Romance Junkie

Why do women love to read romance? It’s a question I keep asking myself as I work on my new book project, and I keep coming up empty-handed every time. I can’t figure it out. And I’m really starting to believe the reason I can’t come up with any answers is because there are simply so many. I don’t know where to begin.

Maybe it’s because we just can’t get enough of the excitement? Maybe we’re addicted to the passion we find between the pages. Perhaps it’s the dance of the seduction that hooks us. Or we just love to read about the thrill of the chase and imagine that we are the ones being pursued? Or maybe … we just get off on meeting a new, really hot, sexy hero who makes us swoon. After all, anyone who reads romance novels regularly, knows that boyfriends are just better in books because sadly, romance is often sorely lacking in our everyday, real lives. I mean, don’t get me wrong … there are some men out there who do romance very well but, they’re in the minority. Most men just don’t get it. And maybe that’s the crux of it right there. Women are just different.

Women are hard-wired for romance. We crave it. We need it like we need the air to breathe, water to drink, and food to eat. Maybe we invest so much of our free time into reading romance because it’s something our bodies need but aren’t getting, or aren’t getting enough of. Sort of like when we don’t get enough of a key nutrient and our bodies become deficient in that area. Well, perhaps most of us are romance deficient and, if we’re not getting those nutrients naturally – in the form of a really hot, sexy hero of our own – then we need to get those nutrients in some other way. Like with a daily dose administered via romance novel. (Read two to four chapters daily for best results!)

I know that for me personally, I love reading romance because it fills me with a sense of hope. And actually, I find that I write it for the very same reasons. There is nothing better than when I’m in the middle of reading a story that I just can’t put down – or I’m working on a story that consumes me – because I’m so invested in the hero and heroine and the adventure they’re on. Watching them pursue their happily ever after brings me joy.

Or maybe I’m just a junkie who self-medicates with romance because it feels good!

Advertisement