Romance is a genre that I’ve been reading for the better part of half my life. I discovered the genre by pure accident around the age of the 12. Located right next to the young adult section of my local library was the romance section and by some happenstance, some cross-pollination occurred and thus my journey into the world of romance began. I can even remember the plot of that first novel that I read. It’s about a bodyguard hired to protect an author whose books were being used to funnel coded international intelligence from one spy to another. It was a pretty good novel from what I can remember, though I can’t remember the actual title of the book.
Over the past few years, I stepped in and out of the world of romance, picking up different novels here and there when time permitted but over the last year and a half I’ve really dived into the genre and submersed myself in it and all the different aspects that surround it. It’s a genre that I love. I love the stories that are being told. I love the characters that populate its many, many stories. I love a number of its authors and what they are doing within and outside of the stories they are creating. I love that I can pick up a romance novel and devour all the different bits of it and be happier after having read it, even if it takes me on an emotional roller coaster. (I actually love those ones best.)
This journey of discovery has been quite a memorable and enjoyable one that I hope will continue to be a lifelong one. It’s why I’m beginning this new series on my blog talking about all things romance as I take a deeper dive into the genre and all its nooks and crannies. I’m going to talk about why I love the genre and the specifics on what I love about it, it’s different and varying subgenres, how I’ve changed as a romance reader and how the genre has changed me, bits here and there about the industry and the progress that’s being made for greater diversification of it, and of course spotlighting my favourite romance novels and authors.
So I hope you’ll enjoy this series and taking this journey with me. The next post in the series will be coming soon, so stay tuned! 😘
A Work in Progress 