Guest blogger: Joanne Austen Brown

I love to read the ARRA blogs. Romance writing for me is a must. As is reading. It is great to hear what other authors are up to. I also love to hear ideas and what we think about.

A romance must have the essential happy ending. That is a given. We want to feel good at the end of the story. We want to know good things can happen to our characters. But lately I have been questioning that. I have been reading great love stories where there has not always been the happy ending. Am I wrong to say, despite the sadness I loved the love story?

Perhaps we can discuss this amongst ourselves. I believe that my depth of vision and feelings have been strengthened by reading about these not-so-typical love stories.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to read sad stories all the time, but I do want to read about true love. Perhaps an occasional one can be a good thing. Love that might be fleeting but soon lost. Love that is so real it shakes you to the very bone. Love that is the greatest love you may ever witness.

I was told a story by a friend, of a husband and wife whose love was so great, and so tied to each other, that when the wife died the husband died within a few hours of her, at her bedside. I hear you saying they were old, and it might happen, but it didn’t turn out that way. She was 35 and had suffered greatly for two years with illness. Her husband had given up his job to care for her and their families supported them so he could do that. He was 39. I believe he may have died of a broken heart.

This is not an untrue story. It happened and I saw the pictures of the two of them together. I believe it and I did not see it on social media. It was both real and deeply moving for the families involved. They believed in the love they had, and it has strengthened those who have been left behind.

My next book will deal with a love story that did not last forever, but was deep and meaningful and affected the lives of more than they could have imagined. And it is based on a true story told to me by my mum. The names and places have changed but not the love. Here is my cover reveal.

It will be out on 11 November this year.

You can find Joanne here: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram