I love love stories. I’m a big fan of secret crushes fulfilled, princesses who find their prince charming, best friends who become lovers, and on and on and on. I’m forgiving of insta-love and the damsel-in-distress archetype. If it’s cheesy, sappy, silly, count me in!
With all that said, I’m still pretty picky about what I truly enjoy, and only certain stories will stick with me. I’ve determined that there are two main elements that make these love stories stand out: the writing and the plot. The two seem like they should go hand in hand, but I’ve read very well-written stories with boring plots, and stories that have such potential, but were poorly written.
Creating and capturing love between two characters can be difficult. You want it to be realistic, to mirror life and tap into the emotions of your reader. The more you can get someone to feel what your character is feeling, the more that reader will feel connected and invested in that character. I like to think of Elsa from Frozen—not as an example of love but as an example of connecting character to audience. I don’t know what it’s like to have awesome powers, but I do know what it’s like to feel the burden of trying to please everyone and meet expectations. For me, “Let it Go” was this message that had been trapped inside me for years, and the writers behind the song, Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, knew that it would resonate with people and connect the audience to Elsa.
Uniting the Heavens isn’t a love story. However, there are a handful of important relationships. There’s the somewhat cold relationship between Lord Vir and his wife Geyle. There’s the young love between Dane and Rieka (explored more in book 2). Even the gods experience love. Aalae and Rafi seem to have a good thing going, while Alaric and Taia don’t seem like they’re together for love, and the way Alaric pines after Kaila makes you wonder why Taia puts up with him at all.
Then there’s Aren. Love is a difficult thing for him. The poor guy, as handsome and charming as he is, has never had luck in that arena. He’s relatively shy, not confident, and more comfortable around his family and his books. People generally avoid him because he’s considered “bad luck,” but he’s also somewhat intimidating—though he doesn’t realize it. Aren actually believes that no one could possibly love him and that he may be destined to be alone forever.
I think what happened between Aren and Kaila couldn’t have happened any other way.
In any case, here are some “love” quotes from Uniting the Heavens. I hope you enjoy, and if you have any thoughts on love and love stories, please comment below! I’d love to hear what you think!
