There are many things that are crucial to our very existence: nutrition, hydration, and waterproof mascara, just to name a few, but what do you absolutely, positively require in your romance? Below are a few of my must-haves and some want-nots. Please take a look and add your own or expand on the ones that I’ve mentioned.

BELIEVABLE CHARACTERS

I appreciate intelligent characters. Airhead heroines grate on my nerves very quickly and I most likely won’t finish a book where the heroine is just plain dumb. Occasional bouts of ditz are normal for most of us, and are sometimes cute or funny, but too much is exasperating. Heroes who are unrealistically sweet or larger-than-life run the risk of being just a bit too much to swallow. I’m a firm believer that there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. I don’t want characters to be perfect and I don’t mind if they make mistakes, depending on what the mistakes are. Infidelity is an absolute no-no, unless the characters are unquestionably not together or have a long, very definite period of separation.

A WELL THOUGHT-OUT STORYLINE

I want my romance to have some meat - no fluff for me, thank you. I want a story with depth, creativity, intrigue and an abundance of emotion. If a character has issues, I want to know about them. There’s nothing worse than not knowing or understanding the reason behind particular actions or emotions. As for sex, I don’t mind if characters have sex shortly after meeting and before falling in love, we all know that hormones aren’t always fueled by common sense, but soon after they become intimate I want them to appreciate each other for something more than bedroom prowess.

ERRORS

Doing reading/proofing for a handful of authors has put me in the habit of looking very closely at books I read. I usually overlook typos or misspellings when I’m reading for my own enjoyment without thinking much of it, but if an error is glaring enough, it sucks me right out of the story. I once read a romantic suspense wherein the hero picks the heroine up into his arms outside her front door after a date and is holding her tightly against his chest, kissing her deeply, he unlocks and opens the door, she kicks the door closed with her high-heeled foot, slightly stumbling as she’s walking to a small table to set her keys down, and then he lets her slide down the front of his body, chuckling when she struggles to stand on legs that are wobbly from his passionate kisses. Now that wasn’t verbatim, of course, but geez, it was a mixed up mess. I found myself going back and rereading the scene a couple of times to try to make sense of it, thinking that someone should have caught this before it was released.

HAPPILY EVER AFTER

Last but by no means least, is the happy ending. I don’t want to read anything without one, and while it doesn’t have to be marriage and babies surrounded by a white picket fence, I do want an indication that the hero and heroine are together and are committed to one another. I appreciate when an author knows when to write “The End” – realizing that the “big misunderstanding” plays a major role in romance, but don’t let characters find happiness only to be punished repeatedly with misunderstandings or miscommunications. Maybe there should be a “one misunderstanding per book” rule. Whenever a couple declares their love for each other somewhere around the halfway point in a book, I almost dread continuing because I know that the big misunderstanding will be coming along to beat them up, and sure enough, the romance starts to come unwrapped, leaving emotions ragged and raw, waiting to be put back together before the true happily ever after.

I’m certain that I’ve left something out – what makes a successful romance for you and what makes you want to toss a book in the library donation box?