Ten Things I Learned About Finding Love by Reading Romance Books
How to Find “the One”, According to Romantic Fiction
I have a dirty little secret: I love romance books.
It’s not something people usually admit. Despite the fact that romantic fiction outsells every other genre on Amazon, there’s an element of embarrassment around reading these books. Sure, they are not great works of literature, but that’s OK. Neither is science fiction or mystery or spy novels, yet no one makes fun of people who read those books.
And by people, I mean men. As far as I can figure, the reason that romance books are “trashy” and embarrassing is because mostly women read them.
My love of romance started when I was a kid and I spotted a well-worn Harlequin at the library. They were a much-needed escape from the realities of real life. I read romance voraciously throughout my youth but then moved away from the books when I went to college until I rediscovered the genre a few years ago.
Then about two years ago I started writing my own romantic fiction and began studying the craft more closely. Romance, like my genres, is a bit formulaic. There are specific “tropes” that are generally used in books, and many of them are a bit ridiculous. But that is what makes them fun.
