Bookish: In Defense of Romance

How many times did I say it over the years? I read everything except horror and romance. I guess at some point I amended it to erotica and horror, but still—I do read horror, sometimes, on very special occasions, for very special reasons. In fact, I’m about to read Children of Solitude because I heard Michael G. Williams read, and that bit he read was so funny and clever. Couldn’t wait for it to be published. (We’ll just leave what I said about erotica as it is.)

As for romance, I’ve told this story before. I was on residency, which means I was focused on literature 24-7 and was without a TV. It is obvious, then, that to unwind before bed, I would read. But who wants to spend all day writing and revising and researching and outlining to snuggle up in some strange bed with something heavy and serious? Well, not me. I headed to the local bookstore (which obviously I was headed to anyway) and directed my searching abilities at the staff picks and popular fiction tables, hoping for something absorbing and not the least bit heavy-handed. It might have been Emily Henry the first time (Book Lovers), or it might have been Madeline Miller (The Song of Achilles, though I’m pretty sure that was the second time), but man did I love sinking into some kinda’ silly book in the evening and into the night. And was it silly? Maybe not even. It was easy to read. It was easy to not pay attention to ghosts and flying bugs. It was easy to calm my buzzing brain and forget my persistent plot problem or my uncooperative narrator so that I could eventually doze off.

I agree with diyMFA’s four things that qualify a romance: the romantic relationship is the focus; there is a conflict; and a strong female lead (though I would argue there are romances with strong male or other-gendered leads, as long as they are the central romantic character, catering to a different audience than the majority, and also that dual-POVs is very popular right now); and a happy ending (which is most often just happy, but it can be sorta mixed, again, for certain types of readers).

Turns out, not all romance is Harlequin romance. It’s a giant industry not (just) because it’s produced quickly and cheaply to consequently produce cheap thrills, but because people want to read it. And not everyone wants the same book. Never! There are genres within every genre, and romance is no exception. And thank goodness covers have changed over the years, too (from rippling biceps and cinched corsets to bright, blocky, cartoony cuteness) and that even basic genres have mixed and mixed and mixed. If you want a romance/historical, then yup. If you want a romance/YA/sports, then of course. And let’s not forget romantasy.

Which means that not only is there a romance that fits what I want to read, there is also romance that is well-written.

Perhaps it’s because so much is getting produced. So much! There is a part of me that is not a fan of this (and I have my many reasons). But it is possible that with so much published, there is more opportunity for readers to discover the book they have been waiting for. Readers get to say, “Hey! That book that you pushed wasn’t any good. Now, this random one over here… it’s actually beautifully-written.” If they wade through enough. Whatever. I said I wasn’t going to list all the reasons that the surfeit of publications is a bad thing (one being that you have to wade through so much more terrible-ness to get to that gem).

My point of all of this is to defend the romance genre. Believe me, the genre does not need me to defend it. It does just fine on its own. And if some literary types are still going to turn their noses up at it, what does it matter? It doesn’t, so much. Which just makes this my two cents.

Romance is a defensible genre. Not only is it beloved and well-read and well-funded (read: profitable), but it is also sometimes quite good. And it is so wide, now, that it includes not only sub-genres, topics, and vibes for everyone, but even the lit-snobs can find some that is impressively written. (Oh, I forgot. We just call those books literary and move them to the backlist section and pretend they’re not romance.)

The truth: all this is in celebration of the new romance section at the bookstore where I work. It took some doing to convince one of the owners that it belonged there with all the academic and gender studies and poetry that our community demands. And darned if it isn’t (also) selling well.

Plus, it pretties up the place.

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In honor of the event, I am going to create a romance section on the Recommended Reading page of the blog. Find that page HERE.

My favorite romance titles: