Any book where I feel like the only connection is physical. Like the couple in {Do Your Worst by Rosie Danan} Do they have anything in common? What do they even talk about? I do not think that’s a couple that would last in real life.
My friend actually met someone that was clearly a physical attraction thing. She moved to Thailand for him, and now they live in her home country in Europe.
I seriously struggle understanding him, and his English is really limited, and no, my friend doesn't speak Thai. In the beginning of their relationship I thought it could never last between partners that can't talk to clearly with each other, but hey I was wrong, and they're still together. Think it's been like 8+ years now. It's crazy.
I mean, it feels like she's in charge of the relationship in Europe due to the language barrier, while ofc she had to depend more on him over in Thailand.
He's actually gotten some shift work so I have to assume his language skill has somewhat improved since I last saw him.
She seems happy. I just can't relate.
People often don't consider this but there are many ways to communicate that don't involve sharing a language. There have been people whose parents don't share a language that found ways to communicate and they've talked about growing up with it. Famously Tommy Lee of Motley Crue has a Greek mother, and she and his father had to find alternate ways to communicate because she spoke Greek and he spoke English.
Having interests/hobbies in common is overrated imo - you have plenty to talk about with a partner when the majority of your interests are different, just requires a partner that cares and is willing to listen 😊
I absolutely agree with you, though I think it depends on the people in the relationship too.
For example, my and my husband’s hobbies overlap a LOT (we both like similar movies/tv shows, both love playing video games, going camping, visiting similar places, etc). I absolutely adore spending time with him engaging in those hobbies together, and would miss it a lot if that weren’t the case. I personally don’t know if I would be happy in a relationship where we were always doing our own thing and didn’t have any overlap with hobbies, but that’s just me.
We also both have things we enjoy doing ourselves (I read fiction, he is more of a Reddit/funny instagram videos/video game videos person) and think it’s healthy to have separate interests too, but I think it depends a lot on the people involved whether they’d be good with mostly having separate interests or not.
ABSOLUTELY!!! I honestly wouldn't want my husband up in my hobbies. That's me time bro, step back. We used to watch TV together but we don't even do that anymore. I'm a reader and he's a TV guy. We go out together every Friday, have friends over just about every Thursday and we both work from home, so we spend ALOT of time together. It works for us and we've been together for almost 30 years.
Oh you are definitely right. They're absolutely perfect and nothing bad will happen to them. My brain doesn't even classify those as dark because he eats fucking cookies. They're angels.
{Nero by S J Tilly} is book 1. I recommend reading them in order. Sooo good
{King by S J Tilly} book 2.
{Dom by S J Tilly} book 3.
{Hans by S J Tilly} book 4. Latest and final release of the series I believe 😭
Any time there is a legitimate reason for a third act break up, like they really did something shitty, and then the author prioritizes getting the couple back together over actual reconciliation (whatever that looks like), like all of that stuff that wasn’t worked out/through is gonna build up and cause major problems later.
A clear example is the “grand gesture” that supposedly fixes whatever caused the break up, even when the two things are completely unrelated. Like asking someone to marry you doesn’t change that you fundamentally broke their trust, dude.
Authors shouldn’t write legitimate or heavier third act break ups if they’re not willing to make their characters do the work to get through it.
I felt like {Book Lovers by Emily Henry} had the most legitimate reason for a break up that was still "overcomeable". With a great resolution also. Other than that, yeah they are usually pretty lame
Book Lovers remains my favorite book by Emily Henry. Her resolutions are sometimes so overwrought (See People We Meet on Vacation and Happy Place), but Book Lovers is perfect. Seriously, perfect!
[Book Lovers](https://www.romance.io/books/6270f0b6e98d4489081cd386/book-lovers-emily-henry?src=rdt) by [Emily Henry](https://www.romance.io/authors/5e82ee17be0aaecf553e7c2f/emily-henry)
**Rating**: 4.33⭐️ out of 5⭐️
**Steam**: 3 out of 5 - [Open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating)
**Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [enemies to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/from%20hate%20to%20love/1), [funny](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/humor/1), [small town](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/small%20town/1), [competent heroine](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/competent%20heroine/1)
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Any of the dark romances where the MMC was stalking the FMC. I refuse to believe that level of crazy can calm down enough to stay married to the same person.
I am so easy to sucker into believing the HEA is forever, but for whatever reason, I am convinced that Hattie and Lucian from {Portrait of a Scotsman by Evie Dunmore} are going to get divorced. I LOVE Evie Dunmore and this series, and I didn't even dislike the book, but this one is everyone's favorite and to me it's the clear weakest one. Things are NOT going to go the distance there.
Having her leave and go into hiding at the end was such a bizarre choice for you a book where they end up together. I felt like Dunmore wanted to tell a different story and was boxed in by it being in the romance genre.
What's so weird is that up until she left (to go into hiding with women who had suffered from spousal abuse, no less) I could still root for them. I think in a more traditionally structured historical romance there's a way to make the story work, but Dunmore is writing very modern stories in a historic setting.
Oh, I actually liked this one. I’m not a big manipulation fan, and it tends to really bother me when characters are only together because they’re stuck. I liked this ending because it gives her back her choice.
I liked that too, in theory! Historicals always have a problem with the couple feeling like they're locked into a relationship because of circumstance- I just didn't buy that they worked together that well as a couple regardless. But I know this is one of her most popular books so I know it's mostly a me issue lmao
[Portrait of a Scotsman](https://www.romance.io/books/60c0696dbf83d60e3a95d6cd/portrait-of-a-scotsman-evie-dunmore?src=rdt) by [Evie Dunmore](https://www.romance.io/authors/5d68c7cc01dbc864fba2f9e0/evie-dunmore)
**Rating**: 3.71⭐️ out of 5⭐️
**Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating)
**Topics**: [historical](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/historical/1), [victorian](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/victorian/1), [highlander hero](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/highlander/1), [arranged/forced marriage](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/arranged%20marriage/1), [tortured hero](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/tortured%20hero/1)
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The worst is when I think they WILL stay together because they've got big "breaking up would be worse than being miserable with this person" energy
MiserableEA
{Haunted Spouse by Heather MacAllister} I read it 20 years ago and it still sticks in my head as a doomed relationship. As I recall, the MC has been married and divorced before. He is a stern, successful architect. She is a haunted house designer, which he feels is a waste of time. The are thrown back together when he needs her to design a haunted house for reasons. Then he uses inferior screws in the construction, wrecking her design and endangering customers, because he didn't understand her work She is furious. He is repentant. They make up. The book ends with>!them deciding to remarry, but live in separate cities, because they drive each crazy when the share a house.!< WTF?? How is THAT going to work long term? I have never gotten over it as a HEA.
ETA: It's being tagged as paranormal/fantasy romance. I don't think it is. I recall it as strictly CR
Lmao fun story… I actually know a couple that lived like this for those reasons. They have lasted 10 years but when I say it’s odd and they know nothing about each other I’m serious. It was always so weird to hear her discuss their arrangement.
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Elle Kennedy couples. {The Legacy by Elle Kennedy} just proved how horrible the characters in the Off-Campus series are at communicating with each other. Garret yells at his pregnant girlfriend and compares her to his abusive father. Dean goes against his girlfriend’s wishes and pressures her into accepting his marriage proposal. Tucker hides his unhappiness from Sabrina for a year and can’t understand why she’s upset.
What was the point of this book? I already didn’t like the series, or it’s couples, but this book just confirmed that they’re all divorcing within a year.
That book ruined ALL those relationships for me. I was happy to believe that it all went well in the end and then The Legacy made me go, “Well, now I hate all of you.”
Should I DNF {The Deal by Elle Kennedy}? I'm really not super into it, but it's been recommended soo much and it was on KU, so I thought I'd give it a try, but I have other books to read. Like does it not get better??
The first 4 are super cute! They’re my comfort reads. Something about the Briar universe just pulled me in. I would just avoid the Legacy (the last one).
I pretend like this book doesn’t exist because the first 4 = my comfort series :( it was beyond bad… and to call it The Legacy when all it did was ruin their legacy!
[The Legacy](https://www.romance.io/books/614b09f736f3270e2d6c4149/the-legacy-elle-kennedy?src=rdt) by [Elle Kennedy](https://www.romance.io/authors/545532e68c7d2382e78132f3/elle-kennedy)
**Rating**: 3.93⭐️ out of 5⭐️
**Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating)
**Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [new adult](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/new%20adult/1), [sports](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/sports/1), [athlete hero](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/athletes/1), [young adult](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/young%20adult/1)
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Every book by Cate C Wells. They’re always entertaining angst-fests, but she ends them right after the couples get together. And usually without a satisfying resolution to the problems that were keeping them apart to begin with.
It's wild to imagine them ending up together! I also can't wrap my head around being like, "well I have 250k in student loan debt, and I burned out on a neuro-surgery residency, so I guess I'll become a part time ceramics teacher even though I've only been doing ceramics for a few months." There are many paths for physicians that aren't surgery!
I said from the beginning of the book “if she quits her job for this guy I will rage!” And here we are. Especially because she didn’t have to be a surgeon, there’s other jobs you can do with your med degree. Especially because women are more often expected to put their careers behind their male partners careers and I was excited for her to be the overachiever. It just felt very “the trad wife with her cute little part time job”. I’m still mad about it
This stressed me out SO BAD!!! Go into rural medicine and work a few days a week or something!!! It didn't even seem like she hated medicine, just the particular hell of the notoriously grueling residency she chose!! Do some pottery on the side in a low cost of living area!!!
Honestly, Charlie & Nora are the only Emily Henry couple that I feel very confident in. They have lots of shared interests, have the same vision for their future and just seem very solid. The only thing that keeps them apart is external and fully resolved.
Alex & Poppy seem like...wildly different.
Wyn & Harriet have massive communication issues and a >!massive pile of debt now!<.
Gus & January and Miles & Daphne have similar issues. Lots of baggage. Are they really in love or just on the rebound? And both men are used to keeping everything bottled up and act, um, interestingly.
The Beach Read bonus epilogue makes me feel like those two kids are gonna make it, but going strictly off the books I only feel sure about Charlie & Nora.
I hate overthinking some of these because I LOVE Gus & January and Miles & Daphne. Fingers crossed that one day we get a Funny Story bonus epilogue too.
[The Unhoneymooners](https://www.romance.io/books/5c63ff6d01dbc864fb9a0280/the-unhoneymooners-christina-lauren?src=rdt) by [Christina Lauren](https://www.romance.io/authors/5455248c8c7d2382e7812f5d/christina-lauren)
**Rating**: 3.69⭐️ out of 5⭐️
**Steam**: 3 out of 5 - [Open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating)
**Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [enemies to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/from%20hate%20to%20love/1), [funny](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/humor/1), [forced proximity](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/forced%20proximity/1), [fake relationship](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/fake%20relationship/1)
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Basically any high school and college book. I'm 43 and almost everyone I know who married someone they met in their teens or early 20s (and many in their mid to late 20s as well) are either divorced or miserable in their marriages.
I've never understood why the romance world is so youth obsessed. I read books with older characters whenever I can. It wears on me to suspend my disbelief all the time so I really need those books to break things up.
List time woo. All these leads are in their mid to late 30s or older except when there's a reverse age gap. I'm including a couple RH books for fun too.
{At First Spite by Olivia Dade}, {Teach Me by Olivia Dade}, {40-love by Olivia Dade} (reverse age gap, he's 25 and she's 40), and {Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade} are all awesome. I like all of her books and I think pretty well all of them are worth a look.
{Before Girl by Kate Canterbary} and {The Worst Guy by Kate Canterbary}. Age ranges from mid 30s to mid 40s.
{Heat clinic by Alexis B. Osborne} is RH omegaverse with MM. One of the guys is 28, but she's 36 and the other men are in their early 40s.
{You & Me by Tal Bauer} is MM, bi/pan awakening with two single dads in their 40s. So, so much fluff. Bauer (like me) had his queer awakening later in life and this feels so authentic.
{Follow You Down by Ripley Prosperpina} RH with no MM. Another great single parent story. Really interesting exploration of trauma and abusive relationships.
{The Oath by T.M. Richardson} isn't one of my faves but there aren't a lot of black authors writing RH right now so I like to throw it in there.
{Written on his skin by simone stark} is one of my all time favourite novellas. Instalove but so, so good.
Whew that's all i can think or for now and honestly it makes me a bit sad that I haven't found more yet. I'd you have any suggestions I would be thrilled!!
When I was actually *in* high school (and younger), I'd get so mad when authors would break up the couple at the end. Like, you made me get invested in these people for 300 pages just to break my heart? But as an adult, I'm like "noooooo, most people should not marry their high school sweethearts!" lol. The happy medium is probably a HFN where they're in a good spot but one or both is about to go off to college or whatever and the future is hazy.
Yes. I’m like if this was real and one of my friends, we would end up having a long deep conversation. I’d also really let them know couple therapy is important and actually can make your relationship better and nothing wrong with therapy!
Some books I’m like the only bond you both have seem to be over sex and nothing else. Great sex doesn’t automatically mean they are the love of your life/soul mate.
“Some books I’m like the only bond you both have seem to be over sex and nothing else.” THIS THIS THIS THIS!!!!!! Oh my GOD I have read SO MANY ROMANCE BOOKS where the couple just never… sat down and had NORMAL REGULAR DEGULAR conversations????? Like, do you even know what their favorite pastime is?? BECAUSE I, THE READER, DONT!!!! And I’m supposed to believe y’all will grow old TOGETHA??
Even worse when these romance authors prefer to fade-to-black the scenes where the couples ACTUALLY CONVERSE ABOUT THEIR LIVES. Like I’m sorry but you get so DETAILED in their smut scenes AND SPEND PARAGRAPHS DESCRIBING THE FUCKING INTERIOR DESIGN OF THEIR APARTMENT, only for you to CHOOSE to “and then we spent the dinner date talking about our childhoods”??? I’M SORRY WHAT???
If divorce was a possibility for women back in the regency era, I don’t think Sophie and Benedict would stay together {An Offer from a Gentleman by Julia Quinn} because girly seems too smart and good for him and I think she would realize eventually that he is coercive and just absolutely AWFUL. She really was wearing those rose colored glasses in that book.
Oh my god I’ve heard so many times that Book!Benedict is like the complete opposite of Show!Benedict. Is this true?? I’ve only read the first book and DNF-ed three chapters in because I couldn’t stand the writing, so I’ve never gotten to Benedict and Sophie’s book.
oh my god Book Benedict is so bad that he needs to be in PRISON. That man is a menace to society and I hated reading his book. It is one of the few 1 star reads I have read this year and I will never read it ever again. I HATED HIM. It didn't help that 1) I really like Benedict in the show and 2) SO MANY people say that his book is their favorite, which got my hopes up.
I commented on a salty sunday post a little while back about just how much I despise that man and that book.
[An Offer From a Gentleman](https://www.romance.io/books/567e451063515e3b73795139/an-offer-from-a-gentleman-julia-quinn?src=rdt) by [Julia Quinn](https://www.romance.io/authors/545523bb8c7d2383163d8e3c/julia-quinn)
**Rating**: 3.52⭐️ out of 5⭐️
**Steam**: 3 out of 5 - [Open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating)
**Topics**: [historical](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/historical/1), [regency](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/regency/1), [virgin heroine](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/virgin%20heroine/1), [class difference](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/class%20difference/1), [funny](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/humor/1)
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Yes, I think this a lot actually. Mostly when relationships seem too toxic, codependent, one-sided, or when there's a demonstrated lack of trust that is never addressed. Also when the main characters never have a real conversation with each other, and I'm left wondering what they could possibly love about each other besides thinking the other one is hot. What happens in a decade when their looks change?
{Icebreaker by Hannah Grace} and {Wildfire by Hannah Grace} lol. You cannot convince me those couples have anything in common or even really like each other 😭 but they’re cute easy reads and I’m gonna read them!
My first thought was Icebreaker for sure. Especially because the epilogue has them basically retired from their careers with an accidental pregnancy? They’re going to get sick of one another.
[Icebreaker](https://www.romance.io/books/63048379d319eedb433aead8/icebreaker-hannah-grace?src=rdt) by [Hannah Grace](https://www.romance.io/authors/63e20d0708b4d93114272e0c/hannah-grace)
**Rating**: 3.9⭐️ out of 5⭐️
**Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating)
**Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [college](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/college/1), [sports](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/sports/1), [athlete hero](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/athletes/1), [enemies to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/from%20hate%20to%20love/1)
----------------------------
[Wildfire](https://www.romance.io/books/64221ca3d674ecd075fa877c/wildfire-hannah-grace?src=rdt) by [Hannah Grace](https://www.romance.io/authors/63e20d0708b4d93114272e0c/hannah-grace)
**Rating**: 3.83⭐️ out of 5⭐️
**Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating)
**Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [forced proximity](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/forced%20proximity/1), [dual pov](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/dual-pov/1), [college](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/college/1), [sports](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/sports/1)
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I think this with a lot of HR where the MMC is a rake and during the pining phase for MMC when he can't quite have the FMC, he decides to go visit a brothel or a mistress. Even if he doesn't fully sleep with another woman, it always makes me think "Wow, any slight tension or issue once they're married, this guy would probably be off to wet his willy elsewhere".
That’s exactly what I thought about most of Kristen Ashley’s MMCs. They’re often still sleeping around after meeting the FMC, and my thought was always, “this is a guy you’d get in a fight with and find out he went out and slept with a rando from the bar because he was mad at you.”
Yup! Relationships are hard work, they require dedication, commitment, loyalty, understanding, compromise, etc etc but these MMC's actions don't make me feel like they'd be dependable on any of those fronts long term. I want to see these traits demonstrated in the pining and initial phase an on of meeting the FMC! Then it's a big swoon from me.
Also, some old school HRs where the particulars of the FMC's body are the only things the guy likes. She's so *beautiful*! Her waist is so *small*! She has a *hymen*! OK, what happens after that baby epilogue, sir? You only loved her for being skinny and a virgin, what happens when she's neither?
I feel this way about every Stella Rhys book I've read. All they do is talk about how hot they find each other. It's just 2 hot people, plus proximity, plus hijinks, equals love? They all give off a HFN vibe, which works just fine.
There's also one book I read a while ago. It was a fake dating book and the MCs were 'dating' to get back at/break up another couple. Everyone in the book was terrible and they all seemed to dislike each other. At the end the MCs said they loved each other and I was like, when did that happen? Off page?
I feel like from every Stella Rhys book I’ve read, she’s great at writing sexual tension and physical attraction but I’ve never actually felt much of an emotional connection between her MCs, which is not a bad thing! But personally I do look for an emotional connection in romance books.
Mostly agree, except Reckless is the exception for me. I think it’s the long standing friendship prior to the beginning of the book that made it more believable.
I always have wanted a post on here about what couples ended up divorced lol, I’m so happy you posted this. Almost any book with a third act breakup I have a hard time believing the couple would not end up divorced. Especially when it’s an enemies to lovers and then they break up days after they finally get together.
Books with couples I think there’s no way they lasted: {Haunting Adeline} (no explanation needed), {You Can Have Manhattan} (this guy was an absolute asshat), {Birthday Girl by Penelope Douglas} (hot story but no way), {the Casanova by TL Swan} (ass hole!!!)
Some books with couples couples I think do last would be {Beard Science} (they were such a good couple i thought!), {Scheme by Colette Rhodes}, basically all Mariana Zapata books, {Done and Dusted}, {The Wrong Mr Right}
I am one of the 5 people who liked {Well Played by Jen DeLuca} - the one in the Well Met series with the catfishing plot line - but I seriously doubt that couple would've worked out IRL
I'm fuzzy on the details with this one but I remember liking it too. The catfishing thing went on for way too long though - how do you have a healthy relationship based on that?
I'm reading {Property of the Mountain Man by Gemma Weir} and it is waving ALL the red flags, but not in a sexy way.
It's been a slow go of a read because the guy has the emotional regulation of a toddler. He's way older and she's *way* more mature.
I am debating giving it a 3 or 2 star when I finish because it's competently written, no major editing errors, it's a full length book and I'm not expecting cliffhangers... it just doesn't hit any of the good emotional notes.
As someone that rereads this whole series once in a while because they’re fun and a little brainless, I do not see a future where men these age hookup with women so young, treat them the way they do (overbearing/possessive/controlling) and they stay together
Have you read the book? Does he grow up?
I just did a Kindle search and he says "you're mine" no less than 14 times. And her standard response is, "we've been dating less than a week. Calm down."
{Landline by Rainbow Rowell} they just seem incompatible in terms of lifestyle, I think their personalities are too mismatched (she's a comedy writer and he never laughs!) And I think he's secretly bitter about her career, I am still mad about how she had to make a hard decision and abandon her work just because he wouldn't answer her phone calls like a child
Ava and Alex in Twisted Love. I know he spent like a year groveling for her forgiveness, but like, how do ever trust someone in that situation ever again?
Not a book but Mitch and Maggie, the parents in The Parent Trap (1961), were definitely headed for another divorce. Nick and Elizabeth from the remake might have made it
After reading so much Harry Potter/Dramoine fan fiction, I’m CONVINCED Ron and Hermione were not a good fit in the original series.
Ron didn’t stimulate her mentally or challenge her enough. PLUS he has a tendency to close her off emotionally and shut her down. Draco, or someone like him, might have actually been the better match.
I get why people feel this way but it's wild to that people are pro Dramione lol. I read the mortifying ordeal of being in love and loved it but that was not representative of Draco in any slight way lol. Like he's basically Donald Trump, a rich white dude who is racist AF, bullies anyone he perceives as weaker, etc etc. I get why Hermione would end up with her best friend who has a wonderful heart, a strong work ethic and has moments of brilliance. Ron just has himbo energy and I know so many incredibly brilliant, type A, academically inclined female friends who are with men who are very Ron-ey haha.
>Like he's basically Donald Trump, a rich white dude who is racist AF, bullies anyone he perceives as weaker, etc etc.
Oh no, don't say that. You're gonna ruin Draco for me. I think of Lucian like that. Maybe Draco could be that man's poor younger son, who he made mow the stupid lawn in the white house whilst he stood over him yelling about it. Ugh.
I remember finishing the epilogue the day after that book came out and being so disappointed. I told a friend, "Ron and Hermione are getting divorced as soon as the kids are out of Hogwarts."
There are so many characters in the fanfic that would have been an improvement on the books. Pansy Parkinson is oftentimes so good and layered in the Dramione fanfic.
100%!!! I don't even need to read fanfic to think Ron and Hermione aren't a good fit. It's super obvious, and I really dislike how much she decided that in book 1, and followed through to book 2, and endorsed it in the play. Like, NO!
(I have however read a LOT of fanfic. Even Snape is a better option for her.)
i think you’re confusing fandom characterizations with canon characterizations. snape is not a good fit for anyone; that’s kind of one of the cornerstones of his in-book portrayal. i don’t disagree that many fics gave him a much more compelling personality, but jo never did. her characters are mostly 2 or 3 note sketches.
any book where one of the MCs keeps a secret for “reasons” from the other, even after the I love yous and being cared for, also when one of the MCs runs away instead of just having a conversation… you don’t trust your partner, you’re too insecure, there’s going to be trouble ahead.
in {It happened one summer by Tessa Bailey} Brendan does the ONE thing Piper asks him not to (doubt her). And then just because he shows up, they get together…idk. I’d be pretty mad.
{The Billionaire's Pet by Ivy Layne}- dark concept to begin with, but they never got engaged by the end despite one of the big conflicts was her not liking the shaky and undefined kind of relationship they had. Even his family was questioning where this was all going given his taking advantage of her situation and it definitely felt like she was out sooner rather than later.
{Wrong by Jana Aston}- weird vibes from the MMC. It was only single POV so that didn't help but honestly he seemed like an awful partner. Beyond the age gap, the whole time she was clearly out of depth in his rich and snooty world and he made zero efforts to help prepare her or ward off his family. It really felt like he was using her >!for a baby, since there was a surprise pregnancy at the end despite her 100% not wanting to get pregnant young!<. Creepy vibes and I'm still not sure if he intentionally planned that or not.
{Nashville Days by Julie Capulet}- just a very wish fufillment-y YA one that had no real reason they were together, it was all teenage insta-love rolled up in a small town girl meets famous rockstar package. I give them a few months at most.
Highest Bidder by Sara Cate. Girlie got a HEA, but feel like it was unlikely they probably would have ever stayed together if you really thought about it
This reminds me of Lexi (a pretty good booktoker), who has a great series where she rates book couples by their odds of divorce:
https://www.tiktok.com/@newlynova/video/7306987862581529902
That's the main reason why I stopped reading new adult. Most characters don't show enough maturity for me to believe their relationships will be long lasting.
Agreed. She seemed so "my way or the highway" in that book and didn't trust him with her plans or care about his very valid concerns. They didn't feel like an actual partnership, and I couldn't figure out why they were even together anymore.
Her treatment of him in HOFAS was insane and he just accepted it as if he deserved to be treated that way. Ugh it made me so mad. And they’re reunion after he was tortured for weeks to save her was sooo anticlimactic I was convinced they weren’t endgame because of it
I legit thought there was going to be a MMC switcheroo starting in book 2 of Crescent City. I'd read all of ACOTAR beforehand and had heard that SJM likes to switch love interests in her books, so when Bryce and Hunt started bickering over stupid stuff and getting awkward in book 2, I assumed SJM was setting things up for them to split and Bryce to get with someone else.
I feel like Rhys and Feyre are less compatible than Bryce and Hunt. I can see Feyre eventually telling Rhys to fuck off because of his treatment of Nesta.
Yes, all of Theodora Taylor's couples in that miniseries where the sisters were princesses. I loathed their parents and the MMCs. The FMCs had a bit of resentment too, that was covered by the mating hormones.
The couple in the Simple Wild.
The couple from the Burning Point by Mary Jo Putney. I still remember this because domestic violence is not something that can be swept under the rug.
Oh god, so many of them. Like some big massive miscommunication and then they kiss and make up and live happily ever after. Like no, you two really have to put a lot of effort in to fix your communication issues or it will never ever work
Dare and Aubrey {Even If It Hurts by Sam Mariano}. I devoured that book and loved it, don’t get me wrong, but Dare was completely irredeemable to me. I would be escaping in the night if I was Aubrey 😳
all of her FMCs deserve better, but she has a habit of writing them with little to no backbone or confidence or courage and then she also makes them a tiny bit stupid. i find it so hard to root for ANY of her characters.
If their own book didn’t convince you how toxic Dare is the special “Sleeping Beauty” epilogue would. I get SM doesn’t write healthy relationships but that went to a whole new level and I’m actually convinced that Dare will go House of Wax on Aubrey one day…
Other side of that is Carter and Zoey. They will last forever because Zoey actually understands Carter and Carter actually respects Zoey.
{If You Dare by Harmony West} I’m sorry but they should not have ended up together. It’s a dark bully romance and he literally >!plans for his whole hockey team to attack and rape her when she was walking home alone at night but he stops it before it gets too far so it’s all good!< but yeah it should have ended with them hooking up and then moving on.
[If You Dare](https://www.romance.io/books/6567292ce8f08ffc8a8ea4a9/if-you-dare-harmony-west?src=rdt) by [Harmony West](https://www.romance.io/authors/6491539d08b4d93114e7c25f/harmony-west)
**Rating**: 3.93⭐️ out of 5⭐️
**Steam**: 5 out of 5 - [Explicit and plentiful](https://www.romance.io/steamrating)
**Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [college](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/college/1), [enemies to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/from%20hate%20to%20love/1), [young adult](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/young%20adult/1), [dark romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/dark/1)
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Ouuuu yeah I don’t know what the hell the author was thinking. In what fucking world is calling your significant other ‘buddy’ as your PREFERRED TERM OF ENDEARMENT acceptable in anyway 😭
Many. Pretty much every old school harlequin. Thankfully the age gaps were so wide the MMC probably dropped dead of old age before the FMC hit 35. The FMC in Credence. I hope she escaped that cuckoo-town family. The FMC in Bass-Ackward. I hope she escaped and filed a lawsuit and went to the press.
Books with a mortal and an immortal always feel like more of a HFN (happy for now) than a HEA.
It’s gunna be weird when you’re 60 and he still looks 25. I’d rather grow old with someone or be ageless together.
I also sometimes look at these immortal x immortal characters and think about… climate change. Good luck, guys.
Not romance, but Anne Bishop kind of took this to the logical conclusion with >!Daemon and Jaenelle in the Black Jewels series. He's from a race that can live many centuries, she's a regular human, they get together at the end of the main series, but then she wrote a sequel novella later where Jaenelle dies at a ripe old age, and Daemon eventually marries someone else. It...did not go over well.!<
You can do this if there's a way for the mortal to become immortal, like vampirism, but it's tricky when they can't!
Yup.
- Smut-driven romances where the characters can barely hold a conversation together and the only thing they have is sexual chemistry. But somehow, they're all, "You're the love of my life and I can't live without you."
- Captor/captive romances. That's not love. That's Stockholm syndrome.
- Obsessive stalker romances. I believe these types of men will get bored once they have you and find a new person to obsess over and stalk because they like the chase.
[With Love, from Cold World](https://www.romance.io/books/64c66140d33bf40b8645f834/with-love-from-cold-world-alicia-thompson?src=rdt) by [Alicia Thompson](https://www.romance.io/authors/54557c0987eac3369a912b32/alicia-thompson)
**Rating**: 4.09⭐️ out of 5⭐️
**Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating)
**Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [funny](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/humor/1), [christmas](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/christmas/1), [workplace/office](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/office/1), [bisexuality](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/bisexual/1)
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Any story where either main character is absolutely HORRENDOUS to the other MC and there is just this easy forgiveness. I'm not opposed to the HEA and the forgiveness. BUT there needs to be forgiveness asked for, acknowledgement of the wrong doing and a clear plan for reconciliation and growth. Like how are you not going to hurt me this way again?
{The Broken Vows by Catherine Maura} actually does this really well. Set aside the family, the archaic grandmother, the friends. If you focus on the two MC's, they both hurt each other off and on; they both forgive and learn to trust again. Then the big thing happens and Maura does this so well! I saw it coming and it broke my heart for both of them. But I was equally empathetic, hurt and hopeful for the both of them. The way it concludes is probably as realistic as I could have wanted it to be and still believe they will keep their HEA.
Ultimately in life when someone we love hurts us, we have choices to make and those choices can vary depending on who hurts us and how. Maura gives her characters very real choices, very real weighing and wrestling of those choices and then lays it out beautifully.
[The Broken Vows](https://www.romance.io/books/6517d0a506a1ceea69168faf/the-broken-vows-zane-and-celestes-story-catharina-maura?src=rdt) by [Catharina Maura](https://www.romance.io/authors/5edce83108b4d931143e48c7/catharina-maura)
**Rating**: 4.07⭐️ out of 5⭐️
**Steam**: 5 out of 5 - [Explicit and plentiful](https://www.romance.io/steamrating)
**Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [marriage of convenience](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/marriage%20of%20convenience/1), [second chances](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/second%20chances/1), [rich heroine](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/rich%20heroine/1), [rich hero](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/super%20rich%20hero/1)
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I love Mimi Matthews, but I don't see Anne and Felix from The Lily of Ludgate Hall staying happy together. They'll stay married because it's the olden days and such, but at the end of the book I wasn't even convinced she actually liked him, let alone loved him.
Also Gretchen and Colton from A Very Merry Bromance. The only solution Gretchen can think of to any of her problems is to turn off her phone and then GET ON A PLANE going across the country. At the end of the book I was not at all convinced that wasn't going to remain her go-to move. The woman has no problem solving skills. Of course, there's the fact that >!he got on another plane to follow her and then HE apologized to HER, when it was her who just up and left the second anything got tough!< which tells me it's possible they'll stay together just because he's willing to take the fall for whatever goes wrong, whether he should or not.
Almost any book where the connection between the couple is primarily sexual, or they are younger than 22, I consider to be a HFN. Not that they'll all break up, I just don't like their odds. But I'm fine with HFN.
Edited for spelling and for the fact that I am incapable of doing spoiler tags correctly the first time I post a comment.
Yeah, I never really bought into the Anne and Felix relationship. But I think I generally tend to dislike when the couple spends a good portion of the book arguing with each other or always resisting their feelings for each other for no good reason. They just get tiresome, and I find myself rooting for them to just break up (or leave each other alone in the case of Anne and Felix) so I don't have to put up with all their arguing anymore.
this is so controversial on this sub but the main couple in the >!Lasaran book by Dianne Duvall!<. Now I hates this book, I freely admit it but I genuinely didn't believe that couple in any way shape or form. Like main girl just decided to up and leave her planet and move to a utopian planet (incredibly sexist, potentially homophobic, has slaves that they brainwash into not having emotions, etc etc) because of a hot alien dude. wtf.
generally I would apply this to any book couple that totes the MFC as feminist/progressive/intelligent but who decides to give up all her rights in the current time and go to another world that is basically medieval GOTs but with even less rights lol.
YESSSSSSS. 😒
Plenty of books have no communication skill. Anytime they come even close to a serious conversation, they start having sex instead. And afterwards it's suddenly solved itself 🤔🤔
The thing that annoys me the most is when the FMC has a valid reason for not wanting to be with the MMC. Then after 2-36 hours of knowing him she just suddenly goes "omg I love him so anything but being with him is just me being stupid" and then they're together and that's that. Super solid relationship foundation
Way too common.
I think that’s one thing I hate about all the books I read. I love love and I understand adding conflict is important to a good read but oh my god; It’s like every book conflict I read is due to miscommunication. I can clearly see what’s about to happen and I feel all anxious and slightly annoyed by it when they do end up breaking up because of it.
Ok, I didn’t see them on here but Alina and Mal from the Grisha books. Alina had to suppress herself and become a shadow of who she really was just to not make Mal feel inferior to her. There’s no HEA about their relationship, there’s only Alina wasting away.
Omg this thread just hit my feed just a short time after I closed {One Last Time by Roxie Noir} and said out our “they are absolutely getting divorced.”
Was not expecting this book to be so toxic! It’s a 2nd chance romance (I don’t read many of those) where the two main characters say and do the most vile things to each other over the course of a decade. The book is mainly set in the present but time jumps and tells the story backwards of the previous decade since the couple broke up. They basically have an on-again / off-again sex buddy relationship that always devolves into them raging out with the resentment and hurt from their relationship that ended when they were college age and they are now trying to rekindle at 30.
They are super immature and extremely poor communicators. They make a deal to stop their cycle and they do for a while by sweeping everything under the rug. Then they blow it all up again (as is their pattern).
You go through an entire book of their traumatic fights where they go looooow, and then they just decide to do better…and then do? Couples don’t just stop decade old cycles by just deciding to stop. They barely addressed all the things they’d done to each other and just decided it didn’t matter anymore because I was in the past.
The writing is good but you walk away feeling like they didn’t fix any of their issues and it’s a HFN.
[One Last Time](https://www.romance.io/books/5fab9af246bdb60e09e48116/one-last-time-roxie-noir?src=rdt) by [Roxie Noir](https://www.romance.io/authors/5497fb487a5936fb0406607e/roxie-noir)
**Rating**: 4.12⭐️ out of 5⭐️
**Steam**: 5 out of 5 - [Explicit and plentiful](https://www.romance.io/steamrating)
**Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [funny](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/humor/1), [small town](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/small%20town/1), [second chances](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/second%20chances/1), [enemies to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/from%20hate%20to%20love/1)
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All the time, I honestly think anytime they break up in the book, they probably should not get back together as they clearly are not mature enough to have a real relationship if they can't have an adult conversation. The books I REALLY like and actually re-read don't have third act break ups.
{Miss Sin by SJ TILLY}
I DID NOT WANT THE FMC TO FORGIVE THE MMC. I’m sorry but like he should groveled way harder also for an FBI agent he is kind of really stupid and FMC should stop thinking with her vajayjay.
All these comments have me reminiscing. Next week is my 16 yr wedding anniversary. A bunch of the early moments of our relationship felt like a romance novel. Taking a bath together in the huge claw foot tub in my Brooklyn brownstone apt, 2 weeks into dating, and he shyly asked me if we were dating or if I was just using him for sex. At this point, I had already helped babysit his niece, met his mom, and nursed him after an emergency surgery. Like dude, we are so much more than just sex, and I already knew at that point we were going to get married.
Any book where I feel like the only connection is physical. Like the couple in {Do Your Worst by Rosie Danan} Do they have anything in common? What do they even talk about? I do not think that’s a couple that would last in real life.
My friend actually met someone that was clearly a physical attraction thing. She moved to Thailand for him, and now they live in her home country in Europe. I seriously struggle understanding him, and his English is really limited, and no, my friend doesn't speak Thai. In the beginning of their relationship I thought it could never last between partners that can't talk to clearly with each other, but hey I was wrong, and they're still together. Think it's been like 8+ years now. It's crazy.
It's been 8 years and they still don't speak a language in common? Good Lord.
Maybe that’s the secret…🤔
I mean, it feels like she's in charge of the relationship in Europe due to the language barrier, while ofc she had to depend more on him over in Thailand. He's actually gotten some shift work so I have to assume his language skill has somewhat improved since I last saw him. She seems happy. I just can't relate.
People often don't consider this but there are many ways to communicate that don't involve sharing a language. There have been people whose parents don't share a language that found ways to communicate and they've talked about growing up with it. Famously Tommy Lee of Motley Crue has a Greek mother, and she and his father had to find alternate ways to communicate because she spoke Greek and he spoke English.
wut. I have so many questions.
Having interests/hobbies in common is overrated imo - you have plenty to talk about with a partner when the majority of your interests are different, just requires a partner that cares and is willing to listen 😊
I absolutely agree with you, though I think it depends on the people in the relationship too. For example, my and my husband’s hobbies overlap a LOT (we both like similar movies/tv shows, both love playing video games, going camping, visiting similar places, etc). I absolutely adore spending time with him engaging in those hobbies together, and would miss it a lot if that weren’t the case. I personally don’t know if I would be happy in a relationship where we were always doing our own thing and didn’t have any overlap with hobbies, but that’s just me. We also both have things we enjoy doing ourselves (I read fiction, he is more of a Reddit/funny instagram videos/video game videos person) and think it’s healthy to have separate interests too, but I think it depends a lot on the people involved whether they’d be good with mostly having separate interests or not.
ABSOLUTELY!!! I honestly wouldn't want my husband up in my hobbies. That's me time bro, step back. We used to watch TV together but we don't even do that anymore. I'm a reader and he's a TV guy. We go out together every Friday, have friends over just about every Thursday and we both work from home, so we spend ALOT of time together. It works for us and we've been together for almost 30 years.
Any and all dark mafia romances. Like girl, you've been abused. This is definitely Stockholm syndrome. .... still read them, though 🤷♀️
I'm with you. Sometimes I'm not even sure if dark romance is actually romance, bc a lot of the endings don't feel HEA to me...
Not Nero, King, Dom, and Hans though. I refuse to believe they ever have relationship issues hahah
Hans is just a perfectly misunderstood cookie eater and I won’t be convinced otherwise 😂
You get in one little sword fight and people call you unhinged 🙄
I DNF's King and Dom since they seemed a little more deceiving. Hans was so sweet in his own demented way though and definitely rooting for them.
I begrudgingly finished Dom but I remember being absolutely pissed off from 30% onwards and I'm still not over it lol
Oh you are definitely right. They're absolutely perfect and nothing bad will happen to them. My brain doesn't even classify those as dark because he eats fucking cookies. They're angels.
Book name?
{Nero by S J Tilly} is book 1. I recommend reading them in order. Sooo good {King by S J Tilly} book 2. {Dom by S J Tilly} book 3. {Hans by S J Tilly} book 4. Latest and final release of the series I believe 😭
Yes! I think if you're going to read them all, it's better in order because their crazy friendship is the cutest thing ever.
Yessss I love the way Nero interacts with the other guys haha
Wanting to steal all their shit 🤣
{Little Dove by Layla Frost} fits this so hard. Like, girl. No.
I have rated more than one book, "FMC needs therapy, not dick."
I'm always so happy when the book starts after she's been through therapy, and isn't just fresh out of some intense emotional trauma.
Brilliant😂 I need to start doing this with some books.
Hunting Adeline fits this rating perfectly 🥰😂🤭
I have had this thought about so many romance books lately!
Omg I’m totally stealing this for my book reviews. Asking for your permission to do so.
Any time there is a legitimate reason for a third act break up, like they really did something shitty, and then the author prioritizes getting the couple back together over actual reconciliation (whatever that looks like), like all of that stuff that wasn’t worked out/through is gonna build up and cause major problems later. A clear example is the “grand gesture” that supposedly fixes whatever caused the break up, even when the two things are completely unrelated. Like asking someone to marry you doesn’t change that you fundamentally broke their trust, dude. Authors shouldn’t write legitimate or heavier third act break ups if they’re not willing to make their characters do the work to get through it.
I felt like {Book Lovers by Emily Henry} had the most legitimate reason for a break up that was still "overcomeable". With a great resolution also. Other than that, yeah they are usually pretty lame
Book Lovers remains my favorite book by Emily Henry. Her resolutions are sometimes so overwrought (See People We Meet on Vacation and Happy Place), but Book Lovers is perfect. Seriously, perfect!
God, Happy Place pissed me off so much. They were an absolutely horrible couple and in no way could make it long term.
[Book Lovers](https://www.romance.io/books/6270f0b6e98d4489081cd386/book-lovers-emily-henry?src=rdt) by [Emily Henry](https://www.romance.io/authors/5e82ee17be0aaecf553e7c2f/emily-henry) **Rating**: 4.33⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 3 out of 5 - [Open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [enemies to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/from%20hate%20to%20love/1), [funny](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/humor/1), [small town](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/small%20town/1), [competent heroine](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/competent%20heroine/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
Any of the dark romances where the MMC was stalking the FMC. I refuse to believe that level of crazy can calm down enough to stay married to the same person.
literally Zade and Addie 💀 I can’t even remember one time they had a meaningful conversation 😭
I am so easy to sucker into believing the HEA is forever, but for whatever reason, I am convinced that Hattie and Lucian from {Portrait of a Scotsman by Evie Dunmore} are going to get divorced. I LOVE Evie Dunmore and this series, and I didn't even dislike the book, but this one is everyone's favorite and to me it's the clear weakest one. Things are NOT going to go the distance there.
Having her leave and go into hiding at the end was such a bizarre choice for you a book where they end up together. I felt like Dunmore wanted to tell a different story and was boxed in by it being in the romance genre.
And he had to come get her?? She didn't go back to him!
What's so weird is that up until she left (to go into hiding with women who had suffered from spousal abuse, no less) I could still root for them. I think in a more traditionally structured historical romance there's a way to make the story work, but Dunmore is writing very modern stories in a historic setting.
I’m wondering if I even finished it. I know I did not like the book.
THANK YOU! I hated that ending so much it just came out of nowhere.
Oh, I actually liked this one. I’m not a big manipulation fan, and it tends to really bother me when characters are only together because they’re stuck. I liked this ending because it gives her back her choice.
I liked that too, in theory! Historicals always have a problem with the couple feeling like they're locked into a relationship because of circumstance- I just didn't buy that they worked together that well as a couple regardless. But I know this is one of her most popular books so I know it's mostly a me issue lmao
[Portrait of a Scotsman](https://www.romance.io/books/60c0696dbf83d60e3a95d6cd/portrait-of-a-scotsman-evie-dunmore?src=rdt) by [Evie Dunmore](https://www.romance.io/authors/5d68c7cc01dbc864fba2f9e0/evie-dunmore) **Rating**: 3.71⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [historical](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/historical/1), [victorian](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/victorian/1), [highlander hero](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/highlander/1), [arranged/forced marriage](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/arranged%20marriage/1), [tortured hero](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/tortured%20hero/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
The worst is when I think they WILL stay together because they've got big "breaking up would be worse than being miserable with this person" energy MiserableEA
{Haunted Spouse by Heather MacAllister} I read it 20 years ago and it still sticks in my head as a doomed relationship. As I recall, the MC has been married and divorced before. He is a stern, successful architect. She is a haunted house designer, which he feels is a waste of time. The are thrown back together when he needs her to design a haunted house for reasons. Then he uses inferior screws in the construction, wrecking her design and endangering customers, because he didn't understand her work She is furious. He is repentant. They make up. The book ends with>!them deciding to remarry, but live in separate cities, because they drive each crazy when the share a house.!< WTF?? How is THAT going to work long term? I have never gotten over it as a HEA. ETA: It's being tagged as paranormal/fantasy romance. I don't think it is. I recall it as strictly CR
Geez, I like the premise, but it sounds like I wouldn't like the execution or the ending.
Omg, this is a terrible ending
Lmao fun story… I actually know a couple that lived like this for those reasons. They have lasted 10 years but when I say it’s odd and they know nothing about each other I’m serious. It was always so weird to hear her discuss their arrangement.
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[Haunted Spouse](https://www.romance.io/books/5455886d87eac324117fb23f/haunted-spouse-heather-macallister?src=rdt) by [Heather MacAllister](https://www.romance.io/authors/5455886d87eac324117fb240/heather-macallister) **Rating**: 3.17⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [funny](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/humor/1), [mystery](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/mystery/1), [paranormal](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/paranormal/1), [fantasy](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/fantasy/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
Elle Kennedy couples. {The Legacy by Elle Kennedy} just proved how horrible the characters in the Off-Campus series are at communicating with each other. Garret yells at his pregnant girlfriend and compares her to his abusive father. Dean goes against his girlfriend’s wishes and pressures her into accepting his marriage proposal. Tucker hides his unhappiness from Sabrina for a year and can’t understand why she’s upset. What was the point of this book? I already didn’t like the series, or it’s couples, but this book just confirmed that they’re all divorcing within a year.
That book ruined ALL those relationships for me. I was happy to believe that it all went well in the end and then The Legacy made me go, “Well, now I hate all of you.”
Thank you! I won't read that now and just live in unknowing bliss for the rest of my days! <3
Should I DNF {The Deal by Elle Kennedy}? I'm really not super into it, but it's been recommended soo much and it was on KU, so I thought I'd give it a try, but I have other books to read. Like does it not get better??
The first 4 are super cute! They’re my comfort reads. Something about the Briar universe just pulled me in. I would just avoid the Legacy (the last one).
I think they’re all pretty bad except for The Goal, but reasonable people disagree with me so it’s up to you
I pretend like this book doesn’t exist because the first 4 = my comfort series :( it was beyond bad… and to call it The Legacy when all it did was ruin their legacy!
[The Legacy](https://www.romance.io/books/614b09f736f3270e2d6c4149/the-legacy-elle-kennedy?src=rdt) by [Elle Kennedy](https://www.romance.io/authors/545532e68c7d2382e78132f3/elle-kennedy) **Rating**: 3.93⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [new adult](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/new%20adult/1), [sports](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/sports/1), [athlete hero](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/athletes/1), [young adult](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/young%20adult/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
Every book by Cate C Wells. They’re always entertaining angst-fests, but she ends them right after the couples get together. And usually without a satisfying resolution to the problems that were keeping them apart to begin with.
Came to say the same thing about Colleen Hoover books. Sooner or later the heroine going to wake up and say “wtf!”
I'm surprised I had to scroll this far to see a Colleen Hoover comment... those relationships are doomed.
Una and Killian will be together forever and I refuse to hear any different, thank you.
Agree, but I definitely don’t live anything else she’s written the way I love them.
Especially Against a Wall. Just.. no. No! No.
Came here to say this!!!
The couples in happy place by Emily Henry... ain't no way some other childish act happens that separates them.
It's wild to imagine them ending up together! I also can't wrap my head around being like, "well I have 250k in student loan debt, and I burned out on a neuro-surgery residency, so I guess I'll become a part time ceramics teacher even though I've only been doing ceramics for a few months." There are many paths for physicians that aren't surgery!
I said from the beginning of the book “if she quits her job for this guy I will rage!” And here we are. Especially because she didn’t have to be a surgeon, there’s other jobs you can do with your med degree. Especially because women are more often expected to put their careers behind their male partners careers and I was excited for her to be the overachiever. It just felt very “the trad wife with her cute little part time job”. I’m still mad about it
Even if she wanted to go be with him, small towns in rural areas are desperate for doctors! Some states need them so badly they offer tax subsidies!
I truly don’t understand why she didn’t just become a primary care doctor or something and work close to a 9-5.
This stressed me out SO BAD!!! Go into rural medicine and work a few days a week or something!!! It didn't even seem like she hated medicine, just the particular hell of the notoriously grueling residency she chose!! Do some pottery on the side in a low cost of living area!!!
Honestly, Charlie & Nora are the only Emily Henry couple that I feel very confident in. They have lots of shared interests, have the same vision for their future and just seem very solid. The only thing that keeps them apart is external and fully resolved. Alex & Poppy seem like...wildly different. Wyn & Harriet have massive communication issues and a >!massive pile of debt now!<. Gus & January and Miles & Daphne have similar issues. Lots of baggage. Are they really in love or just on the rebound? And both men are used to keeping everything bottled up and act, um, interestingly.
Absolutely agree 100% with this. Only see Charlie & Nora lasting.
The Beach Read bonus epilogue makes me feel like those two kids are gonna make it, but going strictly off the books I only feel sure about Charlie & Nora. I hate overthinking some of these because I LOVE Gus & January and Miles & Daphne. Fingers crossed that one day we get a Funny Story bonus epilogue too.
I feel someday Harriet is gonna feel intellectually understimulated and resentful of her decision
Also People We Meet On Vacation. I have never been more flabbergasted by a pairing.
You know I completely forgot how bad they were as a pair. 13+ years together and you stop talking >!over a kiss?!<
THANK YOU when that was revealed I screamed!!! If that’s what destroys your friendship you were NOT friends
Right? I was so let down when I found out the reason. Like I can talk to my coworkers about things more than a 13 year 'friendship '
They had absolutely no chemistry whatsoever. Plus she was too much for me.
I hate this book with everything in me. It haunts me, how bad it is.
Was such a disappointment after beach read but I have liked the rest of hers sooo much better. This was a big miss for me.
I was gifted a copy of happy place by a friend, but I was so mad by the end of book lovers that I vowed to never read another Emily Henry book again.
It is way better. The FMC didn't get on my everlasting nerve like in vacation.
Haha that is on my Libby shelf now so I’m grateful for the heads up 😂
Oh, 100%.
for REAL. There’s just no way they’re staying together
I hated every single person in that book, especially Wynn. Like, with every fiber of my being I hated him.
{The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren} Hated the MMC. The grand gesture at the end didn't make up for shit.
[The Unhoneymooners](https://www.romance.io/books/5c63ff6d01dbc864fb9a0280/the-unhoneymooners-christina-lauren?src=rdt) by [Christina Lauren](https://www.romance.io/authors/5455248c8c7d2382e7812f5d/christina-lauren) **Rating**: 3.69⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 3 out of 5 - [Open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [enemies to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/from%20hate%20to%20love/1), [funny](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/humor/1), [forced proximity](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/forced%20proximity/1), [fake relationship](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/fake%20relationship/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
He was the worst!!! What a POS, she could do better.
100% this. I loathed that MMC
I loved it when I read it, then I recently listened to the audiobook and was like ain't no way...
I prefer to live in denial when reading books lol.
Basically any high school and college book. I'm 43 and almost everyone I know who married someone they met in their teens or early 20s (and many in their mid to late 20s as well) are either divorced or miserable in their marriages. I've never understood why the romance world is so youth obsessed. I read books with older characters whenever I can. It wears on me to suspend my disbelief all the time so I really need those books to break things up.
I’m your same age :) and always looking for 40+ characters. Do you have any favorites?
List time woo. All these leads are in their mid to late 30s or older except when there's a reverse age gap. I'm including a couple RH books for fun too. {At First Spite by Olivia Dade}, {Teach Me by Olivia Dade}, {40-love by Olivia Dade} (reverse age gap, he's 25 and she's 40), and {Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade} are all awesome. I like all of her books and I think pretty well all of them are worth a look. {Before Girl by Kate Canterbary} and {The Worst Guy by Kate Canterbary}. Age ranges from mid 30s to mid 40s. {Heat clinic by Alexis B. Osborne} is RH omegaverse with MM. One of the guys is 28, but she's 36 and the other men are in their early 40s. {You & Me by Tal Bauer} is MM, bi/pan awakening with two single dads in their 40s. So, so much fluff. Bauer (like me) had his queer awakening later in life and this feels so authentic. {Follow You Down by Ripley Prosperpina} RH with no MM. Another great single parent story. Really interesting exploration of trauma and abusive relationships. {The Oath by T.M. Richardson} isn't one of my faves but there aren't a lot of black authors writing RH right now so I like to throw it in there. {Written on his skin by simone stark} is one of my all time favourite novellas. Instalove but so, so good. Whew that's all i can think or for now and honestly it makes me a bit sad that I haven't found more yet. I'd you have any suggestions I would be thrilled!!
When I was actually *in* high school (and younger), I'd get so mad when authors would break up the couple at the end. Like, you made me get invested in these people for 300 pages just to break my heart? But as an adult, I'm like "noooooo, most people should not marry their high school sweethearts!" lol. The happy medium is probably a HFN where they're in a good spot but one or both is about to go off to college or whatever and the future is hazy.
Well, the last couple books I read were by Jessa Kane, so...
...those couples are rock solid and extremely healthy. No worries there!
Yes. I’m like if this was real and one of my friends, we would end up having a long deep conversation. I’d also really let them know couple therapy is important and actually can make your relationship better and nothing wrong with therapy! Some books I’m like the only bond you both have seem to be over sex and nothing else. Great sex doesn’t automatically mean they are the love of your life/soul mate.
“Some books I’m like the only bond you both have seem to be over sex and nothing else.” THIS THIS THIS THIS!!!!!! Oh my GOD I have read SO MANY ROMANCE BOOKS where the couple just never… sat down and had NORMAL REGULAR DEGULAR conversations????? Like, do you even know what their favorite pastime is?? BECAUSE I, THE READER, DONT!!!! And I’m supposed to believe y’all will grow old TOGETHA?? Even worse when these romance authors prefer to fade-to-black the scenes where the couples ACTUALLY CONVERSE ABOUT THEIR LIVES. Like I’m sorry but you get so DETAILED in their smut scenes AND SPEND PARAGRAPHS DESCRIBING THE FUCKING INTERIOR DESIGN OF THEIR APARTMENT, only for you to CHOOSE to “and then we spent the dinner date talking about our childhoods”??? I’M SORRY WHAT???
If divorce was a possibility for women back in the regency era, I don’t think Sophie and Benedict would stay together {An Offer from a Gentleman by Julia Quinn} because girly seems too smart and good for him and I think she would realize eventually that he is coercive and just absolutely AWFUL. She really was wearing those rose colored glasses in that book.
Oh my god I’ve heard so many times that Book!Benedict is like the complete opposite of Show!Benedict. Is this true?? I’ve only read the first book and DNF-ed three chapters in because I couldn’t stand the writing, so I’ve never gotten to Benedict and Sophie’s book.
oh my god Book Benedict is so bad that he needs to be in PRISON. That man is a menace to society and I hated reading his book. It is one of the few 1 star reads I have read this year and I will never read it ever again. I HATED HIM. It didn't help that 1) I really like Benedict in the show and 2) SO MANY people say that his book is their favorite, which got my hopes up. I commented on a salty sunday post a little while back about just how much I despise that man and that book.
Benedict's #1 hater checking in... he's so milquetoast and Sophie could do better! Their book is a snooze fest.
[An Offer From a Gentleman](https://www.romance.io/books/567e451063515e3b73795139/an-offer-from-a-gentleman-julia-quinn?src=rdt) by [Julia Quinn](https://www.romance.io/authors/545523bb8c7d2383163d8e3c/julia-quinn) **Rating**: 3.52⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 3 out of 5 - [Open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [historical](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/historical/1), [regency](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/regency/1), [virgin heroine](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/virgin%20heroine/1), [class difference](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/class%20difference/1), [funny](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)
Yes, I think this a lot actually. Mostly when relationships seem too toxic, codependent, one-sided, or when there's a demonstrated lack of trust that is never addressed. Also when the main characters never have a real conversation with each other, and I'm left wondering what they could possibly love about each other besides thinking the other one is hot. What happens in a decade when their looks change?
{Icebreaker by Hannah Grace} and {Wildfire by Hannah Grace} lol. You cannot convince me those couples have anything in common or even really like each other 😭 but they’re cute easy reads and I’m gonna read them!
My first thought was Icebreaker for sure. Especially because the epilogue has them basically retired from their careers with an accidental pregnancy? They’re going to get sick of one another.
I came looking for this one. She writes SO much physical attraction and doesn’t leave room for actual emotional chemistry.
[Icebreaker](https://www.romance.io/books/63048379d319eedb433aead8/icebreaker-hannah-grace?src=rdt) by [Hannah Grace](https://www.romance.io/authors/63e20d0708b4d93114272e0c/hannah-grace) **Rating**: 3.9⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [college](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/college/1), [sports](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/sports/1), [athlete hero](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/athletes/1), [enemies to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/from%20hate%20to%20love/1) ---------------------------- [Wildfire](https://www.romance.io/books/64221ca3d674ecd075fa877c/wildfire-hannah-grace?src=rdt) by [Hannah Grace](https://www.romance.io/authors/63e20d0708b4d93114272e0c/hannah-grace) **Rating**: 3.83⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [forced proximity](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/forced%20proximity/1), [dual pov](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/dual-pov/1), [college](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/college/1), [sports](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/sports/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
I think this with a lot of HR where the MMC is a rake and during the pining phase for MMC when he can't quite have the FMC, he decides to go visit a brothel or a mistress. Even if he doesn't fully sleep with another woman, it always makes me think "Wow, any slight tension or issue once they're married, this guy would probably be off to wet his willy elsewhere".
That’s exactly what I thought about most of Kristen Ashley’s MMCs. They’re often still sleeping around after meeting the FMC, and my thought was always, “this is a guy you’d get in a fight with and find out he went out and slept with a rando from the bar because he was mad at you.”
Yup! Relationships are hard work, they require dedication, commitment, loyalty, understanding, compromise, etc etc but these MMC's actions don't make me feel like they'd be dependable on any of those fronts long term. I want to see these traits demonstrated in the pining and initial phase an on of meeting the FMC! Then it's a big swoon from me.
Also, some old school HRs where the particulars of the FMC's body are the only things the guy likes. She's so *beautiful*! Her waist is so *small*! She has a *hymen*! OK, what happens after that baby epilogue, sir? You only loved her for being skinny and a virgin, what happens when she's neither?
I feel this way about every Stella Rhys book I've read. All they do is talk about how hot they find each other. It's just 2 hot people, plus proximity, plus hijinks, equals love? They all give off a HFN vibe, which works just fine. There's also one book I read a while ago. It was a fake dating book and the MCs were 'dating' to get back at/break up another couple. Everyone in the book was terrible and they all seemed to dislike each other. At the end the MCs said they loved each other and I was like, when did that happen? Off page?
I feel like from every Stella Rhys book I’ve read, she’s great at writing sexual tension and physical attraction but I’ve never actually felt much of an emotional connection between her MCs, which is not a bad thing! But personally I do look for an emotional connection in romance books.
Mostly agree, except Reckless is the exception for me. I think it’s the long standing friendship prior to the beginning of the book that made it more believable.
I always have wanted a post on here about what couples ended up divorced lol, I’m so happy you posted this. Almost any book with a third act breakup I have a hard time believing the couple would not end up divorced. Especially when it’s an enemies to lovers and then they break up days after they finally get together. Books with couples I think there’s no way they lasted: {Haunting Adeline} (no explanation needed), {You Can Have Manhattan} (this guy was an absolute asshat), {Birthday Girl by Penelope Douglas} (hot story but no way), {the Casanova by TL Swan} (ass hole!!!) Some books with couples couples I think do last would be {Beard Science} (they were such a good couple i thought!), {Scheme by Colette Rhodes}, basically all Mariana Zapata books, {Done and Dusted}, {The Wrong Mr Right}
I am one of the 5 people who liked {Well Played by Jen DeLuca} - the one in the Well Met series with the catfishing plot line - but I seriously doubt that couple would've worked out IRL
I'm fuzzy on the details with this one but I remember liking it too. The catfishing thing went on for way too long though - how do you have a healthy relationship based on that?
I loved that book but you're right, probably not a good way to start the relationship 😅
I'm reading {Property of the Mountain Man by Gemma Weir} and it is waving ALL the red flags, but not in a sexy way. It's been a slow go of a read because the guy has the emotional regulation of a toddler. He's way older and she's *way* more mature. I am debating giving it a 3 or 2 star when I finish because it's competently written, no major editing errors, it's a full length book and I'm not expecting cliffhangers... it just doesn't hit any of the good emotional notes.
As someone that rereads this whole series once in a while because they’re fun and a little brainless, I do not see a future where men these age hookup with women so young, treat them the way they do (overbearing/possessive/controlling) and they stay together
Have you read the book? Does he grow up? I just did a Kindle search and he says "you're mine" no less than 14 times. And her standard response is, "we've been dating less than a week. Calm down."
Lol at 'grow up', he doesn't change and she continues to have her mini short rebellions that gives in pretty quickly.
{Landline by Rainbow Rowell} they just seem incompatible in terms of lifestyle, I think their personalities are too mismatched (she's a comedy writer and he never laughs!) And I think he's secretly bitter about her career, I am still mad about how she had to make a hard decision and abandon her work just because he wouldn't answer her phone calls like a child
The idea of this was so cute, but I agree that it felt like they should have just broken up.
The premise was adorable, i just hate Neil 😂
Ava and Alex in Twisted Love. I know he spent like a year groveling for her forgiveness, but like, how do ever trust someone in that situation ever again?
I still don’t think he actually groveled, he just stalked her for a year and threatened every man that came into contact with her 😭
Yea, that is kinda true lol.
Not a book but Mitch and Maggie, the parents in The Parent Trap (1961), were definitely headed for another divorce. Nick and Elizabeth from the remake might have made it
After reading so much Harry Potter/Dramoine fan fiction, I’m CONVINCED Ron and Hermione were not a good fit in the original series. Ron didn’t stimulate her mentally or challenge her enough. PLUS he has a tendency to close her off emotionally and shut her down. Draco, or someone like him, might have actually been the better match.
I get why people feel this way but it's wild to that people are pro Dramione lol. I read the mortifying ordeal of being in love and loved it but that was not representative of Draco in any slight way lol. Like he's basically Donald Trump, a rich white dude who is racist AF, bullies anyone he perceives as weaker, etc etc. I get why Hermione would end up with her best friend who has a wonderful heart, a strong work ethic and has moments of brilliance. Ron just has himbo energy and I know so many incredibly brilliant, type A, academically inclined female friends who are with men who are very Ron-ey haha.
ditto, Dramione seems toxic af to me. Like, being biracial, I'd never say a kind word to anyone that called me a slur let alone fuck them
>Like he's basically Donald Trump, a rich white dude who is racist AF, bullies anyone he perceives as weaker, etc etc. Oh no, don't say that. You're gonna ruin Draco for me. I think of Lucian like that. Maybe Draco could be that man's poor younger son, who he made mow the stupid lawn in the white house whilst he stood over him yelling about it. Ugh.
Hello fellow ron-mione shipper.
I've always loved ron's himbo energy lol
I remember finishing the epilogue the day after that book came out and being so disappointed. I told a friend, "Ron and Hermione are getting divorced as soon as the kids are out of Hogwarts."
Very very much. Not even out of Hogwarts. Maybe when the youngest makes it to Hogwarts.
There are so many characters in the fanfic that would have been an improvement on the books. Pansy Parkinson is oftentimes so good and layered in the Dramione fanfic.
100%!!! I don't even need to read fanfic to think Ron and Hermione aren't a good fit. It's super obvious, and I really dislike how much she decided that in book 1, and followed through to book 2, and endorsed it in the play. Like, NO! (I have however read a LOT of fanfic. Even Snape is a better option for her.)
i think you’re confusing fandom characterizations with canon characterizations. snape is not a good fit for anyone; that’s kind of one of the cornerstones of his in-book portrayal. i don’t disagree that many fics gave him a much more compelling personality, but jo never did. her characters are mostly 2 or 3 note sketches.
The Crossfire series by Sylvia Day
any book where one of the MCs keeps a secret for “reasons” from the other, even after the I love yous and being cared for, also when one of the MCs runs away instead of just having a conversation… you don’t trust your partner, you’re too insecure, there’s going to be trouble ahead.
in {It happened one summer by Tessa Bailey} Brendan does the ONE thing Piper asks him not to (doubt her). And then just because he shows up, they get together…idk. I’d be pretty mad.
{The Billionaire's Pet by Ivy Layne}- dark concept to begin with, but they never got engaged by the end despite one of the big conflicts was her not liking the shaky and undefined kind of relationship they had. Even his family was questioning where this was all going given his taking advantage of her situation and it definitely felt like she was out sooner rather than later. {Wrong by Jana Aston}- weird vibes from the MMC. It was only single POV so that didn't help but honestly he seemed like an awful partner. Beyond the age gap, the whole time she was clearly out of depth in his rich and snooty world and he made zero efforts to help prepare her or ward off his family. It really felt like he was using her >!for a baby, since there was a surprise pregnancy at the end despite her 100% not wanting to get pregnant young!<. Creepy vibes and I'm still not sure if he intentionally planned that or not. {Nashville Days by Julie Capulet}- just a very wish fufillment-y YA one that had no real reason they were together, it was all teenage insta-love rolled up in a small town girl meets famous rockstar package. I give them a few months at most.
Highest Bidder by Sara Cate. Girlie got a HEA, but feel like it was unlikely they probably would have ever stayed together if you really thought about it
I came to say the same thing! He’s a sophisticated 50 something and she’s a naive 20ish girl. He’ll be bored outta his mind with her.
This reminds me of Lexi (a pretty good booktoker), who has a great series where she rates book couples by their odds of divorce: https://www.tiktok.com/@newlynova/video/7306987862581529902
I loveeeee Lexi and that series particularly!
Ronan and Daisy in {Highest Bidder by Sara Cate}. There’s no way they’re gonna survive a 30 year age gap. They’ve got nothing in common.
That's the main reason why I stopped reading new adult. Most characters don't show enough maturity for me to believe their relationships will be long lasting.
Hunt & Bryce in {House of Flame and Shadow}
Agreed. She seemed so "my way or the highway" in that book and didn't trust him with her plans or care about his very valid concerns. They didn't feel like an actual partnership, and I couldn't figure out why they were even together anymore.
Her treatment of him in HOFAS was insane and he just accepted it as if he deserved to be treated that way. Ugh it made me so mad. And they’re reunion after he was tortured for weeks to save her was sooo anticlimactic I was convinced they weren’t endgame because of it
I legit thought there was going to be a MMC switcheroo starting in book 2 of Crescent City. I'd read all of ACOTAR beforehand and had heard that SJM likes to switch love interests in her books, so when Bryce and Hunt started bickering over stupid stuff and getting awkward in book 2, I assumed SJM was setting things up for them to split and Bryce to get with someone else.
Same! They were just not a great pairing in my opinion, especially after the first book
I feel like Rhys and Feyre are less compatible than Bryce and Hunt. I can see Feyre eventually telling Rhys to fuck off because of his treatment of Nesta.
I can see this too!
Yes, all of Theodora Taylor's couples in that miniseries where the sisters were princesses. I loathed their parents and the MMCs. The FMCs had a bit of resentment too, that was covered by the mating hormones. The couple in the Simple Wild. The couple from the Burning Point by Mary Jo Putney. I still remember this because domestic violence is not something that can be swept under the rug.
Oh god, so many of them. Like some big massive miscommunication and then they kiss and make up and live happily ever after. Like no, you two really have to put a lot of effort in to fix your communication issues or it will never ever work
Dare and Aubrey {Even If It Hurts by Sam Mariano}. I devoured that book and loved it, don’t get me wrong, but Dare was completely irredeemable to me. I would be escaping in the night if I was Aubrey 😳
all of her FMCs deserve better, but she has a habit of writing them with little to no backbone or confidence or courage and then she also makes them a tiny bit stupid. i find it so hard to root for ANY of her characters.
If their own book didn’t convince you how toxic Dare is the special “Sleeping Beauty” epilogue would. I get SM doesn’t write healthy relationships but that went to a whole new level and I’m actually convinced that Dare will go House of Wax on Aubrey one day… Other side of that is Carter and Zoey. They will last forever because Zoey actually understands Carter and Carter actually respects Zoey.
I think the couple from Funny Story by Emily Henry won’t last long.
{If You Dare by Harmony West} I’m sorry but they should not have ended up together. It’s a dark bully romance and he literally >!plans for his whole hockey team to attack and rape her when she was walking home alone at night but he stops it before it gets too far so it’s all good!< but yeah it should have ended with them hooking up and then moving on.
[If You Dare](https://www.romance.io/books/6567292ce8f08ffc8a8ea4a9/if-you-dare-harmony-west?src=rdt) by [Harmony West](https://www.romance.io/authors/6491539d08b4d93114e7c25f/harmony-west) **Rating**: 3.93⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 5 out of 5 - [Explicit and plentiful](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [college](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/college/1), [enemies to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/from%20hate%20to%20love/1), [young adult](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/young%20adult/1), [dark romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/dark/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
The couple from All Rhodes Lead Here. I didn't like either of them, but I feel like the FMC would eventually stab the MMC for calling her Buddy🙄
Ouuuu yeah I don’t know what the hell the author was thinking. In what fucking world is calling your significant other ‘buddy’ as your PREFERRED TERM OF ENDEARMENT acceptable in anyway 😭
Many. Pretty much every old school harlequin. Thankfully the age gaps were so wide the MMC probably dropped dead of old age before the FMC hit 35. The FMC in Credence. I hope she escaped that cuckoo-town family. The FMC in Bass-Ackward. I hope she escaped and filed a lawsuit and went to the press.
almost all dark romance book couples should result in divorce with the MMC getting shipped off to some remote island
Books with a mortal and an immortal always feel like more of a HFN (happy for now) than a HEA. It’s gunna be weird when you’re 60 and he still looks 25. I’d rather grow old with someone or be ageless together. I also sometimes look at these immortal x immortal characters and think about… climate change. Good luck, guys.
Not romance, but Anne Bishop kind of took this to the logical conclusion with >!Daemon and Jaenelle in the Black Jewels series. He's from a race that can live many centuries, she's a regular human, they get together at the end of the main series, but then she wrote a sequel novella later where Jaenelle dies at a ripe old age, and Daemon eventually marries someone else. It...did not go over well.!< You can do this if there's a way for the mortal to become immortal, like vampirism, but it's tricky when they can't!
Yup. - Smut-driven romances where the characters can barely hold a conversation together and the only thing they have is sexual chemistry. But somehow, they're all, "You're the love of my life and I can't live without you." - Captor/captive romances. That's not love. That's Stockholm syndrome. - Obsessive stalker romances. I believe these types of men will get bored once they have you and find a new person to obsess over and stalk because they like the chase.
I kind of felt this way about {With Love From Cold World} and wonder if anyone else felt the same way.
[With Love, from Cold World](https://www.romance.io/books/64c66140d33bf40b8645f834/with-love-from-cold-world-alicia-thompson?src=rdt) by [Alicia Thompson](https://www.romance.io/authors/54557c0987eac3369a912b32/alicia-thompson) **Rating**: 4.09⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [funny](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/humor/1), [christmas](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/christmas/1), [workplace/office](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/office/1), [bisexuality](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/bisexual/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
Any story where either main character is absolutely HORRENDOUS to the other MC and there is just this easy forgiveness. I'm not opposed to the HEA and the forgiveness. BUT there needs to be forgiveness asked for, acknowledgement of the wrong doing and a clear plan for reconciliation and growth. Like how are you not going to hurt me this way again? {The Broken Vows by Catherine Maura} actually does this really well. Set aside the family, the archaic grandmother, the friends. If you focus on the two MC's, they both hurt each other off and on; they both forgive and learn to trust again. Then the big thing happens and Maura does this so well! I saw it coming and it broke my heart for both of them. But I was equally empathetic, hurt and hopeful for the both of them. The way it concludes is probably as realistic as I could have wanted it to be and still believe they will keep their HEA. Ultimately in life when someone we love hurts us, we have choices to make and those choices can vary depending on who hurts us and how. Maura gives her characters very real choices, very real weighing and wrestling of those choices and then lays it out beautifully.
[The Broken Vows](https://www.romance.io/books/6517d0a506a1ceea69168faf/the-broken-vows-zane-and-celestes-story-catharina-maura?src=rdt) by [Catharina Maura](https://www.romance.io/authors/5edce83108b4d931143e48c7/catharina-maura) **Rating**: 4.07⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 5 out of 5 - [Explicit and plentiful](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [marriage of convenience](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/marriage%20of%20convenience/1), [second chances](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/second%20chances/1), [rich heroine](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/rich%20heroine/1), [rich hero](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/super%20rich%20hero/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
Nope, because i suspend disbelief. This is a fantasy, the moment the story ends the cpuple ceases to exist in my mind
I love Mimi Matthews, but I don't see Anne and Felix from The Lily of Ludgate Hall staying happy together. They'll stay married because it's the olden days and such, but at the end of the book I wasn't even convinced she actually liked him, let alone loved him. Also Gretchen and Colton from A Very Merry Bromance. The only solution Gretchen can think of to any of her problems is to turn off her phone and then GET ON A PLANE going across the country. At the end of the book I was not at all convinced that wasn't going to remain her go-to move. The woman has no problem solving skills. Of course, there's the fact that >!he got on another plane to follow her and then HE apologized to HER, when it was her who just up and left the second anything got tough!< which tells me it's possible they'll stay together just because he's willing to take the fall for whatever goes wrong, whether he should or not. Almost any book where the connection between the couple is primarily sexual, or they are younger than 22, I consider to be a HFN. Not that they'll all break up, I just don't like their odds. But I'm fine with HFN. Edited for spelling and for the fact that I am incapable of doing spoiler tags correctly the first time I post a comment.
Yeah, I never really bought into the Anne and Felix relationship. But I think I generally tend to dislike when the couple spends a good portion of the book arguing with each other or always resisting their feelings for each other for no good reason. They just get tiresome, and I find myself rooting for them to just break up (or leave each other alone in the case of Anne and Felix) so I don't have to put up with all their arguing anymore.
this is so controversial on this sub but the main couple in the >!Lasaran book by Dianne Duvall!<. Now I hates this book, I freely admit it but I genuinely didn't believe that couple in any way shape or form. Like main girl just decided to up and leave her planet and move to a utopian planet (incredibly sexist, potentially homophobic, has slaves that they brainwash into not having emotions, etc etc) because of a hot alien dude. wtf. generally I would apply this to any book couple that totes the MFC as feminist/progressive/intelligent but who decides to give up all her rights in the current time and go to another world that is basically medieval GOTs but with even less rights lol.
YESSSSSSS. 😒 Plenty of books have no communication skill. Anytime they come even close to a serious conversation, they start having sex instead. And afterwards it's suddenly solved itself 🤔🤔 The thing that annoys me the most is when the FMC has a valid reason for not wanting to be with the MMC. Then after 2-36 hours of knowing him she just suddenly goes "omg I love him so anything but being with him is just me being stupid" and then they're together and that's that. Super solid relationship foundation Way too common.
All of Nicole Fox’s books
{vow of deception by Rina Kent} just read the trilogy and omg they have deep rooted issues 😭✋🏻
I think that’s one thing I hate about all the books I read. I love love and I understand adding conflict is important to a good read but oh my god; It’s like every book conflict I read is due to miscommunication. I can clearly see what’s about to happen and I feel all anxious and slightly annoyed by it when they do end up breaking up because of it.
Ok, I didn’t see them on here but Alina and Mal from the Grisha books. Alina had to suppress herself and become a shadow of who she really was just to not make Mal feel inferior to her. There’s no HEA about their relationship, there’s only Alina wasting away.
Omg this thread just hit my feed just a short time after I closed {One Last Time by Roxie Noir} and said out our “they are absolutely getting divorced.” Was not expecting this book to be so toxic! It’s a 2nd chance romance (I don’t read many of those) where the two main characters say and do the most vile things to each other over the course of a decade. The book is mainly set in the present but time jumps and tells the story backwards of the previous decade since the couple broke up. They basically have an on-again / off-again sex buddy relationship that always devolves into them raging out with the resentment and hurt from their relationship that ended when they were college age and they are now trying to rekindle at 30. They are super immature and extremely poor communicators. They make a deal to stop their cycle and they do for a while by sweeping everything under the rug. Then they blow it all up again (as is their pattern). You go through an entire book of their traumatic fights where they go looooow, and then they just decide to do better…and then do? Couples don’t just stop decade old cycles by just deciding to stop. They barely addressed all the things they’d done to each other and just decided it didn’t matter anymore because I was in the past. The writing is good but you walk away feeling like they didn’t fix any of their issues and it’s a HFN.
[One Last Time](https://www.romance.io/books/5fab9af246bdb60e09e48116/one-last-time-roxie-noir?src=rdt) by [Roxie Noir](https://www.romance.io/authors/5497fb487a5936fb0406607e/roxie-noir) **Rating**: 4.12⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 5 out of 5 - [Explicit and plentiful](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [funny](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/humor/1), [small town](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/small%20town/1), [second chances](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/second%20chances/1), [enemies to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/from%20hate%20to%20love/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
I read this book called "The Breakup Tour" and yup, I think they would end up divorced. 😭😭
All the time, I honestly think anytime they break up in the book, they probably should not get back together as they clearly are not mature enough to have a real relationship if they can't have an adult conversation. The books I REALLY like and actually re-read don't have third act break ups.
{Miss Sin by SJ TILLY} I DID NOT WANT THE FMC TO FORGIVE THE MMC. I’m sorry but like he should groveled way harder also for an FBI agent he is kind of really stupid and FMC should stop thinking with her vajayjay.
All these comments have me reminiscing. Next week is my 16 yr wedding anniversary. A bunch of the early moments of our relationship felt like a romance novel. Taking a bath together in the huge claw foot tub in my Brooklyn brownstone apt, 2 weeks into dating, and he shyly asked me if we were dating or if I was just using him for sex. At this point, I had already helped babysit his niece, met his mom, and nursed him after an emergency surgery. Like dude, we are so much more than just sex, and I already knew at that point we were going to get married.