Welcome to Tuesday Book Chat. This is where we encourage book lovers to answer our bookish question of the week.
Today’s question is:
What’s your view on epilogues where the couple get engaged or married?
We look forward to hearing your thoughts. Please join in the conversation by commenting on this post or on the blog post shared in our Australasian Christian Writers Facebook Group.
Let’s chat!
I do like them where they fit in well. It’s often 6 months or a year into the future and it’s good to see them marry or in some cases see where they are now. Especially if it’s a stand alone or the end of the series.
Your turn.
I look forward to reading your comments here or at the FB group. Remember all comments go into the monthly drawer for a gift voucher.
I see I’m the first to comment! Well, as an author who’s included epilogues with engagements and a wedding in all of her books, I’d have to say I really love them! Because I write romantic suspense, and my books tend to be 50/50 on the romance/suspense angle, they usually end with the hero and heroine getting out of danger and saving themselves. Then I have a chapter or two with a wrap up of “where is their relationship now” because, let’s face it, they’ve been running for their lives usually. So, for my stories, an epilogue in the future where the reader gets to see their next step of getting married is like tying off a gift with a nice big bow.
Thanks for commenting and I agree. There are times there isn’t a need for a epilogue if the book ends with the wedding but sometimes that 6 month or one year or more into the future is really nice to see. I read a book recently that I felt really could have used a epilogue to tie up some loose threads.
In historical, I expect them to be married by the end whether in an epilogue or not. For contemporary, it’s kinda nice to have the epilogue with a glimpse into the future since the story is usually more about the couple starting to date then actually being a couple, but the epilogue has to add something. An engagement/wedding that is just tacked onto the end is weird. And I don’t like it if they try and slip the honeymoon in. Engagement, wedding, down the track when they are expecting kids/have kids, but not the honeymoon. Not interested in that.
So agree its got to mean something.
It’s ok, but it’s done so often that I sometimes wonder if there is some other way a book could be wrapped up.
I agree here too. It needs to be for a reason like in the future. If the wedding is the next scene than its not a epilogue. A recent book I read had one about 5 years into the future and tied up all the loose treads in the series and it did make sense.
Hi Jenny, I’m with you, and I like the epilogue to make sense for the story. The epilogue should reinforce my belief in the characters truly living out their happily-ever-after. For series books, I’m also happy to read about their engagement or wedding in a future book in the series. 😊
One recent read I would have loved an epilogue cos I have so many questions but normally its when needed.