In my latest release, Soul Survivor, my hero and heroine are star-crossed lovers, soul mates whose first love affair happened a thousand years ago. Like all ill-fated love affairs, that first time around, however, ended tragically. Their love destroyed an entire nation, left the heroine immortal and killed the hero. This time, when their souls are reunited, they get a second chance to right some wrongs and rekindle their love affair.
I enjoy stories about star-crossed lovers. Shakespeare introduced us to Romeo and Juliet and the idea that relationships could be doomed by a “maligned star”. Since then, we’ve embraced many fictional star-crossed lovers in both classical and modern interpretations. My favorite classic pair is Heathcliff and Catherine in Wuthering Heights. And in modern fiction, I’m a total Buffy and Angel fangirl.
When we think of star-crossed lovers, we think of unbridled love, stupid choices made in the heat of passion, heartbreaking climaxes and unhappy endings. Thwarted love, it seems, always goes tragically bad, but isn’t that part of the appeal?
In today’s fiction market, tragic romances are out. Happily Ever After is in. We still love drama and tragedy and seeing our beloved heroes and heroines give up everything in the heat of the moment for love, but we want the good stuff, too, some payoff to come in the end from all that heartbreak, sacrifice and stupidity. We hunger for them to throw away every ounce of caution and dive headfirst into heartbreak because we know in the end it’ll all be worth it. We ache for them when their romance goes tragically bad, and yet we believe they’ll conquer their inner demons and end up in a deep, committed relationship that nothing can tear apart, because, hey, they’ve already been through hell, right? They’ve proven their love and that love has healed some damaged part of them. They’ve paid their dues and now it’s time for them to find the love of their life. It’s a karma thing as much as a lovefest.
So tell me, who are your favorite star-crossed lovers? Lancelot and Guinevere? Tony and Maria (West Side Story)? Tristan and Isolde? Phoebe and Cole (Charmed)? If you could rewrite their story, would you give them a happily ever after?