What's the best and worst romantic sub-plot in a book where romance is NOT the main plot? What made it so good or bad?
What's the best and worst romantic sub-plot in a book where romance is NOT the main plot?
Particularly, please try and describe why it was good or bad.
For myself, the worst is probably the relationship between Rhenn (the MC) and Seliori in L.E. Modesitt's first Imager book. It doesn't have super cringey moments and Seliori doesn't breast boobily, but the author just spends SO MANY words on this extremely boring relationship where they go out to eat together most weekends. There's no real conflict or disagreement between them, she's not normally an actor in the events he's caught up in, they don't have many interesting conversations ---generally less interesting than he has with many other characters --- and they rarely seem concerned about the things they should be concerned by about each other. And it goes on and on and on. They get together because she approaches him after seeing in a dream that they'll live happily ever after.
Best... is hard because it's hard to think of anything I like.
The aborted romance between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Siri Tachi in Jude Watson's Jedi Apprentice series??? It starts out as a rivalry where they work together without liking each other and turns into a friendly rivalry in which they work together while still having genuine heartfelt disagreements based on reasonable differences in perception, attitude and philosophy. And then spoilers. But is my favorite romantic subplot from a middle grade franchise spinoff? That's dark.
The Heirs of Alexandria Series generally does a decent job with characters who have various obstacles, often based in their own insecurities, but eventually get together, perhaps with some "star-crossed lovers" problems thrown in. To make it nicer, some of them had multiple romantic interests, or friendships that went on for quite a while before it went romantic, and I didn't see them getting together right from their introduction.
What I see from these examples is that I like it when both people in a romantic subplot are players in the main plot, when they have reasonable conflicts with each other based on reasonable fears and disagreements which they deal with mostly healthily, and when the author does not immediately go "wink wink, this is the OTP" when they're first introduced. And I can like the star-crossed lovers trope.
What appeals to you or puts you off?