I’ve already admitted my weakness for romantic comedies as palate cleansers and as light, fun reads in between heavier ones (whether those heavier reads are dark thrillers or nonfiction that covers serious and disturbing matters), and I’m not ashamed of it. A good rom com can make a difference in my mood and outlook, and I really enjoy reaching the happily ever after.
However, I just read a book that I thought would be a rom com that turned out to be less than advertised. I’m not naming the book here, but it was one that had a cute cover, a clever name, an amusing premise, and seemed, to someone reading the back cover and the front cover, to be something fun and romantic. And yet, when I finished it, I didn’t feel the lift, the pleasure of reading a good rom com. On the surface, it had all the right elements: a protagonist who needed to find a different roadmap for her life, an interesting romantic possible lead, a quirky family for the protagonist, a bunch of supporting characters who had their quirks and foibles, and a proposal and wedding in the end which helped solve all the problems in the main characters’ lives. It should have worked, but it didn’t, and thinking about why I felt so disappointed helped me see what I really want in general in a romantic comedy.
I want romance. I want the two main characters to care about each other in a believable way. I want to see that at least in a latent form from the very beginning when the characters first meet, and I want to see it build over the course of the book. Two people who don’t seem to care that much about each other one way or another for half the book are not going to convince me that they’re likely to fall in love with each other in the second half of the book.
I want passion. Emotion. Yes, you can have a romantic lead who suppresses their emotions for various reasons, but I want to see a character who HAS emotions, even if they don’t wear them on their sleeves. I want hints that this subdued character feels things deeply, and a good writer will give even the most repressed character moments of emotion that suggest to the reader that this person has the potential to feel, and show at last, real passion.
I want frustration and yearning. This is the most basic part of it, to me: the happily ever after, the marriage proposal, whatever the climax of the book is, has to be earned. That means that someone has to really want it and not believe that they’re going to get it. I want to see someone who’s suffering in love, even if that suffering is easy to end. Though it shouldn’t be too easy; the parties should have to do more than just talk to each other to solve the underlying problems, and plots that require a character to act like an idiot for the plot to work are as annoying in the rom com area as they are in other genres.
And, though this should go without saying, I want humor. I want there to be funny stuff in the book, whether that’s witty dialogue or plot twists that put characters in ridiculous situations or just the attitude of the main character. I want laughs. The best rom coms, for me, are the ones which I read in public and disturb my neighbors because I’m laughing so loudly or so much.
The book I just finished failed all these tests, even though it was billed as a romantic comedy. I’m still on the lookout for just the right one, and the good news is that here at The Field Library, we have plenty to choose from. I know I’ll get lucky again sooner or later.