if there is a female lead and a male support in an adventure story. is it expected that they'll fall in love or hook up? is it strange to have them be just partners, pals, buddies, or friends?
Is a romance expected?
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I think many readers will expect a romance to develop, however I don't see why this MUST be so. I've had main characters become interested in another MC, but I think it worked better to not have it develop into anything.
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if I am reading a story with a male and female in an adventure together then YES, I will expect at least chemistry given the environment in which they will be in...does not have to be romance necessarily but I can't help but want some tension between them
boo i have a FMC and a male supporting lead and no intention of then hooking up. but i suppose the hooks up with a minor main character and he might hook up with the villain... but not tension is planned 
Depends on how you write it.
If they have any kind of sexual tension, then, yes, I expect it.
If they're only colleagues and don't have any sexual tension, then I'll be irked if it's put in.
However, they should have some kind of relationship, even if it's not sexual, which has some amount of tension in it. What kind of tension is totally up to you and the story.
If they have any kind of sexual tension, then, yes, I expect it.
If they're only colleagues and don't have any sexual tension, then I'll be irked if it's put in.
However, they should have some kind of relationship, even if it's not sexual, which has some amount of tension in it. What kind of tension is totally up to you and the story.
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I'm sure it's expected, but maybe that's all the more reason not to do it. If it doesn't feel right for your characters, I wouldn't force it. Personally I'd like to see a few more novels without cookie-cutter romantic subplots.
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What kind of book are you writing? If it's a romance, or women's fiction, then yes. If it's purely a mystery/thriller then maybe not. But tension, sexual or otherwise, is always something you want so if you can create it with these two characters, it will be to your advantage.
Tracey
Sorry, just re-read and saw you were writing an adventure story. But I still think a romance is a good idea if it fits in with the story.
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Yes, I would definitely expect it... but that doesn't mean you have to do it. After all, no book should completely adhere to readers' expectations; it's nice to be surprised.
That being said, though... Because the average reader would definitely expect a romance to develop between the two, you'd probably have to address it at some point. Otherwise the reader might feel there's an aspect 'missing' from the novel.
Well, that's my 2p. Good luck!
That being said, though... Because the average reader would definitely expect a romance to develop between the two, you'd probably have to address it at some point. Otherwise the reader might feel there's an aspect 'missing' from the novel.
Well, that's my 2p. Good luck!
I find romance subplots to be boring and drag to read, I skim through them until it gets to the meat of the story again because they very rarely seem to add much to the story imo other than to give the author an excuse to write a sex scene.
I guess their tolerable if the love story plays into the plot. Such as the female betraying the male as she only pretended to love him or something. Alot of the time though they just feel tacked on and pointless.
Like the romance subplot in Harry Potter with him an Ginny. Didn't really serve a purpose at all and the Harry-Ginny-Cho segments/love triange were always the most boring.
I guess their tolerable if the love story plays into the plot. Such as the female betraying the male as she only pretended to love him or something. Alot of the time though they just feel tacked on and pointless.
Like the romance subplot in Harry Potter with him an Ginny. Didn't really serve a purpose at all and the Harry-Ginny-Cho segments/love triange were always the most boring.
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I don't write it and usually don't like to read it (unless is really well-written and unique in the approach).
I do have a feeling that - especially for women's fiction and YA - it is kind of expected, but can be avoided.
I do have a feeling that - especially for women's fiction and YA - it is kind of expected, but can be avoided.
It depends on how the characters are written. If they're written as having strong, sexual tension with lots of flirty banter, I'll be disappointed if they're no payoff. If they're written more like brother/sister/best buds, then no, I won't be disappointed if there's no romantic payoff.
Have the characters be true to themselves and whatever happens happens.
Have the characters be true to themselves and whatever happens happens.
Hm. I just scanned my shelves to see if I could find examples of a story in which a romance doesn't happen in that kind of situation. The only time I see anything like that, at least one of the characters is already involved in a committed relationship with someone else.
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Why give them something they expect? Let them fight, have angry sex, catch some STIs, eat a kebab, and then swear they'll never see each other again after the drama's over. If I wanted romance I would've left the damn book on the shelf and gone to bed when the missus hinted for me to.
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Not at all. But, as the others have said, if there's no tension at all, a "why" would be appropriate in the dialogue (not just in internal narrative.)
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Oh, nothing is more boring than a book where you can already tell at the beginning who will hook up with who! I like books that surprise, that don't follow the beaten to death plotlines, that show the author has the guts to tell a story that is a bit different from the other twenty of the same genre that are sitting next to it on the shelf.
There's no requirement for romance outside the romance genre. For some readers a romance in your adventure will make it more enjoyable, for others it will make no difference. A bad or forced romance will detract.
If the two leads don't have chemistry, or are meant to be portrayed as just and always only buddies, the simplest thing to do would be to give them other romantic interests and show that there's no tension surrounding that.
Or make things more complex. People often are.
If the two leads don't have chemistry, or are meant to be portrayed as just and always only buddies, the simplest thing to do would be to give them other romantic interests and show that there's no tension surrounding that.
Or make things more complex. People often are.
Expected? Really? No chance one is homosexual, or celibate, or in mourning? Or has that 'I think of you as a brother/sister' line ready and waiting to be dished out in anticipation of such a situation? I thought we strove to be above that Hollywood convention that two people of opposite sex + facing tense moments together = sex, maybe romance.
I personally get bored with a book that doesn't have at least SOME romance in it, and I know a lot of people who think the same. However, if you don't want it in there, DON'T put it in. And besides, you may be writing along and find that your characters surprise you; sometimes when I write I get in such a stupor that it's if my characters are writing the story. I get so into that they start doing and saying things that I never planned on them doing or saying haha
Ruv Draba
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No. In modern genre fiction, All Love is Unrequited, and it's common for a male support to be in unrequited love with a female lead these days -- a reversal of the Smitten Secretary trope of early 20th century genre fiction (e.g. Miss Moneypenny in James Bond, and various gumshoe secretaries). In mainstream and literary fiction there may be no sexual tension between them at all -- e.g. in Keri Hulme's Booker-winning novel The Bone People.
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As a reader I'm okay with or without romance as long as the book has an awesome plot, great character development etc. If the romance is well done, I look at it as a bonus. If it feels forced, fake or is just sex for the sake of sex, I find it boring and will drop a book and not look back.
So let your characters decided.
So let your characters decided.
As a crime reader a HATE romance subplots, that's not what I'm there for!
The only books I've been able to tolerate them in is in Val McDermid and Ian Rankin. With Rebus any romance is doomed and with Tony Hill and Carol Jordan the novels are filled with sexual tension but both characters are so damaged, the reader knows any romance is doomed too.
The only books I've been able to tolerate them in is in Val McDermid and Ian Rankin. With Rebus any romance is doomed and with Tony Hill and Carol Jordan the novels are filled with sexual tension but both characters are so damaged, the reader knows any romance is doomed too.
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