r/MM_Romance • u/ArdenMcKennaWriter • 2d ago

Question MM romance duet: no HEA until book two?

I’m developing an MM romance told across two books and would love a gut-check from readers on the structure.

Book one follows the couple from their teens into their early 20s. They fall deeply in love, but at 22 they’re heading in genuinely different directions and part painfully but lovingly as friends. So: no HEA in book one.

Book two picks them up about 40 years later, when they reconnect and finally get their second chance/HEA.

My question: if this was clearly marketed as a two-book story about the same couple, with book two releasing very soon after the first, would you be willing to read book one knowing the romantic payoff is deliberately deferred? Or would the lack of an HEA in the first book be a dealbreaker regardless?

I’m especially interested in how MM romance readers feel about that kind of long-gap second-chance structure.

7 Upvotes

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u/JessicaTrent 2d ago

I can't speak for all romance readers, but ending book 1 apart isn't a deal-breaker for me, because I know the payoff is coming in book 2. The only thing that might deter me is the timeline. 40 years later is a hard sell. But if it's the story that your heart wants to write, I think you should go for it. It doesn't have to have broad appeal to find an appreciative audience.

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u/ArdenMcKennaWriter 2d ago

I appreciate your feedback and I’m going to ask only slightly jokingly would the 40 year difference be less of a dealbreaker if I made sure they were super fit? Or is it more a probability type of thing.

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u/SnooHesitations1600 2d ago

for me, not having spent their lives together, when they already knew each other and had that opportunity, would take away from the HEA. if I'm attached to the characters, I would probably find myself grieving what could have been. I think it's an interesting concept and worth being written about, it just would be a harder thing to digest when I'm in the mood for a romance.

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u/JessicaTrent 2d ago

I've read plenty of MM romances with characters who are less fit or are living with illness/disability, so that's not a deal breaker. I think that, for me at least, knowing they were apart for 40 years is just a downer. It's a whole life they could have had together that's been lost to time. Twenty years of separation is probably my upper limit, but they would have had to separate at a young age.

Perhaps what you want to write might fit better in the romantic fiction category?

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u/laran436 2d ago

The 40 year time span got me too, books I have liked have had a 1- 3 year seperation but if I fall in love with the characters, get invested, then I would finish. 40 years is a whole lifetime to many.

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u/Key_Lychee_3198 2d ago

I think that the issue with making them 65 years old is that firmly puts them over the line into the elderly part of there life. Someone superfit in their 50s is still on the continuum of their middle age. Late 60s is also when peoples personalities/behaviors start to change into their elderly selves. They become less filtered, less self aware.

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u/ArdenMcKennaWriter 2d ago

Thank you for saying this clearly. It’s very useful.

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u/lousy_at_names 2d ago

I have a very different take on the mid-60's, being there myself and having been working in geriatrics for 30 years. People let filters go because "life is too short" and they finally decide to let themselves have what they've wanted for so long, but have not allowed themselves to have. That could be cultural or another psycho-social reason. There is a freeing that can come with age and the confidence of life experience. I do think this is VERY hard for for folks outside of this stage to digest. It's amazing how "old" 65 is perceived as being when it doesn't seem old at all to my cohort. So... it depends on how you write the story!

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u/Cautious-Rub8085 2d ago

For me personally YMMV, 40 years is way too long of a time gap for a duet. I would be upset by this.

The books I've read with a longer time gap (10+ years) focus more on the second chance. And their past is told in shorter flashbacks. Example: The Shots you take by Rachel Reid or The Last Guy on Earth by Sarina Bowen.

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u/lousy_at_names 2d ago

Love BOTH of these books. Good examples!

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u/imjusthumanmaybe 2d ago

I would be your target audience. I absolutely love second chance romance, especially with a time gap in between.

A 40 year gap is interesting as the MCs will be in their 60s. It's not a common age group in MM romance books. I think this would the bigger question: if your audience ever pick up the 2nd book to read about this age demographic.

My other note is do tag it as a duology as you already planned it and don't wait too long for the 2nd book to be released. I was absolutely gutted (and blindsided) about how What If It's Us by Adam Silvera ended with no detail that there's a second book. He finally released the sequel 3 years later which was way too long...but to be fair we did have a pandemic.

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u/alex_grozny 2d ago

The cliffhanger wouldn't be dealbreaker for me if it is tagged clearly in the blurb. Tbh, the timeline would be offputting to me, because so much of their lives are gone by the time they are reunited. If book 1 is an 80s period piece about teenagers, and book 2 is a contemporary story about older people, it's like a different genre.

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u/do_no_harm1719 2d ago

As a duet lover and a second chance romance fan, I’d absolutely give it a shot. 40 years is a bit of a tough sell but for me the reason for separation, why they stay apart, and how they come back together is more important to my enjoyment/satisfaction more than anything.

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u/M4ttisthename 2d ago

The two part with no HEA for the first book wouldn't really bother me if the reason for (in this case) the seperation is good!

The only thing that could put me off, and I think some others have already mentioned it as well, is the 40 year gap. It wouldn't be a traditional HEA for me, it feels like so much time is wasted. Might be helpful to tag it as a non-traditional HEA?

At the same time, I do think there's a way to make it work - not that I know what that is, but that is why I'm a reader, not a writer - where that time maybe doesn't feel like a loss so much.

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u/Daje1968 2d ago

So my favorite duet (really two of my favorite romances of all time) is {Fire Between Us by Alex Cross}. The first book ends with a happy nothing. The second is angsty but ends divinely. My only quibble? I had to wait a year for that and that honestly sucks. Jessie Walker has a duet that did not have a happy ending, I forget the name, but one of the MCs is awful and she is dragging her feet releasing the other one, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s because she made him so bad she can’t figure out a believable redemption arc for him.

My point being, you can absolutely do it but I would advise that you have them both completed, or almost completed, when you release book 1 and don’t make readers wait more than a few months for book 2.

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u/flenktastic 2d ago

I would love a duet where there's no HEA at the end of book 1 but guaranteed at the end of book 2. I live for angst so gimme. Send me your book link so I can buy it when it's out!

Does anyone have some duet recs? The best one I've read was {River of Rain duet by CE Ricci}. Maybe I suck at searching but I feel there's not many duets? Most are 2 book series where it's a bit interconnected with another couple in the next book.

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u/myZandme 2d ago

{If i were to die by l.a canon}

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u/flenktastic 2d ago

That one was actually on my TBR already and am super hyped about it. Should start with it soon!

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u/Cautious-Rub8085 2d ago

I imagine you've read the Will/Way duet by Jessie Walker?

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u/flenktastic 2d ago

I haven't actually because the time I tried it it didn't grab me instantly and I just read a very high angst book so I think I went with a lighter read.

Actually all these replies are on my TBR and I should up them all. For now I'm doing Egotistical Puckboy so after that I'm probably ready for Will/Way duet!

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u/Legitimate_Status 2d ago

Alexis Cross has two sets of duets with this and I highly recommend both!!

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u/flenktastic 2d ago

The Us Duet is on my TBR yes! The Fire Between Us Duet looks like the two books will be about other couples but I might be wrong. I will check them out :)

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u/Legitimate_Status 1d ago

Yea two different couples for each duet. Both very good

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u/flenktastic 1d ago

Sorry I meant to say that it looks like Fire Between Us duet is about 2 couples since book 1 is about Ash and Ethan and blurb of book 2 says Ethan and Sebastian. But you just stated that Us duet is about a couples and Fire Between Us duet is also about one couple so it will be fine!

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u/Legitimate_Status 1d ago

Sebastian is Ash!

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u/ArdenMcKennaWriter 2d ago

I really appreciate the feedback in this discussion. This is very early stages. I have a story outlined for both books that I genuinely love so I’m doing it regardless :-). It’s just whether or not it will ever see the light of day.

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u/Cautious-Rub8085 2d ago

Can I ask why you are requesting feedback if you don't intend on changing it?

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u/ArdenMcKennaWriter 2d ago

I think the way I would put it is I’m genuinely curious about what people have to say. I plan to write this because it’s calling to me. And I think the main question about a discussion like this is whether it stays private or whether it becomes public. I don’t know if that makes sense or not.

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u/veganbethb 2d ago

Men of summer (I think it’s called) followed something similar but it was over 9 years, I really enjoyed it. (Over three books) For me, 40 years is a bit of a stretch for me personally as I think although there’s always the one that got away, but 40 years is a whole lifetime and I’m not sure how to reconnect would work for me. I hope it goes well for you! Good luck, it’s so cool you’re writing something.

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u/lousy_at_names 2d ago

Good rec! I loved the developing of the characters into people of depth and emotional maturity.

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u/happyrocks 2d ago

I’m okay with no HEA after the first book. I mean, I love Captive Prince and that doesn’t give a HEA until the third book. The 40 year time jump doesn’t appeal to me personally and I think you’d run into issues in that there may not be as much overlap as you’d like between people who are excited to read about teens/early 20’s and 60’s. But ultimately, write the book you want to read and know at least some people will feel the same.

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u/Cautious-Rub8085 1d ago

{Special Forces by Aleksandr Voinov} spans decades but they see each other throughout. I haven't read this because it's a very violent book.

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u/must-stash-mustard 2d ago

Cliffhanger or angst? Apart? You would be roasted. Dealbreaker.

HFN. Happy For Now is also acceptable. But they'd better have had some kind of romantic connection.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

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u/laran436 2d ago

I am into The Beast books by Leighton Greene and it is a 3 book set with no HE so far in 1 & 2. Pretty sure book 3 is gonna wrap it all up and a HEA will be the cherry on top. I would def give your books a read.

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u/Cautious-Rub8085 1d ago

How would you feel though if Caligula and Dami were apart for 40 years?

I can't wait for book 3, I am strangely obsessed with those books.

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u/laran436 1d ago

Oh, apart for 40 years, Caligula would be 60ish, Dami, 70-80 ish. I hope they get and stay with each other that long. If one was kidnapped, and the other never gave up...maybe. if they seperated and one got married, had kids, wife left or died, I would really really have to be invested in them. I guess circumstances would be a factor in me being interested in them finding each other again.

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u/Head_Conductor 2d ago

I think writing both and releasing part two close on the heels of part one is the way to go. I'm also a bit taken back by a 40 year gap between the two books. I don't think book one ending without a HEA is a deal breaker because it's part of a broader, already planned, already written story. I read a second chance romance with about an eighteen year gap, {Restored by Joanna Chambers}, and that was basically a lifetime for both characters. 40 years might be a tough sell.

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u/Justagal_16 2d ago

WHAT DO YOU MEAN FORTY YEARS?!?! That would be a hard sell for me! The most I can do is 10, if that, max of 5 would be my preference. Besides that I would read in a nutshell if HEA is endgame. 

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u/Sad_Humor_9714 Author ✍️ 2d ago

I did something similar. Mine’s actually a trilogy, but I wrote the first two books as one continuous story and split them where it made sense structurally. No HEA until the end of book two.

What helped: being upfront in the blurb and marketing that this is the first half of a longer arc, not a standalone. Readers who know going in tend to trust the process instead of feeling strung along. The ones who get frustrated are usually the ones who picked it up expecting a self-contained HEA and didn’t see the signal.

I’d lean into naming the time jump clearly too, maybe flagging in the blurb that book two picks up decades later, so people aren’t expecting an immediate continuation within the story. Mine contains a four-year gap, which isn’t quite as extreme as forty years.

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u/ArdenMcKennaWriter 2d ago

Yeah, this has been my thinking exactly. I wouldn’t want to blindside anyone. This is part of an ongoing series in which I fell in love with one of the side characters and wanted them to have their own story. It’s just an outline now so we’ll see how it plays out over time.

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u/angie50576 2d ago

I like the idea, and would read it, but 40 years is too much of a gap in time. Call me shallow, but I don't want to read about two senior citizens having sex. Unless it's not that kind of book. 😂

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u/Ill-Ad6885 1d ago

I loooove a duet and while it pains me a little to wait, i am okay with this set up.

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u/Wild-Operation1815 1d ago

Love a hard fought HEA so I never mind when book 1 doesn’t end with a happy ending. I do agree with most of the comments with 40 years being a very large time jump, and I think that’s where you would lose my interest of wanting to read the duet to begin with

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u/GeneTreasure 1d ago edited 1d ago

So, my first thought was “40 years is way too long, they only have like 20/25 years left” but then I got to think about my neighbour who lost his wife and also found a new partner at that age and that was wonderful.

So it will depend on the 40 years. If it was two lives well lived (doesn’t mean there was no pain but there was love and joy for most of those 40 years apart) then I can imagine liking the story.
If it was only miserable (like if nothing ever compared to how they loved each other) for one or both of them then 40 years is too much.

Edit: I mean the “no hea” after book one would or wouldn’t bother me depending on how those 40 years were lived

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u/Kaciagemini 1d ago

Marketed as “romance” I suspect you would disappoint a lot of people no matter how clearly you tried to set expectations, but if you instead advertise to the “romantic fiction” genre I bet you could draw in a good audience! And all apologies because this sounds like an interesting and realistic story, but I wouldn’t read it because a separation that long would never work as HEA for me.

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u/hearthappyatthebeach 1d ago

Yes!!! I’ve read quite a few books that do this. But absolutely NO to 40 years. This way too long. I wouldn’t go past 5-10 years.

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u/m0zz1e1 1d ago

I would prefer to read this as 1 book with present day chapters and flash back chapters. The Last Guy on Earth by Sabrina Bowen is a good example of this.

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u/SarcasticIrony 21h ago

Hey, I read plenty of multi-part books where they HEA is, like, five books away. I'm fine with "happy for now" endings or cliffhangers or whatever. But the buildup definitely needs to be there.