Love them or hate them, love triangles are a common trope found in a broad range of literature. Books such as Wuthering Heights (Gothic fiction), The Hunger Games (YA dystopian fiction), and my epic fantasy series, The Comstock Chronicles, feature love triangles. Their sole purpose is to drive the emotional plot forward.

In case you haven’t heard the term before, a “love triangle” generally refers to one man or one woman having two romantic options.

In this trope, we have our main character who meets option A, and they spend time together, building a budding relationship. Then through various means we meet option B. The rest of the book (or series) follows the MC as they traverse emotional peril in deciding who they love more.

In most books I’ve read, the MC will pick the first love, have a falling out, go to the second love, then (but not always) bounce back to the first love.

However, in some books, the MC never chooses just one partner. In which case, we would term this as a “haram romance.”

(One person on Threads pointed out to me that these are not true love triangles. When I asked why, they stated, “Because if they were, all parties would be interested in everyone else involved.” While I can agree with their definition, I will probably never write a book with that tangled of a romance.)

In my series, I used a love triangle in my subplot to showcase the strengths and limitations of different relationship dynamics. The older romantic option helps my FMC discover and develop her magical abilities. He pushes her to go beyond her comfort zone and recognize she is stronger than she believed. Unfortunately, this also pushes her into greater danger. Every time one of her magical abilities awakens, the more she is hunted for that magic.

Option two shows my FMC what honest loyalty and unshakable support look like. They have the most similar experiences and develop a strong bond of trust through shared experiences. They are more equal partners and learn how to use their magic together.

Both relationships have their good and bad, and I think it’s important to show that there are more than the mainstream view on relationships. True love takes more than money, magic, or power. It takes simple acts of kindness, compromise, forgiveness, and a constant desire to be better tomorrow than we are today.

To see these relationships in action, I wanted to share two excerpts from my manuscripts of my FMC’s first kiss with both options. You can decide which one you would prefer.

First Kiss #1

The first comes from my third novel, The Queen of the Night.

“What’s causing the smile?” Tellen asked, moving closer to her.

Reina hadn’t realized she’d been grinning. “I suppose it’s several things. The first is that for the moment, I’m free from Darius.”

He tucked a piece of Reina’s wet hair behind her ear, causing her pulse to quicken.

“What else?” Tellen asked, his voice pitched low.

“That I’m here with you,” Reina said.

Tellen moved closer and cupped her face. Her breath hitched. “I’m glad,” he said.

Move, you stupid girl, Reina chastised herself. No matter how hard she urged them, her muscles refused to move. Don’t give in, not yet.

She wanted to fall into Tellen’s touch and never leave it. He was her safe haven from all that threatened her peace.

He stroked her cheek, apparently thrilled by the brilliant glow of the sparks that trailed the touch. Leaning in, he pressed his lips to hers. The touch lit up every fiber inside her, entrancing as a piece of sweet music.

His scent of rain-washed meadows and pine wafted around them. The battle within her stilled, and Reina returned the kiss. The sparks intensified, even as the voice in her mind warned her how this would end. At the moment, she didn’t care.

“That was a kiss worth waiting for,” Tellen said, his lips still lingering close to hers.

First Kiss #2

This one comes from my new novel, The Phoenix and the Wolf, coming soon.

“As you were the master thief of this city, what’s the best thing you ever stole?” Nienna asked, leaning one elbow on the railing. Her gray eyes turned burnished gold in the setting sun. A smile curved one side of her mouth.

Ross cocked his head to one side before taking a cautious step toward her. His palms grew sweaty, and his mouth went dry as the desert. The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them.

“I’m not sure I’ve stolen it yet.”

A deep blush crept up her cheeks. She was so beautiful it hurt. 

Ross took another step. Nienna didn’t back away, or put up her hands to stop him like she had so many times before. Heat and hope bloomed in his chest.

“What stopped you?” Nienna asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Ross reached out a hesitant hand to brush a stray lock of hair behind her ear, letting his hand linger at her jaw. A roguish grin spread across his face. 

“The security on the place is tighter than a rich man’s hold on his purse. And the guard dog was bigger than a carthorse with teeth the size of knives.”

She took a step toward him, and his heart forgot how to beat. Magic curled off her skin, intoxicating him with a heady rush that promised to be the most exciting thing he’d ever encountered. 

“What if the dog were gone?” she asked.

He let his fingers trail down the side of her neck until they grazed her shoulder. Gooseflesh followed his touch.

“I might give it another try.”

He bent his head, leaning close enough that he could have brushed her cheek with the end of his nose. She stared at him, unsure. Just as Ross was about to pull away, Nienna went up on her toes and their lips met. The world seemed to stand still. Noises of the city and soldiers marching to and fro died away until it was just the two of them on the tip of the world. 

After spending five novels building this love triangle, I have to say that it may be a long time before I do another one. (Mainly because I rewrote the ending six different times, each ending with the other option than the last iteration.) I loved both options and my readers felt the same way. It made it very hard to choose, but I’ve settled on the ending. If you check out my books, I hope you agree.

How do you feel about love triangles? Leave a comment below about whether you enjoy reading or writing about them or not!

Award-winning fantasy author

Vanessa Thurgood

P.S. you can find all my novels available in my bookshop. Available to ship worldwide.