by Emma Jackson

Jessica and I recently completed drafts of the second novels in our respective series (yes, that means readers are a little bit closer to the second instalment in the Grotesques series).

We’d spent a some time commiserating over the trickiness of writing stories with a brand new couple, but where the events from Book 1 are still playing out. How much recap within the story is too much? Should it be written for the reader who has walked in at Book 2 and knows nothing because they either didn’t realise there was a Book 1 or just didn’t fancy it (some people are mood readers. Yes, I’m talking about me. Sorry, not sorry).

It got me reflecting on the fact that fantasy romance readers probably occupy a more flexible space when it comes to the expectations of a series.

The fantasy side of the genre is very used to long series, usually with a large cast of characters, travelling around a huge world, and the story unfolding from each of their different points of view. If fantasy readers are lucky, all the time they invest will come to an epic conclusion (cough-cough GRRM) but ultimately they know it’s a long game. And if there is the promise of a romance, a touch of a hand, one stolen kiss, or exchange of love letters might be enough to satisfy them over the space of multiple books as they eagerly await a satisfying climax (again, sorry not sorry).

But romance tends to approach it differently. Readers still love immersing themselves in a world populated by a big family or friend group, and they enjoy revisiting the town, or workplace, or university where those characters make themselves at home – but they want a satisfying HEA/HFN to their love interest’s story. And so we have the interconnected stand-alone. You can pick them up halfway through the series and it shouldn’t matter. You get that couple’s story in entirety, and if you read on in the series, they’ll probably pop up in a cameo, displaying their joyful status and tormenting the new main characters as they writhe in their (often imagined) unrequited agony.

But fantasy romance can juggle either of these scenarios. It can have a building plot line playing out behind several couples individual love stories – like Nalini Singh’s, PsyChangeling series – or it can follow the ups and downs of one couple as they take a one-step forward two-steps back approach, while dealing with an outside threat, like Ilona Andrew’s, Hidden Legacies. I think both are awesome in their own ways.

When it comes to fantasy romance series, what do you prefer? And can we all agree that a recap of previous books at the start of each instalment would really help?