The favourite three couples I’ve written so far

In honour of Valentine’s Day, here are the top three couples I’ve written to date:

Zarah and Cy

Silver and Stone, NA Urban Fantasy – Mythology – Re-imagining of Cupid/Eros

the psyche revived by cupid s kiss — Photo by Mahmut ……. on Pexels.com

Cassius, the god of love, was an interesting character for me. His torment over his past, bitterness toward love, and disbelief in the very thing he was created to do (help people fall in love) made him pretty fun to write about. Then he meets Zarah, a painter with a traumatic past who balances him with her forgiving nature and no-nonsense attitude.

Silver and Stone is basically a study of forgiveness and the dangers of spiralling too deeply into despair. It’s tough to explain why I love Cy and Zarah so much without giving away big plot pieces.

But this couple always makes me smile, and it’s still one of the only books I wrote where I openly cried while writing it.

Briggs and Xan

Wildfire, Romantic Suspense – Secret baby, Second Chance Romance

man and woman kissing — Photo by Katie Salerno on Pexels.com

Briggs is unlikeable, and Xan is probably the biggest cinnamon roll I’ve ever written, but together I really love them. He softens her edges with his nurturing personality, and I love how when he finds out he’s a dad, he just jumps in with two feet, and there’s none of that typical thinly veiled misogyny of what the role of a father is.

What I love about Briggs is her struggle with motherhood and the constant pressure to be everything to everyone. While she goes about things very wrong in certain places, she comes out in the right place at the end with the help of Xan’s gentle but no-bullshit demeanour.

Them together make me happy because even though they are socially, economically, and fundamentally different, they both want the exact same thing.

Helia, Dex, Roger

Electric Storm, NA Sci Fi – Superpowers, Space travel, Alternate Universe, Love triangle,

man and woman holding each others hand wrapped with string lights — Photo by Anastasiya Lobanovskaya on Pexels.com

I love a good love triangle or love V because, technically, it’s not a complete triangle (but that’s another post for another day). I’m definitely in the minority regarding love triangles judging from the amount of hate and slander the trope gets online.

It makes sense, given the cultural push to monogamy and that loving two people is somehow a moral failing. But the real draw to a love triangle for me, is that a person has choices and that there is more than one out there who could be compatible with each other depending on what the main person wants for their life.

I love Helia’s struggle with her feelings for Roger (her childhood best friend who is safe, protective, and represents her past) and Dex (the soldier she bonded with who is patient, doesn’t put up with any bullshit, and represents her future). It’s not just two hot guys who love her for no reason, and she doesn’t know who to choose.

She does choose, and then her feelings morph and change. As she grows, she can better understand why she’s torn. They each represent a genuine part of her and would complement her life, but the issue with Helia is she doesn’t know what she wants her life to be. So her struggle is between her desire for things to be like they used to be and being open to living out her destiny. Either option is real; both lives are possible, and both loves are possible.

Her feelings for them is an integral part of her character growth.