Do Novels Need to Have a Happy Ending?
The number one rule for romance novels is that the hero and heroine must have a HEA. What does that mean? The couple must live happily ever after.
If the writer wants to write a romance, she must craft a happy ending otherwise it’s something else, women’s fiction maybe or literary fiction. And this is because romance readers buy romances for the experience of seeing a relationship work out. There’s no point in reading an entire novel about a couple only to see them not get together at the end and live happily.
But is this true for all genres? Do readers want to read only books with happy endings?
I guess it depends on how you define happy ending.
Readers Must Be Satisfied at The End
When readers reach THE END they want to be satisfied. They want to feel that the effort and money they put into reading your story was worth it. It might mean that, yes the couple gets together at the end, or the detective catches the evil villain, or the executive gets the big account and promotion.
But it can also mean that the hero realizes that the goal he wanted at the beginning of the story is not what is best for him, and his goal changes. He does not get what he most wanted, but he gets what he most needed.
