The Odd Couple

I think one of the reasons I get so frustrated, annoyed and angry when one half of the Romeo and Juliet couple dies (see Monday's post) is because usually they've had a real struggle to get to the point where they can be together.

One of my favourite tropes is opposites attract. I like seeing how two disparate individuals, resolve their differences (or not) and forge a life together. I appreciate that this can be a harder story to write than - one of them dies, and the one that's left ends up with someone more suitable. But I think it's a story I'd rather read.

So, some of my favourite odd couples.


Adrien English and Jake Riordan

Now I haven't read to the end of the series yet - so my fingers are in my ears as regards spoilers lalalalalalalal - but Adrien and Jake are one of my favourite couples. To say they travel a rocky road would be an understatement. Adrien is a gay bookseller, out to his friends and family, whilst Jake is a cop who is firmly in the closet. It would seem that everything is against them but you can feel the chemistry between them on every page they appear together. And whilst part of you might think that Adrien deserves better, I have to admit that I can't help rooting for the two of them.


Kate Daniels and Curran Lennart

(Embarrassed:- I had to look up Curran's surname, I guess I'm used to thinking of him as Curran, The Beast Lord). This is another relationship that on paper just doesn't seem feasible. Kate Daniels - Mercenary, Agent of the Order, in a relationship with Curran - Lord of the Beasts - in some ways their purposes are diametrically opposed (especially in the early books). If you asked me to give an example of an alpha/alpha relationship, Kate and Curran would be in the top three. Neither of them will back down in an argument and sparks fly whenever they're together. It would probably be easier for them to walk away from each other but somehow they keep coming back together.


Clayton and Elena Danvers

Another alpha couple and one of the other two of my top three (please don't anyone ask who the third is, lol). This is a relationship that really has gone through the ultimate low. When Clayton bit Elena with the thought of turning her into a werewolf and making her his mate, he betrayed everything between them. How do you get over a betrayal that big? But that's the whole story of Bitten and Stolen. Forgiveness isn't easy but it is possible to come out on the other side.


I think sometimes of when Josh Lanyon, Ilona Andrews and Kelley Armstrong were writing these relationships. Would it have been easier to kill off Jake, Curran or Clay? Was there a point when the stories were being written that the characters really did dodge a bullet.* Maybe sometimes the brave path to take is to kill a character off, but personally I think I'd rather read about the struggle.

* it's really bugging me, because I know there is a sci-fi/fantasy series out there where a character was going to be killed off in ep 5 or 6 but it never quite happened. And I can't for the life of me remember which series it was. (Hopefully nothing too embarrassing :) )