Top 5 Reasons Why You Should Try a Romance Novel

January 20, 2010 in Books | View Comments

Romance novel nirvana has been attained in the...

I recently gave a romance novel to a friend who doesn’t really read romance novels. I told her that she didn’t read them because she’d never tried one, and once she did, she’d love them forever. Since she is a good and open-minded friend, she gave it a try.

Today we went on a trip to Barnes & Noble to buy her more romance novels. Victory.

So here are my top 5 reasons why you should try reading a romance novel:

  1. There are lots of different kinds to try. Do you like suspense? Mystery? Historical? Contemporary? Comedy? Adventure? Sci-fi? Fantasy? You can find something in any of those sub-genres within the romance genre. (If you need a recommendation, leave me a comment and I’ll hook you up. Just tell me what you like to read.)
  2. I guarantee you that you will not get a depressing book when you pick up a romance. It’s a promise: “This is a romance novel, and the ending will be happy.”
  3. Romance novelists are awesome, if I do say so myself.
  4. The covers are generally way more embarrassing than what’s inside them.
  5. You might enjoy it! You’ll have a whole new genre available to you for all that reading you wish you could make yourself do– except that romance novels are SO MUCH FUN that it won’t feel like a chore to read anymore.

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  • I agree with everything you said! I've only sampled a couple of genres (historical and urban fantasy/supernatural) but romance is about the most fun category of fiction there is, I think.

    Alana, you'll want to be careful about which books you pick up. You run the risk of getting the "spunky" type of woman I know you don't love. I recommend spending some time at Borders reading the back covers and maybe the first page or two of some different things to see what appeals.
  • It's always a good idea to read back covers and first pages-- I still do that. Although, recently I've tried to branch out a bit and pick up stuff where the back cover doesn't necessarily appeal. Sometimes I find a treasure I might not have picked up otherwise!
  • Alana
    I'll bite. I've liked your stories. I like sci fi and fantasy (when the characters aren't stupid), I think a lot of the YA Lit that I like has a romantic aspect to it ("Howle's Moving Castle," Shannon Hale's stuff, Robin McKinley...), and I actually did read historical romance novels when I was in Jr. high. Can you lead me in a more mature direction?

    Oh! Um... by mature I mean that I'd like adult heroines please. (Anything else is just bonus...)
  • I just read Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh, which is a little sci-fi and a little fantasy, although not as heavy on the world-building as some. Not sure what Kimmy means by "spunky," but the character in this one is emotionally repressed until the very end, so I wouldn't think "spunky" would be a good descriptor. For historical (and, ahem, "mature"), I would recommend either Sabrina Jeffries or Liz Carlyle. They both write Regency period romances with really interesting characters. They're both wickedly funny too, although Liz's books are a little bit darker than Sabrina's, I'd say.
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