Heroines.

As one may have deduced from my writings (whether or not you've been able to make it to my website to read them all), teen romance plays a very solid part in most of my stories.
However, it most assuredly takes second place to the main plots of my books, which mostly revolve around the heroine herself.

Yes, the romance she has with the obvious male protagonist makes her a stronger person, or brings out qualities/abilities she may have not discovered on her own. The romance/relationship lays down the foundation for the much more involved plot.

Take Twilight for example. (Please don't flame me on this one guys, I love Twilight just as much as the next girl, I think Stephenie Meyer is brilliant, in her own way.)

The plot is simple; Romeo and Juliet recreated. But the plot revolves strictly around Edward and Bella's relationship. In the first book, James comes after her because Edward protects her, and Edward is forced to save her from the psychotic vampire. In New Moon, the basis for the whole book is that Bella cannot live without Edward. Third book, same ideas, different antagonists, etc and so forth.

Now the books are brilliant in their own way; the simple, timeless forbidden love story has drawn millions of readers in, made even more intriguing by the vampiric twist.
But though Bella is the heroine, there is never a very big plot that does NOT involve her relationship with Edward. Renesmee and the Volturi was a nice touch in the last book (I think this was the only one in the series where we saw Bella change in any way, vampire transformation nonwithstanding); Renesmee forced Bella to let go of her previous life, fears, and limitations, without Edward's help (Keep in mind though, that it was Edward crossing the line between friend and foe that made her realize that it was her own limitations that kept her shield from expanding).

Twilight is one of my favorite book series; I really do love the simple, uncomplicated plot that revolves around their relationship. Very typical paranormal teen romance.

But, my plotlines are so different from that. Each heroine has a story, a reason for why she is who she is, and through her relationship with her significant other, she changes. Whether dramatically or subtly, whether she come into an ancestral power or her personality changes, there is always another plot that revolves specifically around the heroine rather than the romance.

Romance, especially for teenage girls, is always going to be an important part of any book--that's what draws so many teenagers to them.

But I also think that a heroine should be reliant upon herself, have her own strengths and weaknesses, and her own STORY that not only complements the love shared between the two characters, but also compliments her own personality. The romance should enrich the story, but not be the foremost part of it.

I like a girl with a little spark of her own, don't you?