Romance Novels

Recently I discovered a wealth of fiction that I never knew existed. Romance literature. Oh sure, I’ve paged through lots of famous bestsellers and thumbed through paperbacks at the beach, but I had no idea how vast is the scope of romantic literature these days.

At the county book sale last year, eBay entrepreneurs wandered up and down the aisles of the paperback romance section with grocery carts (yes, grocery carts) full of slim volumes, each of which could easily be finished in a sitting or two. I asked if there truly existed a lucrative market for this enterprise and they insured me that - yes indeed - buying and selling these little jewels was profitable business.

Romance isn’t just romance anymore. If you look at the spine of the books for assistance, you’ll find descriptions of several fascinating sub-genres: Paranormal Romance, Historical Romance, NASCAR, Western, Sci-Fi, Young Adult, and Chick Lit Romance. The list goes on and on.

I was prepared to make fun of them. After all, the cover art is generally – well – ridiculous - for lack of a better word. I couldn’t find a better word because I was staring so intently at the shirtless, smoky-eyed, hard-bodied Adonis on the cover that I was distracted. And of course the stories are entirely preposterous. Frequently, a damsel in distress is involved with a lusty hero who eventually sweeps her up, takes her away, and unfailingly pays homage to her body in descriptive vocabulary of a lightly erotic nature. (Okay, technically they weren’t just talking about it.) At least that’s the way it worked in the dozen or so I read last weekend. Some chapters I read several times – just for research. What I particularly liked (after Adonis and the descriptive vocabulary) was the assurance of a happy ending.

Romance novels always have a happy ending. I like that. Our lives may be full of unresolved challenges, but for a few moments each day a romance novel guarantees that everything will turn out okay. No wonder they’re so popular. How comforting it is to tell a book by its cover.