The appeal of a romance has nothing to do with the romance

Have you ever wondered about why you enjoy a certain genre? Chances are you haven’t. We all just know we like it. You might have identified some genre tropes and conventions that you tend to love. 

But, lets be honest, it’s always easier to explain why you hate something. I could spend hours and hours ranting about my least favourite novels and films that pissed me off, and I literally have. Just see my reviews of The Time Traveller’s Wife and Last Christmas. My dislike was so all consuming that my thoughts effortlessly spilled out of me. The reasons I love something are no where near as apparent. I have to search for them, or hope that the answer comes to me in a flash. 

I had one of these epiphanies the other day. The specific reason I enjoy reading romance dawned on me, as all the best thoughts do, on a dog walk. The reason I love romance is not because I love a happily ever after narrative or passionate love declarations. It isn’t even because of my favourite relationship dynamics – enemies to lovers, fake dating, and celebrity romances. In fact, why I love a romance has almost nothing to do with the romance. 

I love romance novels because, alongside the romance, they are narratives of confused people finding direction. 

This is in no way a relatable topic for a twenty-three year old who has just graduated and still lives at home. 

The romantic hero is a dream, not because they have Disney Prince hair or charm your socks off. They are dreams because they help the protagonist discover (and often start working towards) her dream life. I too would like a magical man to stand by me as I sort my life out. But, to be honest, I would be more than happy to magically resolve my problems without any male company. The man, the love, and the relationship are far less important to me than reading about someone finding themselves. 

Romance novels are the antidote to my favourite sub genre of literary fiction: what I have dubbed the messy 20-something novel. These are novels that typically focus on a woman in her early twenties who does not know what she is doing with her life. She has a mind numbing job to pay the bills, she is probably in a shit relationship (if she is in one), and she is most certainly a self-certified mess. We follow her make bad decision after bad decision and it is incredibly relatable. I can (and will) list my favourite novels in this genre. In fact, expect a definitive list of the best messy 20-something books in a future post. 

Romances are the messy 20-something novel with a neater ending. Instead of ending on confusion, anxiety, and uncertainty, these novels end with a message of hope. Even if the characters have not achieved their dreams (typically shown through a flash forward), they are at least taking the first steps towards it. They know their direction and are steering themselves along this road.  

This realisation hit me like a brick. I instantly informed all my fellow romance-readers and fellow messy 20-somethings about my epiphany. Yet, this shouldn’t have surprised me. All my favourite romance novels follow a character as they address their mental health issues, start their dream job, accept themselves, or resolve a family conflict. They basically deal with the things they have been purposefully not dealing with. These aspirational romances include (in no particular order):

• The Hating Game by Sally Thorne 
• Book Lovers by Emily Henry 
• Beach Read by Emily Henry 
• The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochran 
• Red, White, and Royal Blue By Casey McQuiston 
• Mr Wrong Number by Lynn Painter 
• The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn 
• Hook, Line, and Sinker by Tessa Bailey 

Romance is basically the push I need. It’s essentially therapy. The happy feeling I get in my stomach is not swooning, it is hope for the future. 

Go Off-Book with Emily Henry’s Book Lovers

Most people would say that reading a book is not the best way to go off-book, but somehow Book Lovers bucks the trend. Emily Henry’s novel reaffirms what life is all about. She reminds us that you are not really living if you follow the letter. You need to relax your spine and step out of the page. You don’t need to maintain a rigid hardback, it is okay to be a floppy paperback. A hardback might look neat on your shelves, but we all know a paperback with a broken spine is far easier to read.

Like Nora, I too ‘live life to a very strict code’ and this book was (like Libby is to Nora), the perfect wake up call I needed. It reminded me that I need to get my head out of my books and go off-book.

As you might be able to tell from the sheer amount of book puns I have used so far, Book Lovers is a book about books. More specifically, it is about the publishing industry. Nora (Emily Henry’s main character) is a literary agent and Charlie (her love interest, or hero to use the romance community’s word) is an editor.

Set in an underwhelming small town, this book gave off Schitts Creek vibes, which is honestly enough to make me love any story. I literally picked up Tessa Bailey’s It Happened One Summer because people were comparing her lead to Alexis Rose – who doesn’t need a little bit of Alexis in their life. But it also reminded me of other beloved stories, such as The Hating Game, Gilmore Girls, and weirdly The House in the Cerulean Sea.

While the novel continues the legacy of other stories, it does not follow them to the letter. When reading it, you feel like you are returning to a beloved home town (a bit like the version of Sunshine Falls in Once in a Lifetime, the most successful novel published by Nora’s favourite client). Like your home town, Book Lovers feels familiar and comforting. Yet, just like you have, it has changed over time. There are lots of new bars and trendy coffee shops to explore. Similarly, Henry’s novel includes an array of new tropes, themes, characters, and situations. Book Lovers is like a renovated bookstore – it is a new interpretation of what came before.

I read this novel while living in my parent’s house, after returning from living away for university. This might not be the exact same experience as Charlie, but it still feels apt for reading this novel. I too understand what leaving an exciting lively environment to return to somewhere that in many ways has stayed the same. Although it must be said that Lancaster is much more mundane than the glamorous enigma that is NYC. Still, I recognise the hatred of a small town. I initially thought I would never return – I too longed for a life with uptown lunch meetings and dry gin martinis. Yet upon returning I realised that a small town is not completely different from a big one. While there are more differences than a spot the difference, the two are not entirely different photographs. If you change your viewpoint, you can find much worth capturing. Like rewatching a favourite comfort show, there are new things to notice and discover (I for one would highly recommend re-watching Schitts Creek and Parks and Recreation).

What I loved most about Book Lovers was the theme of renewal. The novel follows Nora as she leaves what she knows and embraces the unexpected. She finds herself in a new town where she rethinks an old acquaintance (her love interest Charlie) and rekindles an old passion.

Nora does not face a Scrooge-like 180-degree transformation. Instead, her life is revitalised. She makes some tough changes to transform her situation but she doesn’t go against her principles. By loosening her control (but not completely abandoning it), she is able to nurture the best parts of her life. This allows her to fall in love with Charlie and re-fall in love with books.

Book Lovers is, like Henry’s other novels (Beach Read and People We Meet on Vacation), the perfect summer read because they balance swoon-worthy romance with personal growth. Her novels are so beloved because they are everything the modern romance reader wants. We don’t use want love, we want to live balanced lives. In Book Lovers, the reader gets everything they want and everything they didn’t know they wanted, much like Nora.