The Love Interest

I am so sorry. I swear I meant to have this up last night but some other things came up so I am posting this, this morning with the hopes that you will all forgive me. I need to start planning better.

Is anyone else starting to get tired of the way protagonists in YA books seem to fall in love with their soul mate instantaneously? I mean I always thought love took time and effort and depth, but I could be wrong. I mean you can be attracted to some one right away but love is a different thing entirely. Hopefully I'll be able to capture it correctly in my own story but when I begin my focus group I will be able to get feedback on what can and should be changed. I'm not going to say how my protagonist meets her soul mate because that would ruin the story for you guys and I would never intentionally do that.

The love interest is one of the most important characters in the book. Not only do they have to be a fully developed character but they have to seem vivid and real. They don't only have to earn their way into the protagonist's heart but the readers hearts as well and that is not an easy thing to do. I will say that I don't plan on including a love triangle. I know its fun for readers to form teams and debate who is more deserving of the protagonist but love triangles usually make me cringe. Someone always ends up broken hearted and I just can't stand that it's just too painful to read.

I want to say right now that my book's main focus is not a love story, nor do I intend for it to be the next big love story. If that did happen however I would be lying if I didn't think it was awesome. My story is so much more than that. It's a story of family and loyalty. It's also a story of strength and it is also a story of forgiveness. Even though my protagonist's relationship is not the most important part of the plot , it is however important  to my main character. It strengthens her, but it also forces her to look at things differently. It changes who she is maybe for the better or for the worse.

So what characteristics would make you fall in love with the love interest? Is it their solid strength, or the way they treat the protagonist? Are they dark and mysterious or are they the nice guy? Let me know what you think below and I will see you all next week and more on time!