This month marked the release of the last book in my So You Want to be a Billionaire series. It’s always bittersweet to end a series. I love spending time with my characters and watching them fall in love.
But also? Usually by the end of the sixth book, I’m ready to move on to a new set of friends.
It’s a lot like going on vacation: you have so much fun and you never want it to end. But then when you get home? Ahhhh.
Since I write romance, I know–and I believe my readers know–that at the end, my characters live happily ever after. Even if the book ends with “just” an engagement. Or, I’ve been known to end a shorter book with “just” a declaration of love. So I don’t always write the wedding or show the characters after they say, “I do.”
I know readers (and writers!) have different opinions about that. And, in fact, it used to be that if you read a romance, it ended with an engagement and then there was always and epilogue with their wedding. (Or if they ended with the wedding, there was an epilogue with the baby, or at least a pregnancy announcement.)
I’m so glad that’s not required anymore.
First up, I don’t love writing weddings. I think if you look at my books, you’ll see I do of weddings in between books. Or, if I do write the wedding, it’s potentially at a courthouse or something small with just family and friends at the church or in a back yard. Even my book with a wedding planner hero was pretty light on actual weddings on the page.
Beyond that? As much as I absolutely believe my characters have a happily ever after–that doesn’t mean it’s all picture perfect all the time. I don’t want to show them always with a baby, because maybe they decide not to have children or maybe they’re not able to conceive. We so often hear romance getting a bad rap because of how it sets “unrealistic expectations” — and I try to avoid that not only in the romance, but in the future life of those characters as well. Just because you find and marry the person God has for you doesn’t mean there will always be perfection going forward.
So why not write that?
Well, sometimes I do, if I can work it into future books where couples from previous stories make an appearance. But I can’t always make that work. Take, for example, my Billionaires. The whole series took place from September of one year to August of the next. So not quite one calendar year for six books. And four of the six are really taking place concurrently from January to June as the contest happens.
And while I worked hard to make sure prior couples were present in each successive book, I know that all the details that came after an engagement or I love you weren’t always on the page. And I guess I could have written six different epilogues or tried to fabricate something that would show every couple married with children except…when would it end? Is a wedding enough or do we need a baby? Is one baby enough or do they need more? What about how their jobs are doing now that they’ve all taken over an arm of Robinson Enterprises?
The questions could go on forever, with each answer opening the door to another set of questions. And so, at some point, I have to step back, consider, and then nod and say, “This is the way the book ends.” (With my apologies to T.S. Eliot.) And I always quietly hope that it’s with a bang, not a whimper, but I accept that not every reader is going to agree with where I drew that line.
But I promise you, for any of my characters, if the book ends with an “I love you”? They go on to get married and live a happy life. If the book ends with an engagement? They go on to get married and live a happy life. If we get their wedding? They go on to live a happy life. Because that’s why I write romance. I want to know, just as much as you want to know it, that the people I spent so much time living and breathing while I wrote their stories go on to the very best version of happily ever after you or I can envision.
I’d love to know your thoughts! What’s your dream ending? How much detail do you just absolutely have to have about life after I love you/engagement/I do before you feel like the ending was satisfying?
(If you haven’t read the So You Want to be a Billionaire series, you can find it here.)
Mary Preston says
Once the couple acknowledge their love I often don’t even need them to become engaged or marry for my satisfactory ending.
Lincoln says
Hi, Elizabeth!
I think my answer is tied to the conflict in the story. What did the MCs have to work through? Was it something that kept the love from forming or interrupted it? Then the “I love you” is enough. Was it a fear of commitment or family opposition? The “Will you marry me?” is good. Was it getting over being left at the altar? Then show me the wedding. If you’ve got a series, the epilogue can foreshadow the next story and might well include a baby for this story. It could also help to tie up plot points for secondary characters.
Not all quiet endings are whimpers. Sometimes they’re just peaceful. ;-)
Milla Holt says
I don’t need to read a wedding scene and sometimes skim over them. Criminal, I know! I just need to know the couple has overcome their hurdles, they’re secure in their love, and their relationship is on a firm footing. Much more interesting to me is a slice of life in the future, perhaps resolving some loose ends. I do like the couples in Christian romance to marry although I don’t have to actually see the marriage ceremony.
Elizabeth Maddrey says
I definitely lean that way! Declaration of love is such a big thing.
Elizabeth Maddrey says
I like this. Especially the last sentence – not all quiet endings are whimpers.
Elizabeth Maddrey says
I definitely agree they need to marry eventually – even if it’s off the page. And I’m glad to find another wedding skimmer.
Toni Shiloh says
If the ending fits their journey, I’m satisfied. But I don’t mind getting a wedding glimpse just because I do love weddings.
Elizabeth Maddrey says
Fair!
Trudy says
I’m happy just knowing that they end up together! I do NOT have to have a wedding in a book, and I actually prefer not having the wedding!! There are some books that really need an epilogue to let me know that yes, they did get married (doesn’t have to have the wedding!) and that they’re expecting their first child, or maybe telling me it’s even a few years down the road and child two is on the way. However, there are lots of books I love that don’t have an epilogue, and just left me knowing they were together, and I’m happy with that!
Elizabeth Maddrey says
I have always enjoyed imagining the future at the end on my own. Kind of like how I picture characters the way I want them regardless of description or cover models 😂
Kimberly Rose Johnson says
I only need to see their declaration of love. I don’t like writing weddings either, and lol I’m not a fan of reading them either so I skim them.
Renate says
Hi Elizabeth! My dream ending depends on how the character love story is portrayed, what conflicts they encounter, what expectations (engagement, wedding, grandchildren). If throughout the story there are expectations then I enjoy an epilogue (not necessary to describe a wedding (venue, dress, menu, etc). As a Hallmark watcher, I do get tired of romances that have to have the mandatory kiss to conclude the movie; so the same in romance novels. Nice to have a variety of endings – something fresh to conclude the story. That is why I enjoyed So YOU want to be a Billionaire series – a fresh concept. Enjoy your day. Best wishes.
Elizabeth Maddrey says
Yes! I skim them too. Especially if there are tons of sermon details or in depth vows.
Elizabeth Maddrey says
Thanks Renate! That’s a good point –keep it fresh and have whatever you include make sense to the journey.
Margaret Nelson says
I don’t need everything tied up with a wedding knot IF all the loose ends are tied up or at least you have some idea how they’ll resolve. I recently read a set of 4 stories (by different authors) and 3 of the 4 were enough resolved that I was satisfied. The fourth one, however, left so many loose plot threads (with no sequel implied, so no possibility of resolution in a sequel) that I didn’t really care that they’d said they loved each other because there was too much left hanging to make sure they’d actually end up married!
Natalya Lakhno says
As long as I’m very clear that they are in love and have a future together.
Trixi says
Ideally, an engagement & then an epilogue of the wedding day. However, since that’s more often then not the case, I’m satisfied with a solid declaration of love & a promise for the future at the end. Then maybe a follow-up story for the next book where we get a glimpse of that couple happily living life together.
I’m a hopeless romantic, so I need the assurance that the couple will eventually end up married and living life happily-ever-after.
Shannon Taylor Vannatter says
As long as the author has convinced me the characters will live happily ever after, it doesn’t really matter to me how the book ends. If the characters are obviously in for keeps, I don’t need an engagement, wedding, or baby announcement. Though I do often end mine with an engagement or wedding epilogue, it’s because my word count is short for the line I usually write for. It’s hard to show the H&H are in for keeps when they’ve only know each other a month or so. Cue the epilogue.
Elizabeth Maddrey says
Yes! The loose ends definitely need to be tied up.
Elizabeth Maddrey says
Oh for sure!
Elizabeth Maddrey says
Oh, definitely, I want to end up being sure that they’re ending up together and living happily ever after.
Elizabeth Maddrey says
Word count requirements definitely add to the author struggles!
Alicia Haney says
A good ending with the couple each declaring their love for each other..
Elizabeth Maddrey says
Perfect!
Trudy says
Yes!!! That’s why I don’t really like people on the covers! I like to imagine them my way!!!
Ausjenny says
For me it depends on the book and story. Sometimes a wedding feels forced like the author feels it has to happen even in an epilogue it has the rushed feeling or it totally skims the wedding. It would be better to cut to just after the wedding.
When they haven’t been together for very long like many novella’s sometimes the I love you declaration works or an engagement.
Even ending with a promise ring which then leads to eventual engagement and wedding.
Some books lend to the epilogue which talks about a new baby (I remember one had an epilogue 5 years down the track which mentioned a couple of children but in context to the book it was appropriate).
Especially in a series I don’t think epilogues are needed. maybe after the last book to tie it all up but not for each book in the series.
Elizabeth Maddrey says
I do like an epilogue that is a lead in to the next book in the series, but some of that is purely from an authorial standpoint.
Linda L Hogue says
Personally I lov each and every one of your books. I have read every single one of them and always look forward to a new series when it comes out. You have definitely become one of my favorite authors.
Margaret Bunce says
I am always well satisfied with how your stories end, Elizabeth! I don’t need the wedding, or baby news, to enjoy the conclusion.
Lelia (Lucy) Reynolds says
I don’t necessarily need the wedding for a good conclusion.
Elizabeth Maddrey says
Thank you! <3
Elizabeth Maddrey says
I appreciate that so much, Margaret!
Elizabeth Maddrey says
That’s so good to know – seems like many agree :)
denise says
I want it to end knowing there’s an HEA.
Amy Perrault says
I love endings that they get engaged or married & even have a child.
Sylvain P says
Always a happy ending for sure. Marriage with a new baby born right before the end is great so there’s a new book to come.
Jessica B. says
I don’t have to see an engagement or wedding for the ending to be satisfying. I’m also glad that not every book has a wedding/baby epilogue because to me, that sometimes comes across a little forced, almost.
Marylin Furumasu says
Elizabeth,
I had so much fun reading all the books in this series!
I loved how you ended it and brought everyone together.
Thanks for writing this wonderful series!
Elizabeth Maddrey says
Interesting. This has such big ramifications on the series timeline that I know it doesn’t always work.
Elizabeth Maddrey says
See I feel like marriage and new babies push the series timeline so far down the road that it’s hard to have the next book start. I love how different we all are.
Elizabeth Maddrey says
Yes! I agree it can feel forced.
Elizabeth Maddrey says
Thank you! <3