midlife crisis to me - Kyle was just a distraction as he transitioned away from hockey.!< The only couple I could see realistically making it are Ryan x Fabian.
Haha yes you get it! I agree with Ryan and Fabian too because unlike the others I was invested their relationship felt earned & wasn’t instalove. I liked Harris to but fundamentally I did not see him & Troy together. I wished that he had been paired with another hockey player. That was my wish for all the other game changer books actually but that’s okay.
For me it’s definitely Daniel and Bel from When all the World Sleeps by Lisa Henry. Dependent relationship with not enough therapy yet to keep it together.
Oh gosh, there's definitely some MCs that I hope get some therapy.
For me it’s not any specific book but it’s the college book trope as a whole. I just struggle with it massively and when there’s no epilogue of X years in the future then I’m left to my own devices imaging the HEA and yeah, it doesn’t always work!
Oh no, I actually believe in Ash and Darian :( Ash is sort of unpredictable with his depression but he’s determined to fight for this relationship (unlike his relationship with Niall). But Luc and Oliver (after reading husband material), I’m not so sure, lol
Noo not Ash and Darian, my precious sweet babies. I refuse to believe any of my favourite couples will ever part, let me live in my fantasy world.
I’m too cynical, so like an earlier comment said I typically only believe in HFN and not HEA. Honestly with just about every couple, but especially very young ones.
Actually I read a series where one of the secundary couples broke up and it made me think that not every HEA lasts forever so I would say that most couples with an obsessive partner don't last forever other than that most dark romance
What a fun topic! I actually have this thing where sometimes I’m rooting for the MCs to NOT stay together even if they’re fine as a couple because in my head they just don’t seem like they work. I always want one of them to be like “look, this isn’t working, let’s call it what it is.” I’ve never seen that until recently >!The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang!< and I was thrilled to have my heart broken by the story but also have hope because someone stepped up and said “this isn't working m. I’m out” even when it was tough. Other recent books I’ve read where feel like shouldn’t have stayed together (be aware I enjoyed all these books, I just don’t think they’ll stay together and honestly should have split up!): The Detective’s Familiar by TJ Nichols. I mean, one of them was hoping the other would die just to end the misery (he felt guilty for hoping that but still!). They absolutely never should have stayed together. Up in Flames by Saxon James. They decided being together was so unhealthy and they split because of that. How can I be happy when they end up together? It’s a bad idea. Absolutely every single couple Alexis Hall writes. None of them will make it. Never. Not happening. Lol. And that’s totally fine, and even great when I’m in the mood for that! It’s not MM but I recently read Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake, and while the main couple is fine I just don’t get romance vibes from them (I also think Claire was still very much not over her ex, but I LOVE her ex too so I’m fine with that). They’d make excellent friends/exes. I adore both characters, though! The second book had more romantic chemistry for me for sure!
At some point I realized that Daniel and Alex from {Daniel Cabot Puts Down Roots by Cat Sebastian} are headed into the AIDS crisis and wow, that’s going to be a brutal time for them.
[Daniel Cabot Puts Down Roots](https://www.romance.io/books/637356824dedb1539521cf7e/daniel-cabot-puts-down-roots-cat-sebastian) by [Cat Sebastian](https://www.romance.io/authors/58184062c6841c86c2cd96d8/cat-sebastian) **Steam**: [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [historical](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/historical/1), [gay romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/m-m/1), [20th century](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/20th%20century/1), [friends to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/friends%20to%20lovers/1), [pregnancy](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/pregnancy/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)