Why I Love Reading Romance Novels

I started reading romance novels ever since I was 11 years old (or was it 10 years old?). Actually, I didn’t start with “romance” novels; I started out with those detective-type novels like the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. By the time I was 13 years old, I had already read a lot of Harlequin and Mills & Boon novels (with 100+ pages) and those Sweet Dreams novels that are for teen-agers and I already graduated to reading those thick pocketbooks featuring more pages and more complex romance stories (much to the chagrin of my parents who thought I was too young to read those “things”). In fact, some of my classmates credited me with introducing to them these romance novels (they also became addicted to reading romance novels, LOL).

As I grew older, I read more and more of this type of novels. I read other types of novels, those written by Dan Brown, John Grisham and the like but romance novels are simply the ones I look for when I go to the bookstore. Okay, call me a romantic if you like but… I don’t know, these are just the kind of novels that I really want to read. So why do I love reading them? Here are just some of the reasons why:

They’re My Escape from the Real World

Romance or not, I do recognize that these novels are purely fictional (although I’d love to think those happily-ever-after endings are for real). Maybe this is why I love reading them; they provide a short escape from the everyday problems and concerns I face. The happy endings I read can often put me in the good mood and after reading one; I’m ready to face the world again.

They Bring Me to Beautiful Places and Wonderful Eras

A lot of the romance novels I’ve read are contemporary and are based in the US or the UK. But I’ve also read lots of novels that are based on various locations (Paris, Athens, Rome, Australia) and I guess you can say I saw some of these places in my mind from reading these novels. Also, I like reading historical romance novels as these bring me back to other historical eras with their rich traditions and beautifully-dressed gentlemen and ladies.

They Helped My (Written) English

You can laugh about this or find it funny but romance novels taught me how to write well in English. These novels are written in very good English. In fact, I don’t remember reading one with misspellings or grammatical errors. I’m not saying that the other novels have a lot of errors but, personally speaking, romance novels really helped me a lot in this area.

So these are the reasons why I love reading romance novels. Other than these reasons, I seem to have some quirks (unique or not) when reading these novels.

1. I always, always read the summary at the back. In fact, if there’s no summary, I don’t buy or read the novel at all.
2. I read the ending first. I know, I know, for a lot of people this is weird. I mean why would you read the end first? It spoils the fun and the suspense, right? But for me, the ending actually shows me whether the story is good or not. Plus it increases my curiosity as to why the ending was written that way.
3. I read the novel in one go. I don’t know if I’m a fast reader or not. But I usually read those 100+ pages romance novels within one hour or so. The 200+ pages, I can read within 3 hours. I don’t put down the novel until after I have read everything. So I always limit my reading to the time I’m about to sleep or I’m already in bed. That way, I won’t get disturbed while reading.
4. I always look for my favorite authors. This is somewhat boring and non-adventurous I know but I always seem to look for books written by my favorite authors. Johanna Lindsey, Jude Deverauex, Sandra Brown, Judith McNaught, Nora Roberts, Julie Garwood (thanks Duchess) – these are just some of them. Right now (and for the past three years), I’m buying and reading Nora Roberts books (to the endless teasing of my husband who always say “Nora Roberts again!”). I’m getting quite a collection of her books.
5. Online reading. Okay what if I’m too busy and I can’t read one from cover to cover. Then I’ll go online to www.eharlequin.com and read their free online short romance stories. That means only one thing, if I don’t read one offline, I’ll definitely read one online =).
6. I don’t like sad or “hanging” endings. I seldom encounter romance novels that don’t have a happy ending but when I do, I don’t read it at all. I mean these are my escape so why would I want to read another sad love story, right?

So there you have it. I hope you can relate to this hub (I know a lot of people who can’t). Drop me a line if you like reading romance novels. If you don’t, forget it. Just kidding. Drop me a line also why you don’t like reading romance novels. I look forward to reading your comments. Till then, happy reading!