Saturday story building - HEA and HFN: Do we need it in every story?

Last week I talked a little about the romance genre, and I was reminded of one of the tropes that is characteristic of that genre. That is the "happily ever after" or at least "happy for now" ending for the hero/heroine. My question is do we need that in every genre?

My opinion is no we don't. There doesn't have to be a HEA or a HFN in other genres. In horror there generally isn't one to speak of, at least that I've noticed not being an aficionado of that particular genre. But in fantasy and sci fi, the two genres I primarily write in, what are the requirements for endings?

Two of my stories I have endings that can go either way. I can make them a HFN ending or I can totally screw with the reader and kill off my darlings. I'm leaning towards killing off my darlings, because that's not something I've seen a lot of. But my problem is how is that going to affect the reader? Are they going to read the rest of my books? Would that be a betrayal to my readers/fans if I killed off the main characters they've grown attached to in the books?

That's the biggest question as an author that I have to ask: do I need it? Do I need a HEA/HFN to keep my readers? Or can I get away with doing what I'm thinking and making it a tragically heroic ending for the characters in question? Well, one of them at least. I know in one of my sci fi series the ending I have planned for one of my main characters is rather ambiguous at best but still a valid ending because it leaves some hope.

All this rambling still leads to this one question: in fantasy and sci fi, do we need a HEA/HFN ending for the main characters?

Saturday Story Building - Genres and sub-genres/Romance

Now, I'm not a huge romance reader. I've read some Regencies, a few paranormal romances, and lately a friend's BDSM erotica series. I've never really been into the bodice rippers from Harlequin, though I've read a few of those as well. Most of the romances I've read, as I said in the beginning, are Regency era romances. They have a plot, interesting characters, and aren't all about the sex. In fact, in most Regencies that I've read sex doesn't even come into it.

But a lot of people read romances. The dashing hero and the fair heroine must overcome some kind of obstacle to their love. Sometimes there's sex. Sometimes there's not. Sometimes the heroine doesn't end up with the man she originally wanted, though she's no less in love with the second man she gets. In arranged marriage stories, she usually falls in love eventually with her husband. There are so many tropes that show up in romance stories, but that's half the fun of reading them.

There are a lot of fantasy and science fiction books out there with an element of romance in them. I've read a lot of those. A romantic interest in stories adds depth to the character and can lead to some interesting problems as you go through the story.

One of the consistent things about romance novels is the HEA - Happily Ever After. You have to resolve the issues and bring your hero and heroine together in the end so they can ride off into the sunset or whatever you have them doing. But you have to have the HEA or it's not a romance novel.

What are your favorite romance novels? Who are your favorite authors?