Happily Ever After by Kara O'Neal

I grew up outside. Playing kickball, Hide-And-Seek, Ghosts in the Graveyard, dodgeball, 4-squre and so many others. I did everything I could to keep the sun on my skin.

But if I had to be inside, then I was reading. I had to go places and do things and reading allowed me to do that when it was raining. Or when my mom was being "mom-ish" and making me stay inside.

Honestly, I read a lot. I loved Rudyard Kipling when I was a child. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, especially. I adored mysteries, or tales that took me to different time periods.

When I was around six or seven, my mom thought I ought to read Little Women. Well....

I did.

And then I died. A thousand deaths.

Poor sweet Beth. And then Jo did the unthinkable and rejected Laurie's proposal.

I couldn't understand that. Laurie was PERFECT. I mean, he let them play with him. He was so loyal. He loved Jo so much, and she broke his heart.

As a grown woman, Jo's choices make sense now, but as a child I had no words. I was torn up. Into a million little pieces.

That's when I learned to be scared of the ending.

The next book to destroy me was Great Expectations. Poor Miss Havisham. Poor Pip and Estella.

And then there was Nancy from Oliver. And not to mention Rhett Butler from Gone With the Wind. 

And last, The Little Mermaid. 

I mean....come on!

Then, one day, the sun came out. I picked up my first romance novel.

It was by Jude Deveraux. I had no idea romance novels even existed. I couldn't believe what I was reading! It was page after page after page of people falling in love. And then guess what?????

They ended up TOGETHER.

It was glorious! Oh, happy day!

By the time I found these books I was in college, and let me tell you, I inhaled them. These books taught me that "happily ever after" is possible. That heroes are real. And that happy endings are always better.

What's the point in putting in all the time to read a story only to be let down? I am not ashamed to say that I'm a girl who needs a happy ending. They are far superior than any other finish, and I'm proud to say that I write romance novels.

And thank God so do many of my friends.

So support the gals and gents who bring happiness and love, because it surely does encourage us to keep bring sunshine to this sometimes bleak world.

Kara O'Neal

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