RiYA: Elements of YA Love Triangles + Giveaway of After the Kiss by Terra Elan Mcvoy

I’m sorry I wasn’t able to post yesterday! I’ve been busy and I was really supposed to post but I fell asleep! I was just supposed to close my eyes for a few seconds.

Today’s topic is: Elements of YA Love Triangles

I think lots of people will be able to relate with Cheryl’s answer…

Cheryl Herbsman said: It seems like the most common love triangle in YA is girl likes hot guy, girl’s male best friend likes her, the hot guy treats her badly, she ends up with the best friend. But I think the best YA love triangles are when the girl (or guy) in the middle genuinely cares about both of the others in the triangle, and they care about her too. I think this is one of the reasons people get so excited about the triangle in Twilight. If one of the guys didn’t truly care for Bella, or if she didn’t actually love both of them, it would be less intriguing.

Sara Bennett Wealer said: I like it when both options are equally compelling. To me, it has to be more than just Good Guy vs. Dangerous Guy. I want to wonder who the heroine (or hero) should end up with--I like being able to see pros and cons for each!

Kim Culbertson said: It’s so funny you brought up love triangles because we were just talking about them in the high school English class I teach.  The love triangle has been working itself out across literary history – from Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot to Shakespeare to more modern love triangles found in places like Harry Potter and Twilight.  Love triangles are interesting because someone almost always has to lose or die or have his or her heart broken and that kind of instability lends itself to powerful fiction.  The key, I think, to a great love triangle is that you’re rooting for all parties involved, you like or feel for all three corners of that triangle, even while knowing that someone’s going to get hurt.

Shelena Shorts said: I'm not the biggest fan of love triangles, so I'm not an expert. But, I'd say it would have two people and one other person who is torturously torn between them...so frustrating!

Angela Morrison said: The classic love triangle is the guy she likes and shouldn't versus the guy she should like and doesn't, but I prefer the TWILIGHT model. Both guys are fantastic. And it almost destroys the heroine to choose. I think it's every girl's ultimate fantasy to have two amazing guys vying for her. We quickly get fully invested in that scenario. But, remember, in a novel you've got to have drama and life and death stakes. So choosing must be the hardest thing the heroine has ever done. SING ME TO SLEEP is the only love triangle I've written. It begins with the classic triangle, morphs into something closer to the TWILIGHT model, but then life and death stakes take over and Beth makes the only choices she can.  

Jennifer Hubbard said: From a writer's perspective, a triangle sets up whole extra layers of complexity, and the possibility for conflict. As a reader, I find that I'm usually able to predict the outcome of triangles, so I think it's very difficult to build a triangle where the two choices seem equally plausible. There was a great triangle in the Anne of Green Gables series: the character Philippa found herself unable to decide between two men who wanted to marry her. In the end, she met and married someone else altogether, someone who was perfect for her. It turned out that she couldn't commit to either of the first two because each of those relationships had something missing. That was a storyline whose outcome I never predicted!

Giveaway: After the Kiss by Terra Elan Mcvoy

*Giveaway Closed*

This moment changes everything.

Becca has been head-over-heels for Alec from the instant they met. He's a brainy jock with a poet's heart—in other words, perfect for her.

Camille is careful with her words and protective of her heart, especially since Chicago. Then a new boy in her new town catches her off guard with a surprise kiss.

Too bad that new boy is Becca's boyfriend, Alec.

Camille and Becca have never met, but their lives will unravel and intertwine in surprising ways as they deal with what happens after the kiss.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for providing a copy of After the Kiss for giveaway!

Rules:

Be a follower.

Comment with your favorite love triangle!

Leave your email address.

Ends on February 28, 2011! Open to US (sorry – the publisher will be sending it, but if you have a US address or if you know anyone who can receive the prize for you, you can join)

Entries (not required):

+1 spread the word – twitter or sidebar or both (please leave link)

+2 post the RiYA button with a link to this site (please leave link)

+2 blog about it (please leave link)