I’ve shared a number of posts on social media regarding romance novels, but I’ve never actually shared my own thoughts on romance novels. I consider the genre to be near and dear to my heart, so I think it’s time we change that.
Most romance readers I know (and even most romance readers I have seen write about romance) can recall how they became romance readers, and many can even recall the very first romance novel they ever read. I can remember reading one or two old series romance novels when I was in about middle school, but it isn’t what had me head over heels for the genre. Probably because the novels were from the 80s, and I was a twelve year old in 2005 so just couldn’t connect (beyond a basic level of interest).
When I was thirteen, teen vampire novels were in their heyday and I was loving it. Most of them had some sort of romance plot in them, but that isn’t why I read them. I was sold on basically anything I deemed to be cool goth shit (and read a ton of books where I perceived the characters to be the embodiment of cool goth shit). I did admittedly like the kissing scenes though. That very year, as I ran out of vampire reads but still wanted cool goth shit, I picked out a book that had an intriguing title: Oh My Goth by Gena Showalter. It was a fun story involving a “goth” girl and a “popular” girl switching roles of popularity because of a meddling principal using virtual reality technology, complete with a romance plot. I loved it, but again, it wasn’t what made me fall in love with romance.
In my love for Oh My Goth, I went to the local library to find more of Gena Showalter’s books. I was fourteen years old when I checked out her novel Playing With Fire. I didn’t actually realise at that outside of her YA novels, Gena Showalter was actually best known for writing romance novels. Playing With Fire tells the story of a young woman who accidentally develops superpowers as a result of a scientific experiment she never consented to be a part of. When she is being hunted down, she teams up with a man who also has powers, and they ultimately fall in love. I had a lot of internalised misogyny when it came to romance, as well as preconceived notions based on the old series romances I had read, so it had never occurred to me that romance novels could be like that.
Paranormal romance is ultimately what made me fall in love with romance. It was the first area I really explored within the genre, because it mashed up genres I enjoyed (but also perceived as being more respectable) like fantasy and science fiction, with romance novels. It ended up being my enjoyment of specific authors that led me into other subgenres. Authors who wrote paranormal romances also often wrote contemporary romance or historical romance. Once I fell into multiple subgenres of romance, there was no coming back from there. I haven’t actually read much paranormal romance in the past couple of years, although it’s definitely something I would happily return to (and something I would really like to revisit and explore again).
Once I rid myself of the internalised misogyny and preconceived notions, I felt freer to read novels that I enjoyed but didn’t have to sell to other people on the nonromance content. I didn’t have to rave about the elaborate fantasy plot as the reason I was reading it. I felt okay in saying I was reading a romance novel with no caveats.
Finding a genre that was primarily by women, about women, for women was life changing for me in a way. I was able to read stories that were interesting and fun, meet characters that I actually liked and could cheer for, and experience something that helped make me feel good when little else in my life was doing that for me. I also think reading romance helped make me into a better person and a better feminist.
I have been reading romance novels for over a decade now. I have no intention of stopping any time soon (or any time ever). They provide me with happiness and intellectual stimulation, and they do more of either than I think many people who have never read a romance could understand. And I think every time I read a great romance novel, I fall in love with the genre all over again.
The Feminist Bibliothecary 