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Saturday, January 19, 2013

#HEGIVEAWAY Day 1: Why Happily Ever After?

Happily Ever After. It's talked about all the time. Romance books are all about the happy ending. What makes us want that? I write romance and therefore love me a good happy ending, and I'm certainly not alone. Even non-romance readers want a satisfying and 'happy' ending. (Except those literary type people.)

Menage romance is no different. All participants must fall in love, and that's even more fun because how do you get 3 (or more!) people to fall in love with each other? In Seduction of my Proper Wife: A Victorian Menage at the Parisian Exposition, Philip and Lillian already loved each other--there were other problems, and Aria was never supposed to be part of their marriage. And yet.

So let's talk about Happy Endings...

A quick internet search of "Happily Ever After" reveals everything from a no-kill animal shelter to a tattoo parlor to several dating sites. Even USA Today has a page called that dedicated to romance books.

Is it because we want to see a couple that has worked so hard to be together actually together? The fact that love can conquer all, it's just a matter of finding it and holding onto it?

In April of 2009 BBC News had this to say in their article Why the obsession with happy endings? I copied the pertinent parts here, but the entire article is a quick and very interesting read. Read some of the comments, too--they're worth it.

In troubled times there are plenty of people who want happy endings - an matter perhaps recognised by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, last week, when he cautioned God will not intervene in climate change to supply a happy ending.

Go back to the 1930s, particularly to films of that era, and you see the process of "happyendingification" in full flow during a time of grinding poverty and uncertainty about the future.

Of course, the theory can be undermined by examples of happyendingification from every decade, whether times were grim or not.

You can even take it back to classical times. We may think of Greek drama in terms of the unrelenting tragedy of Oedipus Rex or Medea. But even the Greeks expected a happy ending, says Alan Sommerstein, professor of Greek at Nottingham University.

But there are always some who regard the process of happyendingification as fundamentally crass, a sign of the excessive commercialisation of the concept of story, of pandering to our weaker side.
Aristotle wasn't happy when, a couple of generations after the passing of the classic tragedy playwrights, he sensed that the plays were getting a bit more unthinkingly jolly.

What about you? Do you only read romances to ensure a happy ending? Do you like movies with happy endings better than ones that don't have a happy resolution. I'm not even talking romance, but say The Avengers. If they'd all died and Loki won that certainly doesn't make for a happy ending. So what is it that drives us to the happily ever after?
Happy endings romance giveaway hop

#HEGIVEAWAY

Tell your happy ending story!

The Happy Endings Giveaway Hop was organized by Reading Romances!
What you can win here: $10 electronic gift card to either Amazon or Barnes and Noble and a copy of Seduction of my Proper Wife: A Victorian Menage at the Parisian Exposition
Number of winners: 5
Open to (INT, US or US/CAN): If you can receive an e-gift card then you can enter!
How to enter: Leave a comment on why YOU think we love our happy endings. If you decide to follow this blog or me on Twitter, you get extra entries in the gift card pot.

60 comments:

  1. I think you like Happy Endings because it just leaves you with a sense of fulfillment.
    bceleste06 at yahoo dot com

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  2. I think you like Happy Endings because it just leaves you with a sense of fulfillment.

    parisfan_ca@yahoo.com

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  3. I follow you on twitter
    @berryluv81

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  4. i love HEA because it gives me hope

    thank you a lot for this giveaway

    isabelle(dot)frisch(at)gmail(dot)com

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  5. I love HEA in romance because reality usually does not have it! Reality is more a Happy for Now and it is nice to be able to escape to a world where love wins in the end!

    susanmplatt AT hotmail DOT com

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  6. Fulfillment, hope, happiness, NOT reality...all very true! Thanks for stopping by everyone and you're all entered into the giveaway!

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  7. I'm fine with any ending -- happy endings are a reminder that everything will turn out well in the end. Sad/complicated endings push us to appreciate what we have and discover our personal blessings.

    Thank you for the great giveaway!

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  8. Tin you make a good point, and honestly as long as the ending works for the characters and the story I agree. Except in a romance. I do expect a certain level of happiness there. :)

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  9. We love HEA because they make us happy to see our love of our hero and heroine happy together~ maybe also filling in on our voids in life. Or making a good book even better by making us happy with a HEA ending.

    kp_kazamei(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  10. We love happy endings because life isn't always happy. This is a great way to escape and feel good through all the troubles and struggles. There is hope in the end.
    Mel
    bournmelissa at hotmail dot com

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  11. I love Happy Endings because real life isn't always that way and I like to finish either a book or movie with a smile on my face.

    GFC-BLHmistress

    vampiremistress2010(at)gmail(dot)com

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  12. I think we love happy endings because it gives us hope that we can lie happily ever after.

    I also followed you via GFC.

    Brynna

    fortheloveofnarwhals at g mail dot com

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  13. it makes people feel good

    bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  14. My children growing up to be honest, hard working responsible adults is my happy ending.

    Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com

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  15. I think we like HEAs because we like that sense of satisfaction in the end. For something that's non-romance, i don't think a HEA is necessary, but romances definitely need one.
    laceyblossom1(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  16. I love HEA, specially in my books, cause it makes me feel good when I finish it. Like everything bad that might have happened was worth it :D
    Followed you on GFC (Luisa Freiheit) and twitter (@maiorquetres).
    penny.is.foda(at)gmail(dot)com

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  17. I love happy endings because they leave me happy after investing time in a book. Also they give me hope that those things can hopefully happen in real life too.

    xo_veronica16[at]hotmail[dot]com

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  18. Life isn't fair much of the time, so it's nice to have a place where things work out properly!

    vitajex(at)aol(Dot)com

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  19. I love Happy Endings because real life doesn't always have happy endings.

    s2s2 at comcast dot net

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  20. People like happy endings in books beacause they so very rarely happen in real life.

    Thanks for the amazing giveaway!
    elizabeth @ bookattict . com

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  21. I think people like HEAs because life isn't always happy. It makes us feel better about our own lives. The Avengers would have been a horrible movie if that whiny little Loki would have won. Plus then we wouldn't be able to drool over Thor winning. lol Thanks for the giveaway.
    kaylyndavis1986@yahoo.com

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  22. I like reading happy endings in books because they make you feel happy and are a great escape.
    Thanks for the chance to win!
    natasha_donohoo_8 at hotmail dot com

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  23. Because HEAs let you know that the journey no matter how hard was worthwhile~ for the lovers *no matter how many ;)* and for us as readers.
    Following on Twitter: @Miyosha_K
    GFC Follower: Misha

    Thank you for the lovely hop!

    MostlyMisha [at] gmail [dot] com

    ReplyDelete
  24. Happy Endings give us hope. They give us something to aspire to & dream of.

    GFC: Mary Preston

    Email Subscriber:
    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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  25. HEA infect me with happy thoughts, with hope, and with faith that I, too, will get my HEA. :)

    I'm a GFC follower.

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  26. I like Happy Endings because otherwise I end up crying all over my book, which is never fun :P

    I follow via GFC- Kirsten!

    aircdrewood(at)gmail(dot)com

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  27. GFC: Katie Amanda

    I think it's because of the feeling after reading a happy ending. Thanks!
    katieamanda1(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  28. I think we love happy endings because there are too much of really bad ones in real life. we need something good around!
    I follow via google+ swordlily g
    swordlily_girl(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  29. I think we don't like being sad and we like to escape to feel like everything is going to be ok. Sometimes this is not true in reality, but we can feel happy for that hour reading a book or watching a movie. It's called disposable emotions. The same can be said for sadness. Sometimes we watch or read sad things and then discard the emotions and are fine the rest of the day.

    mestith@gmail.com

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  30. For me, I like to read books with happy endings because I like to read for a relaxing escape and I like when everything works out in the end.

    uilani25(at)hotmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Also following via
      GFC: uilani25
      Google+: Dione Sage
      Twitter: @DioneSage

      Delete
  31. its all about the fantasy! HEA are full of hope and happiness. it definitely makes you think that there is one for everyone out there. thanks for the giveaway.
    pepperpenn42 at gmail dot com

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  32. following blog via GFC

    I love books with a happy ending where we get to see the characters later in life. I love epilogues!
    Thanks for the contest!!
    forettarose@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  33. Because life does not have happy endings so we read to get them.
    magic5905 at embarqmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  34. I love happy endings because life is not always perfect and sometimes we just want to know that something is actually going to work out for someone, somewhere :)

    I follow the blog on GFC as Tiffany Drew

    jaidahsmommy(at)comcast(dot)net

    ReplyDelete
  35. Since there is usually enough bad stuff in the real world we like happy endings in the fantasy world.
    bones_mcp(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  36. I enjoy stories with happy endings as a reminder that they can happen in real life.
    bituin76 at hotmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  37. I love my HEA reads because I have enough drama in my life and to relax and read a good book I want that happiness and hope. :) Thanks for this opportunity.
    Carol L.
    Lucky4750 (at) aol (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  38. I think we all enjoy HEA's because in real life, it doesn't always turn out as such. If it did, we probably wouldn't enjoy them in our books so much. :)
    GFC follower-Scott Wilcox
    Twitter @spoildbrat31

    Thanks for the great giveaway,
    Marlena
    charmedpoms(at)yahoo(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  39. I think we love happy endings because it gives an escape from the real world. There are so many times in life that things don't turn out happy and it makes us feel hopeful when we can watch situations where there is a happy ending. Thanks for the great giveaway!

    thompsonem3 at aol dot com

    ReplyDelete
  40. Oops, I follow on twitter @ElThompson03

    thompsonem3 at aol dot com

    ReplyDelete
  41. We love happy endings because we can forget our problems and escape into a world of fantasy. Thanks for the giveaway!

    bhometchko(at)hotmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  42. I think we like happy endings because it reminds us of the good in life. It lets us forget our problems and be happy with the characters.

    + follower via GFC (Farrah)

    Thanks for the giveaway!
    farrahsayyedATgmailDOTcom

    ReplyDelete
  43. I think we like our happy endings because it gives us a sense of fulfillment and in some cases, closure.
    GFC follower Sarah perry
    twitter follower @slpemdb

    oddball2003 at hotmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  44. We like them because they are uplifting and give us hope.

    ReplyDelete
  45. i think it's because at the end of the day, we hope to see characters end well since real life is hard

    xoxsilent_dream(at)hotmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  46. I think that they make us feel so much better and give us hope that our own lives will lead to a happy ending

    sweetsindy93 at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  47. They make us feel happy, hopeful. It makes us feel glad for the characters.

    anasmithblue@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  48. I think it's because real life just isn't that way most of the time and happy endings make us happy. It's always a good feeling at the end of a movie or book with a happy ending :)
    GFC: A'lina
    Thanks for the chance!

    ReplyDelete
  49. I think we love happy endings because it's full of joy, love and happiness!
    verusbognar (at) gmail (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Also following the blogs via RSS
      +followed on twitter (twveronika)

      verusbognar (at) gmail (dot) com

      Delete
  50. like hea in books because it rarely ever happens in real life - regnod(at)yahoo(d0t)com

    ReplyDelete
  51. I think we like HEA's, because like in books is generally harder or at least more dramatic than real life and if they can have an HEA and lets us believe we can have one in real life as well!

    ReplyDelete
  52. I think we like happy endings because nowadays, they're rare. So many relationships end up in divorce, heck, there are all these HEAs in movies and yet in Hollywood, there are very few. Plus, everyone is different and, as Kelly Clarkson said, everyone has a dark side. So it's nice to think that no matter how damaged or dark or different you are that you can have a happy ending. I know that's one of the big reasons why I read romances.

    GFC: Emily
    Twitter: chickie434

    tiger-chick-1(at)hotmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  53. I love them because they leave me happy and satisfied. Thank you for the chance!

    spamscape [at] gmail [dot] com

    ReplyDelete
  54. Its a way to escape from our own lives for a bit and they make you feel better. :) Thanks!
    -Amber
    goodblinknpark(AT)yahoo(DOT)com

    ReplyDelete
  55. I love HEAs, because they give me a sense of optimism.
    GFC Marlene Breakfield
    twitter @mbreakfield
    marlenebreakfield(at)yahoo(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  56. I think most people like HEA as it gives you comfort that not all things in life can be bad and it is nice to have the dreams that HEA are out there and achievable

    I followed GFC and on twitter

    kat.harris35@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  57. Real life is crazy and hectic and we can deal with so many dissapointmens that it's nice to find that happy ever after in books and movies. It's heartwarming and makes us hope for one of our own :)

    GFC Jolene and Family

    june111(at)att(dot)net

    ReplyDelete