I finally watched the 2011 romantic comedy Something Borrowed this week. This movie is based on an Emily Giffin book with the same title.
I resisted watching this movie and reading this book based on the premise – A woman falls in love with her best friend’s fiancé. Yes, ouch. There are only two outcomes I can predict with that premise – either the woman ends up broken hearted or a close friendship ends. I like happy endings and neither of those outcomes are happy.
I won’t talk about that in this post. What I wanted to talk about is the ending. Don’t worry. This will be fairly spoiler-free.
The ending is a Romance Novel sexy brother ending amplified.
In what I call a sexy brother series (other writers have other names for this type of series), every story has a couple (or more) with their own romantic happy ever after BUT another intriguing character or couple (or more) is also introduced in their story.
Seasoned Romance Novel readers such as myself (and I suspect you) know that character or couple (or more) will have their own story told next or soon after. This is often implied rather than outright stated.
Why isn’t it outright stated?
Because a gazillion things could prevent that next story from being published. And if the next story isn’t ever published, making a too obvious link between the two stories will hurt our enjoyment of the first story. I can’t recommend to buddies a book 1 that needs a book 2 if the book 2 will never be published.
The odds of a next movie being produced are even lower than the odds of a next book being published. Yet Something Borrowed ends with a very strong link to the next movie, a movie that 9 years later hasn’t happened and likely will never happen.
The link might have been forgivable if it hadn’t been for the message they placed at the end of the movie – To Be Continued…
These three words took away my ability to think of Something Borrowed as a completed story or film. There was no doubt left in my mind. I had watched only a portion of the story.
It was frustrating and completely unnecessary and is a great lesson for writers everywhere. Unless we are certain there will be a next story, we should think carefully before strongly linking stories.
Note: I now self-publish all my stories which means, barring any huge disasters, I’m in complete control over my next stories. I can talk about Power’s story because, if there is any life left in my 40-something currently-relatively-healthy form at all a year from now, Power’s story WILL be written and, soon after that, released.
I still prefer that my stories stand on their own as I know not all heroes or heroines or premises appeal to all reading buddies. And hey, things happen.
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Testing Truth
A fun-loving cyborg gets serious about love.
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Truth lives each moment as though it were his last. The cyborg warrior rushes into danger, teases beings he shouldn’t provoke, accepts every call of adventure he encounters.
When a prissy little human princess floats into the Rebel structure Truth is occupying, seeking a mercenary to assist her and her unusual entourage, he volunteers to be her warrior. She claims their assignment is dangerous, warns him he might not survive the task.
That is exactly the type of fun he has been seeking.
Princess Nanette of the planet Royaume must rescue her estranged brother from an enemy prison ship. That is her duty, and she has been trained to always place the needs of her planet and her subjects before her own. Nancy doesn’t have the freedom to indulge her passions for a certain dark-haired, gray-skinned cyborg. Not permanently and not publicly.
But she is unable to resist the warrior. Truth, with his laughing eyes, smiling lips, and rough hands, tempts her as no one else ever has. He could be her one fleeting act of rebellion before she’s matched with the powerful ruler her planet requires.
If they survive their current mission.
Their love is doomed. Their lifespans are at risk. This cyborg and his princess will need the help of every ally they have if they wish to see another sunrise.
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