Getting to HEA
While writing the eighth book in the Beyond series, I tweeted once or twice about needing Kleenex while writing because shit was getting seriously real. There may have been jokes about death tolls rising and my co-writer and me being on a mad killing spree.
It started as a joke, but what followed was the magic that makes Twitter so fun—a spontaneous discussion of the promise of HEA in a romance series and whether that promise extends beyond the end of the book. Were previous heroes and heroines safe from the war consuming the final pages of our nine-book series? If one of them did die, would that violate their HEA? Retroactively take it away?
I thought long and hard about how to answer. How to balance spoilers and promises and expectations. And in the end I said: I’m fully committed to the promise of the Happily Ever After.
Deciding to end a series that changed your life is hard. When Donna & I sat down to write Beyond Shame, we had no idea what we were starting. We were tired and having a rough year and other things in publishing weren’t going our way. We wanted to remember what it was to love writing. We wanted to remember the joy and excitement of pouring words and characters that excited us out onto the page.
Beyond Shame followed only one rule: it made us happy. We didn’t write it thinking about the market, or what would sell, or what we should be writing. And we weren’t prepared for the way people reacted to the book, for the excitement and joy and fervor. We weren’t prepared for how the series took on a life of its own as it continued.
Seemingly overnight, we went from despair to joy. We’ve written eight novels, three novellas and a handful of short stories about the O’Kanes, and we love them as much today as we did in 2012, when we first wrote about Ace and Jas finding a dazed city girl staggering through the marketplace.
So why did we decide to end the series?
We have to get to the Ever After part.
After book nine, the O’Kanes will have earned a little bit of peace. I want to give them a chance to settle down and enjoy their ever afters. Happily. That doesn’t mean I’m tired of writing about them—I’m sure we’ll be sneaking back into Sector Four to visit our favorite couples and triads and quartets. There are babies to be born and dreams to achieve, and god bless the existence of short stories which means we’ll always be able to share them.
But it’s time for the O’Kanes to win big and go home.
But deciding to end the series wasn’t even the hardest part. How do you end a series full of larger-than-life bootleggers? Whose story brings the O’Kanes full circle?
Nessa & Ryder
Nessa has been a part of the Beyond series since the beginning. She’s the official O’Kane Baby Sister, the liquor prodigy whose skill and dedication has made the O’Kanes rich and famous—and the young woman whose misadventures in love (or, more often, lust) are a series staple.
Having 20+ overprotective big brothers & sisters who’ll stab anyone interesting who gets within ten feet of you? Really hard on your love life. Only one man may be capable of rising to the challenge—the enigmatic Ryder: former spy, current leader of Sector Five and a man more than capable of standing toe-to-toe with Dallas or any of the O’Kanes.
Nessa and Ryder’s story will bring the story of the sector war with Eden to its close. The O’Kanes will finally reach their Ever After, where I hope they’ll live happily for many years to come.
But what about the people left who haven’t had their stories yet? What about Ashwin, the super-soldier with an obsession for a pretty young doctor that he can’t seem to shake?
So How About those HEA Rules?
Me? I think you can hurt previous heroes & heroines after their book, but everyone better make it to the ever after part to enjoy their well-earned happiness.
But what do you think the rules are for a series when it comes to Happily Ever Afters? Are all the previous heroes & heroines off limits when it comes to tragedy and death, or does the promise only last until the final page of their book?
Let us know in the comments, and someone will win their very own collection of our most popular O’Kane swag: the O’Kane for Life tote bag, a flask and a signed copy of any of the Beyond books.
Bree is one-half of the writing duo behind Kit Rocha. Their award-winning BEYOND series is headed for the final book. If you haven’t tried it yet, pick up the first three books in the series in this FREE bundle for a limited time!
I understand it’s limitations (the tension can only be so bad if like 90% of the named characters are clearly going to be safe), but I would definitely feel betrayed if a series was billed as romance and HEAs from earlier in the series got ruined or reversed. I’m ok with in in SFF or YA or other genres because I don’t go into those books with the expectation that HEAs will be preserved.
Killing off previously written about characters that were vital to the story? It kind of ruins things for me. Even more so for when I go back and do a reread and I’m in their story all I can think about is… well you die in the end.
HEA CAN be ruined retroactively and is for me a betrayal, I’ll get on my nope-a-potamus and ride the hell away from that author ever after.
An HEA is for ever after!!! No tragedy or deaths for previous couples in a romance novel!! These couples overcome a lot to be together and they deserve to stay that way forever happily.
I feel that while other genres can kill their previous characters with impunity, Romance can’t. HEAs are the expectation in and payoff to reading Romance, and screwing with that is essentially a big middle finger to readers. Killing a previous main character retcons their HEA to HFN, and that’s a betrayal of what the reader signed up for.
That being said, I still think you can have tragedy happen – because really, no one’s life is all smooth sailing – to main characters, as long as a) they live through it, and b) their relationship is maintained and grows from the experience. That will reaffirm the reader’s investment in the characters and stories.
Killing off a character(s) is always so hard! But sometimes, a writer has to stay true to the story, the series, and even the characters themselves. That said, I don’t want anyone in Sector 4 hurt or dead! LOLOL And I’m sooooo looking forward to the next journey in the world of Beyond!
I’m always hoping for the HEA to be forever, but I can accept them getting a bit hurt… Though they have to make it out alive in the end and happy :)
I get the limitations but I might have a heart attack if one of the main characters dies. I know this is war so part of me is expecting chaos and losing someone(s). I just want to see where this all leads and the babies!!! Can’t wait for more books.
Books are my escape, in a way they are my HEA, I can be daring, free, in love, in lust, spoiled, poor, broken you name it I can be it in the world the author has created for me. I love it. So for me, the emotional roller coaster I feel while being in someones world makes me appreciate a HEA moment more then some. Specifically, for this series, each character is fighting so hard for there forever, to take it away, might break the one(s) they love so much that you would lose them all. (Cruz with a lighter…)
Yes, a moment of pure happiness is worth everything. But in a world I get to visit and isn’t “real” I think we should never take that happiness away that fought for.
My HEA is everyone just a little bruised but not broken. Dallas and Lex more solid than ever. Maybe another O’Kane bb. NO DEATHS I CANNOT TAKE THAT NOOOOOOOOPE.
If I’m reading a series that is basically a romance series I’d feel incredibly betrayed if a previous main character was killed off in a future book. Side characters are fair game (although I probably shouldn’t say that – PLEASE don’t kill any O’Kanes!!!!) but not the main couples.
If I’m reading a fantasy series with multiple POVs (like Game of Thrones or Wheel of Time) then I’ll be upset by the deaths of much loved characters but it wouldn’t be quite so devastating as I’ve not gone into it with the promise of a HEA at the end.
I’m not in for HEA reversals. Nope. No way. They live in that shimmery world of Ever Afters. Where there is great sex, fun banter, and fights about dirty clothes on the floor and who runs the vacuum. They get to LIVE however the author(s) left them. That could be why I don’t read many series that have one couple to carry it. Too many chances of things going wrong with the HEA.
Killing off characters from previous books who got their HEA is definitely a no no for me, as a reader. Granted, it happens in real life, but that’s not why I read romance. I read other genres for that type of realism. Killing off a peripheral character, even a well-liked one, is okay. Like someone else commented, if a reader knows all the good guys and girls are going to survive, it’s hard to create much tension in a life or death/war situation.
I think that sometimes there has to be tragedy. Death or near death can help both the characters and the readers see what they have. Help them realize their HEA. Even after characters have had their day in the sun I think that a story wouldnt be true unless their was loss to strengthen and reform some of the bonds of the characters. Allowing them to find or create new HEA’s.
Honestly, I’d hate to see characters from previous books be permanently injured or killed in a romance series. It would ruin the books for me, and I’d never be able to reread that chatacters book because I’d know that it doesnt end well for them, and whatever happiness they and their mates have is short lived. I figure life is crappy enough sometimes. I don’t need or want my books to mimic it. I read to escape for a little while. I want the Happily Ever After. And for me, the Ever means Forever.
No, they can’t die. I’ve re-read the entire series twice. I could never go back if I knew they’d die. Please please please no.
I believe you can cause tragedy to previous characters provided they retain their togetherness. If you kill off one, you must take them both (or all of the included HEAs) together so they do not suffer alone. Suffering is not happy. Going out in a blaze of glory together…. Well, that keeps them intact and move the HEA into the Otherrealm. Things happen but live sticks even in death. Give them a great ending and all is well in the here after.
HEAs are necessary for romance. Drama can happen, even horrible bodily injury, but I want my people to survive and thrive together. Love overcomes all and all that stuff.
I’ve been with this series from the beginning and I love it. Looking forward to the next sector, I’m anticipating loving them just as much.
I feel things may happen as long as they recover, Nothing in life is perfect as long as you please don’t kill off happy couples.
I believe in HEA. But, I wouldn’t want such major characters as Lexa & Dallas or Jasper & Nicole to be at a loss in the end. Someone has to be there to pick up the pieces and glue it all back together. To lose them in the end would make me feel cheated after having fully invested in them as the backbone of the O’Kane’s.
I am going to be completely unrealistic and say NO, no one dies. There’ll be some hardship, some injury, but ALL happy endings! I mean, some tangential people can die, but please no one we know. Why do I think Gia will probably go? Unless she is a later character in Gideon’s Riders, hmm… Gah, I could also see Gideon’s cousin dying … but only after they set aside the next heir that’s not Mad! Yikes, I can’t believe I’m picking who I’d rather see die, but — I think deaths are just inevitable for war :( Boo. But please limit as much as you can! :)
Back in the day, I recall reading a few historical series where a previous hero was killed off and the heroine was getting a second HEA. Although I love the second chance theme for those that lose a loved one and such and face it things were brutal in the past… not that they can’t be these days. Still, I have to admit to being cruelly disappointed when a favorite character is killed off even in a future book.
Babies to be born?? :) I know of one…..
I was prepared to sacrifice 2 that had found their HEA. TWO. For specific reasons. I didn’t like it, but there it is.
Then I was told to “Trust Dallas to protect his people”. Giving that he is a strong leader, with knowledge, he is in a better place than most to protect his own, and then some…
SO I’ll close my eyes, enjoy the ride and hope for the best.
Trust Dallas to protect his people is still my official statement. ;)
(And trust us to protect the HEA!)
They can’t die that would definitely not be a HEA but if there was something they had to overcome and then continue with a greater appreciation for what they have together I would be okay with that. If only one were to continue that would make their prior story almost pointless it is a Romance after all and we want them to be forever.
I think HEA’s go all the way through in a series! That’s no to say there isn’t some pain along the way but nobody dies! This series has been the absolute best I couldn’t imagine one of the main characters dying. Definitely happily ever after all the way through!
HEA should mean HEA.
Sure, they can be seriously injured or even maimed but no way should they be killed off.
That’s not an Ever After, that’s a tragedy.
It’s HEA not Happily Enough until the end of their own book and then anything is up for grabs…nosiree
HAE means they stay together. It might be them against the world but the only certain thing is that they have each other’s back. As for previous couples: stay away from them. Don’t touch their story unless it’s to improve it somehow. X
I’m not even going to attempt to be sane or reasonable. I prefer my HEA’s to be just that, EVER being real important to me, mostly because I seem to bury myself in stories I love to the point I get lost emotionally in them.However, the stories I read are not, well, MY stories. I am just lucky enough to have tripped into them and gone along for the ride. Personal choice for me is to leave the characters I’m invested in living their everyday lives all happy and stuff. I like to imagine it that way. If the story goes down other paths, well, I usually cry myself silly, rant, throw the book (if it’s a physical copy), sniffle and then finish reading when I can control my emotions better. (And then go back to the start and read about happier stuff.) When I create things, they’re mine, my vision. The stories I love, they’re someone else’s. I’m really glad you guys created yours!
I’m with everyone else, to me a HEA has to last through the series or I will have a lot of trouble going back and rereading without thinking, well your going to die so it doesn’t matter but I would be okay with some issues or trauma as we all know life isn’t roses, as long as the couple makes it out together and stronger at the end, it’s all good for me.
Killing off a character who previously had a HEA would ruin it for me. I like to check in with them in a short story or in someone else’s story but you can’t kill them or even tear the couple or trio or whoever apart. They should be happy.
Eeeeep I’m happy and sad to see it end bit I know that it will end with a bang literally. I cannot wait for the next series I know it will be amazing. Way to go ladies and keep up the good work. The books are so intriguing intriguing just can’t put them down. :D
HEA is Happily FOREVER After. Period. Not until the next book. I am 100% in the camp of HEA means forever. Killing off a main character from a previous book would cause me to walk away from the author. (I was reading a fantastic series some years ago in which this happened. I never finished the series.)
I think it’s perfectly acceptable for previous main characters to go through a rough time in their relationship, maybe a health scare, but by the end of the books, everyone gets a HEA. Together forever.
Way way WAY back in the day when I was first reading contemporary romances, one of my fave authors was Janet Dailey and her American States series (before I realised it was a series) for Harlequin. Within that series, she wrote about a couple who got their HEA and a few books later, she wrote about the hero’s best friend (I think). Near the end of that book, there was a plane crash and the original hero was in it. I WAS DEVASTATED! I felt betrayed beyond belief. In the end, original hero ended up in a wheelchair for a while and he and his heroine got a second book and another HEA ending. (This was also my first encounter with the romantic series phenomenon.) But what I remember of those books was the horror and sadness and betrayal I felt. And that’s after… um… 40+ years? :)
All this to say, my HEAs need to stay HEAs and you don’t kill them. If you do, then your books are no longer romances in my books but alternate reality/dystopian/fantasy whatever the setting books. I NEED to suspend reality enough for all the MCs to only die of old, old, old age.
I so totally agree!
If it fits the story it’s okay to break up the couples. They were HFN especially if they’re in a war situation.
Hmm. I understand the temptation to let real life rule and kill off a previous beloved character, BUT I think HEA is forever. That’s what the EA part means. Maybe if a series book is set far, far in the future, so that the HEA couple has lived a long and loving life together, and now the natural end is upon them, that’s okay.
But I don’t want ANY of my O’Kanes to die, please.
Love your books! And I’m really, really looking forward to Gideon’s Riders.
I might be a weirdo in the romance world, but HFN is just fine by me, and if a couple got some happy time before the end, that’s fine by me. No one lives forever. It’s “O’Kane for life” and eventually that ends.
I couldn’t hate you guys no matter what happens.
I won’t lie, I’ll be pissed is previous HEAs are shattered by deaths in the finale. There is a promise given to a reader–especially in romance novels–that the H&H will make it beyond the end of their primary story. Nobody was happy when Tonks and Remus were killed off in the HP finale. They deserved their hard won HEA. (Tho, of course, HP novels are not romance novels, so the “rules” are different.)
Yes, sometimes a writer needs to kill off beloved characters in a series, but IMO not just to do it or be edgy or raise stakes. And, again, in Romancelania, the rules are different. Me, I’d be pissed and feel as though an implied promise had been violated if characters HEAs were demolished in later books. Why the hell sign up for their journeys in the first place?
I agree with Shawn above. If your killing one main character? You must kill their partner. Then they are together forever. No one left behind. It would rip my heart out, but in my mind they are happily ever after. I also reread this series all the time, and to know that someone dies, leaving their partner and “love story” would ruin it.
I think that for a series to end with a HEA all the H and h need to get a HEA. After years of writing about, and having people fall in love/lust with, the H and h of each book, novella, and short story, anything less than a HEA for all would end the series on a sad note. Who would you kill? Dallas? Noelle? Cruz? Zan? These are all people to us (at least to me) and they deserve to live on in their future (and in our dreams)! Now, with a war I get there may be injuries and I’m ok with that but hope, hope, hope there aren’t any deaths to this group of strangers who have become a family.
A HEA stands for Happily EVER After not happily for awhile. That being said EVER after can’t be perfect and smooth sailing all the time. To kill a previous character that fought for there HEA would be like a slap in the face. To root and root for them then BAM!! And there goes re-reads can’t unknow something. So please please please don’t do that to me!!
I think the HEA should be protected on all previous characters especially Jas & Noelle.
No way! They have to be off limits – I feel like we’ve invested too much time into all of these characters for them to have their HEAs potentially ripped away. I don’t necessarily think they have to be immune from everything but the two big no-no’s would definitely be death or being pulled from their significant other/s. Also… We need more Rachel/Ace/Cruz.. And Jared/Lilli… Yeah, just more short stories in general =)
HEA is why I read romance. I am still bothered by J.R. Ward’s book and I didn’t even read it and had not read the series for several books. I would stop reading a series and likely stop reading an author entirely if I felt they violated HEA. Injury is doable, death no.
I don’t think I’d ever be okay with a previous main character being killed off! Because then they’d need another HEA.
I think that the HEA should last forever.
Thanks for the chance to win!
I love this series and am selfishly attached to all the characters and while I know they will all experience challenge and adversity that may bring them to their knees and leave them gutted. As lufe often does the only ending I want for all them is a happy one.
I’ve pondered this. Just the chance of one or more of the O’Kanes’ demise during the war with Eden has created an extra tension in the last couple books and made them an even better read! That being said, some things are sacred. When I imagine a couple after their HEA, it’s a solid, long lasting lifetime. I’d be devastated if anyone of them were denied that! O’Kane for life ❤️
HEA’s all around for me. If I want reality, I will turn on the TV thank you. I have a favorite author who had an two different characters die off in the same book, a brother who was murdered and had a fiance and sister who was married and sacrificed herself to save her family. I almost could not finish the book and I have never reread it, which is really not normal for me. I reread books and authors I love constantly. It also made me step away from the author, who is one of my favorites. I found myself putting off reading her next book because I was so traumatized by the loss of those characters.
To me a hea for this series would be an end to Eden and a start to something better in the sectors. There would still be the O’Kane family no matter how spread out they become. The love and having each others backs will remain. I would love to see all our favorite couples together in the end but that’s all up to the lovely ladies that make up Kit Rocha, Bree and Donna.
I am hoping for the best but the story (and life) has to move forward so a HEA may not last.
We lost so many in the beginning when Eden took over. Some perhaps should not have gotten a HEA therefore they are gone…..but there are some in Eden that still deserve to get their come-up pings …..all is fair….just name he rules of the game…..but play fair or else the rath of the bootleggers will find you……looking forward to our Sector people and their happiness….
Your books and romance in general have readers expecting a hea. I read them and know im reading fiction. But i also read them not wanting to be upset or depressed at the end. When you read nicholas sparks books you know theres going to be both a good and bad feeling in the end so you expect that. Other books you never know whats going to happen so its like a mystery, are you going to cry at the end or be happy. I pick books to read depending on how im feeling also. So im not going to read a book thats going to make me bawl for 2 hrs when im feeling down. Your books have all been hea so to change that now would be going against the way you’ve written this series.
main characters don’t die
Nooooo! I don’t want to see previous characters killed off or injured :( Give them an obstacle, or hardship, but I want them to be happy when it’s all said and done :) (Go ahead and kill off as many secondary characters as you want though hahahaha)
I love that writing this series made you both happy.
I think you can have tragedies and hurts, but the former lead characters should stay alive and together. (There is an exception for sprawling dynastic romance series. Former lead characters are allowed to die at the end of long, happy lives together. If you’ve moved on to writing books about their grandchildren’s romances, then they’re probably fair-game for death.)
There are certainly enough ancillary characters and ways for there to be hurts and tragedies which don’t destroy the couples we love.
I think rough patches/fights, illness, or injury within the couples/triads/quads in later books is inevitable & good to show the relationships’ strengths & value but they all survive or none survive. You can’t leave someone(s) behind. That would wreck me!!! It would be horrible to loose anyone but if they go together…then at least they are with who they love. I could see Six & Bren or Jenny & Hawk going out in a blaze of glory together but would HATE IT!!! Ugh. It’s hard to even write that as an example.
But in general…If a main character died in a later book it would make rereading their book impossible. I would be half-heartedly reading it knowing they die a few books later. It would ruin it for me & I couldn’t reread the book ever.
There is no HEA if it isn’t forever!!!
I think there could be a situation where one couple could sacrifice themselves to save everyone else and it would work for the series, especially one with a big cast. But I wouldn’t want to see it happen often.
I’m traditional and I become attached. To me previous couples are off the table for dying, they become an integral part of the world I create in my head as I picture each book while reading and to have them die would ruin things for me.
It would make it very hard to re read the series if I know a main character dies. I never thought a vital character would die. It seems that no matter what is going on Dallas takes care of his people no matter what. I always thought their would be HEA for everyone in Sector 4!
It goes how ever the writer wants. I love all types of HEA’S. I am not bug on deaths of main characters but they do happen and make me have those ugly cries. Love this series, but I need to read the next book.
For me, I need the previous couples to be safe for their HEA, especially in this series. The couples haven’t really had a peaceful time to just relax and enjoy each other (one of the reasons I have loved this series). When they beat Eden, they can actually live a little, enjoy their lives, breathe without worrying who’s around every corner. I look forward to that. I need to know that Jas and Noelle make it through in one piece, together. I also hope we do get novellas later to see where they are now. Thank you for a wonderful series that I just stumbled on, didn’t know what to expect, but fell in love with the characters.
Have to have the HEA, would feel let down if any of the previous characters were killed. The whole them of the series is that the HEA makes them stronger.
I have read stories where there has been a sacrifice made of one of the favorite characters. But I must say it hurts when that happens. I tell you, when it looked like Ace was going to die from that fight several books ago, that was painful. When you have gone through characters’ battles to get their HEA, you don’t want to see that broken in any way. To kill any of them would kind of ruin it for me. Ultimately, I think if any of our O’Kanes die, then they don’t really win the war.
I was upset about Ace. I full out freaked when Trix was kidnapped and Zan was shot and we were left hanging. I was not a happy camper for a while.
I’d like to think our series couples would be left alone in their hea’s. But I think it’s ok to challenge them again in different ways afterwards, in different stories, as long as they’re still hea. For example, and established couple is overcoming a challenge of aome sort as a side story in another couple’s coming together story.