What do I love about these books? I love how they embrace the basic human need to connect with another person on a deep, emotional level. And the best part?
No, it isn't the musclebound hero of yumminess. He helps, he's fun, but he and the heroine offer something even better than smoldering glances and stolen kisses. They offer the potential for a happily ever after (HEA).
And what woman from age sixteen to sixty doesn't want that?
I'm here to tell you every good hook has a little hopeless romantic ready to experience it. Varying degrees of romanticism, I'll admit, but it's still there.
Don't believe me? Let me explain.
What is it buried in the hook that keeps your reader turning pages?
My opinion?
No matter how dire a character's situation gets, no matter how much the writer chooses to abuse him/her, the reader wants to hang in there, gunning for the character's ability to triumph over what his/her world has been busy shoveling at them. Why? Because in a good hook, the reader connects with the main character and wants to believe they will earn their HEA. Because they sympathize or form an emotional connection with the main character. They want them to succeed.
In the majority of romance novels, the HEA's are guaranteed, but this isn't the case with every story. Some are prone to mirror the tragedies of real life, but keep in mind that your reader is still hoping that in the end the character will win somehow. Learn something.
You can use that in your hook by:
Forming a connection with your reader
Heaping the characters full of conflict
And above all, give your reader hope that in the end they will find their HEAs. However small that shadow may be, make sure you get it in there.
Oh, and if you could throw in a few musclebound heroes of yumminess that's good too :-)
