Fated to Mate Part 2

 

Part of the fun of romance novels of any kind is seeing the couple come together, watching them overcome all odds to live happily ever after. The fated to mate idea nullifies that, because you know how the story ends before you even begin reading. That shouldn’t really change the excitement of the journey, and most of the time it doesn’t.

 

Sometimes, it does. I’m thinking again of the Black Dagger Brotherhood books, and I’m working on pure conjecture because I’ve only read the first one. But the reason I never bothered with the second was because I already know exactly how it will end. And the third, and the fourth and so on. It will end with a rampantly dominant man ensconced happily with his woman. Sure, a few people might have tried to kill one of them, but that’s a minor issue. The important thing is, they fell instantly in lust/love and everything that happened in between was simply confirmation of their destined love.

 

Contrast that with Hannah from Catherine Cookson’s The Girl (one of my favourite books ever). It’s not a paranormal romance, but it’s still a romance. Our heroine Hannah’s first love affair is with her handsome but insipid half-brother. Although he claims to love her as much as she loves him, he is unwilling to act on his feelings and their relationship never becomes physical. By the time Hannah discovers they’re not blood relations, he’s married someone else and refuses to acknowledge the desire he once felt for Hannah.

 

Hannah is then forced into marriage with nice-but-dim butcher, Fred. She’s thoroughly miserable, but she endures because she sees no other option. Fred is mostly kind and gentle to her, but she can’t stand him. True love eventually finds Hannah in the form of poacher Ned Riley, who has loved her since she was a child. They begin a furtive, passionate affair, which is soon discovered. There is a happily ever after, but only after Ned has nearly been killed by Fred and Hannah has suffered unimaginable cruelty at the hands of her family.

 

The Girl takes place over a number of years, giving the relationships time to evolve and grow naturally. You find yourself emotionally attached to the characters, cheering them on, sympathising with them, worrying for them. Every time I re-read the book (and my God, I read it like once a month when I was younger), I experienced the same highs and lows. I really, truly believed in Hannah’s story and I desperately wanted her to find happiness.

 

But, and this is the difference between The Girl and Jacob, is that happiness was not a guarantee.

 

So again, thoughts? Does any of this matter?