In Defense of Romance Novels
Just hear me out for moment...
I have a confession . . . I love romance novels.
More specifically, I love real stories about relatable people, finding love in all it’s messy ups and downs. Something about it sucks me in and makes the world fade away.
I promise I’m not losing my mind—or my love for Jesus. I read my first romance novel in seventh or eighth grade, and was quickly shamed by my friends for reading one of those books.
It was pretty tame, all things considered.
(Yes, they did kiss. Someone pass me the smelling salts.)
My next foray into this taboo genre was Nicholas Sparks’ novel The Wedding, which I listened to on CD, but this time I learned my lesson. I didn’t tell my friends, or my parents. (Sorry, Mom.)
It was a beautiful story about a second chance at love, in a marriage gone stale.
(Yep, more kissing. Hold my pearls.)
But why? Why would you read that? To which, I would reply—Why wouldn’t I?
I like romance because it’s real. It’s human. Stories explore the vast array of the human experience, allowing me to live a thousands lives and yet remain myself, and that includes romance. For too long, Christians have been weirdly tip-toeing around romance (and all it entails) like it’s a secret thing, a dirty thing.
Something those people read.
I’m so over that.
(And who the hell are those people?)
Love, attraction, and sex are beautiful and good and so very human. And they’re also hilarious. Why do you think so many of Shakespeare’s plays are about love? And attraction? And sex?
(If you don’t believe there’s sex in Shakespeare, read him again.)
Nothing delights me more than to experience two lovable idiots figuring out this crazy little thing called love. There’s something so visceral and real about people catching feelings and falling for each other. We all do it, we all want it, and—like sleeping and eating—we all need it.
There’s a reason the Romance section of any bookstore is huge. We write poems about it, we sing about it, we write plays and movies about it, we create paintings and sculptures and myths about it.
Five years ago, I was writing an epic fantasy novel that clocked in at almost 110,000 words. For those of you who don’t write, that’s A LOT of words. It took a year, or more, to write the first draft.
I thought fantasy would be “my thing”— the thing that turned my writing dreams into reality. Turns out, it’s really not my thing. That 100k fantasy novel is sitting in a drawer and might never come out again. It turns out that Romance (specifically of the Romantic Comedy variety) is my thing. And I think it’s always been my thing.
I think it’s time Romance Novels—well-written, messy, hilarious romance, with excellent characters and deep story lines—made a come back.
Thanks for reading to the very end. You get a gold star! ⭐ Subscribe for free to receive new posts weekly, and to support my work.
of second chances.
If you write it, we will come.