How to Write the Black Moment in Romance (Make them Earn the HEA)
The black moment, all is lost, or dark moment of the soul, is when the hero and heroine are stepping out of their comfort zone into the ultimate zone: The Love Zone.
Essentially this is where they will fail at being the new, shiny version of themselves and then regress to who they were at the beginning of the book.
If he was afraid of commitment, he'll be extra afraid now that he's offered the heroine everything and she has refused him. And if she was certain he was a safe bet because he was a commmittment-phobe, she'll freak out when he throws her for a loop and wants commitment.
In romance, the black moment is not random conflict. It is character regression under pressure.
This is the part where the hero’s wound reasserts control. The heroine’s fear resurfaces. The growth they’ve made seems fragile and temporary. And for a brief, painful stretch, it appears to the reader that love, for all its triumphs, will not be enough.
By the way, a strong black moment is directly connected to your character’s deepest desire. If you don’t know what that is yet, you can start here.
The trickiest part of writing a convincing black moment is that it has to be believable within the confines of the hero and heroine's individual journey, but it also has to be resolved fairly quickly.
We have to believe that after making a horrible mistake, they realize it and have the capacity to ask for forgiveness at the end. And we must believe that the other character will forgive them. Happily ever after happens only when we, as romance writers, strike this tender balance.And the black moment only works when the regression feels inevitable and the reconciliation feels earned.
3 Elements of a Strong Dark Moment go the Soul
1. The deepest fear resurfaces.
If your hero fears abandonment, this is where he assumes she’s leaving. Different archetypes react differently under pressure. If your heroine fears unworthiness, this is where she convinces herself she was crazy to trust him in the first place.
2. The character chooses old behavior.
They lash out. They withdraw. They run. They protect themselves the only way they know how. Especially with alpha heroes, who often default to control or emotional shutdown.
3. Growth becomes necessary.
They cannot reach their HEA without consciously choosing differently than they did at the start of the book. Their character arc must take them on a journey to becoming someone they've never been before.
To epilogue or not to epilogue, that is the question...
Do all romance novels need a wedding/baby/christmas scene?
Of course not. But some of them do.
If there is some unfinished business throughout the book, like in Rescuing the Bad Boy where I fast-forwarded seven years to peek in at Sofie and Donovan (still my favorite epilogue EVER).
Or in Man Candy when Becca shares a fun revelation.
But other times, when the ending feels satisfying, like in Rumor Has It, I allow it to stand on its own.
Another consideration: if you are a writing a couple that will appear in your next book in the series, their appearance in the future will serve as an epilogue in and of itself.
Readers love catching up with former couples, so it’s always a good idea to trot them into a scene and show how love story has progressed. This can be the backbone of your follow-up book: your new heroine is attending the couple’s wedding and needs a date, or it can be a brief pop-in with the hero announcing that his now wife is pregnant.
But remember: If your black moment was forced as opposed to born out of actual character growth, your ending will fall flat—and no epilogue can save that. If your characters truly confronted their wounds and chose differently than they did at the start, the HEA will land.
Whether you end with a wedding, a quiet conversation, or a simple “I love you,” what matters most is this: the transformation must feel complete.
That is what makes readers close the book satisfied, and sometimes, put it on their keeper shelf.
xo,
Jessica Lemmon
Ready to write black moments that hurt and HEAs that heal? Join the writers inside The Lemmon Society’s FAM tier and level up your romance craft.