Addicted to Romance Novels

I was rereading my review of A Modern Love Story by Joyln Palliata and remembering all the wonderful things that made this book so unique as a romance novel and one of the few novels on my favorites shelf.  Over my life time (no I'm not going to tell you how old I am) I have read thousands..no I don't think I am exaggerating and I confess a lot of them are very formula so when you come across a book that breaks out of the box you get so excited and just need to share with everyone.  The first time I read Fifty Shades of Grey and Bared to You  by E.L. James and Sylvia Day respectively I felt the same excitement. Not because I hadn't read Erotic Romances before because I have read many over the years but there was something about the characters in both these books that just reached out of the pages and grabbed you.  Yes, they both have some similarities but it is the writing of those characters that made a difference in the books and the plots are different.  These books are all outstanding reads.  I also take my love of romance into the paranormal realm, who can resist alpha weres and controlling vampires or fallen angels etc. Not me, however these books can also be called formula but when you look at series like The Night Huntress by Jeaniene Frost or Vampires in America by D.B. Reynolds you once again see that how the characters are written and the twisting plot lines set them apart from others in the genre.

I recently was discussing books with some ladies at my Doctor's office, what else do you do when waiting for over an hour to get into to see him?  I mentioned that I loved reading romances, I love how they make me feel and how a great male protagonist can put a smile on my face for hours after I put down the book.  One lady who looked like she might be in her forties with a professional vibe happening looked down her nose at us and said ..."Romances, they are all the same only the covers change on the books".  If anyone of my book loving friends read this they will tell you that it just isn't in me to let a statement like that go, so I questioned her on her reading taste.  She said she only reads non-fiction and biographies.  I said, I respected her personal preferences in reading material however, I am not interested in either of those genres. We talked around in circles for a while and were suddenly interrupted by a 98 year old lady with grey hair, cane and a big bag full of books.  She turned to the high brow woman and said , " dearie, no non-fiction or biography will give you the thrill that Christian Grey gave me".  I burst out laughing and high five'd the sweet lady.  She explained, that she had been reading romances since she was a young girl.  She started with the classic Little Women by Louisa May Alcott and loved how Laurie was hot for Jo, from there she read a number of serials that appeared in women's magazines.  In the early 1950's she started reading medical romances that were published by a Canadian publisher called "Harlequin Romance" and has been addicted ever since.  I was in awe of this sweet old lady and when she leaned over with a grin and patted my knee she whispered, "I particularly love the Blaze romances they put out now" I tried so hard to suppress my giggle but didn't succeed. I had to reach out and hug this woman and introduce myself.  Unfortunately , we were interrupted as her appointment was called but just before she left she rummaged in her bag and pulled out a Harlequin Blaze novel and handed it to me saying, "I just finished this one and it was very good, I hope you like hot cowboys because Travis is amazing".  This beautiful lady is Helen Weatherby and she wrote book reviews for our local paper for a number of years and every review was of a romance novel.