The Importance of Reading Romance for Your Well Being

Happily Ever After is good for the soul. Hope, courage, love, these are all things important to believe in. Sometimes people get caught up in the fact that romance often has a sexual component to it. But, a good romance story is so much more than that, just as a romance in real-life does. There is conflict and the need to overcome that conflict, just like in real-life. There is the need to grow as human beings, to overcome our own fears, to stretch beyond our comfort zone in order to have things we want. There are struggles and obstacles to the things we truly desire. And in a good romance novel we get to feel the courage a hero or heroine must find within themselves in order to overcome those obstacles and there is hope and love at the end of that struggle that makes us, as readers, feel good.

Today’s romance has characters you can relate to and issues you can understand and empathize with. These stories are relatable and when the hero and heroine finally get together in the end we soar with happiness. We believe love can conquer all and that hope will get us through. We believe in kindness and supporting one another. Reading romance is cathartic and good for the soul.

I believe in the power of love and in reading romance and have invited some wonderful authors to share their ideas and beliefs in the importance of reading romance!


MAGGIE SHAYNE-

I’ve learned one lesson that stands above all others; the more time we spend in a state of joy, the better our lives become. We can choose to reject the temptation to wallow in misery, no matter what’s happening outside ourselves. We can choose, instead, to spend our time and attention on things that make us feel good, make us smile, warm our hearts. Life is full of such things! They’re all around us. The sunrise, the full moon, little birds frolicking in a fountain. Romance novels are feel-good fiction. They uplift and inspire. They warm our hearts and we want to cheer for our heroines at the end, for they triumph over every challenge and we triumph with them. Romance novels are empowering to women, this we know. But they are also a source of pure, calorie-free delight, and the more of that we give to ourselves, the happier, healthier, wealthier, and more fulfilled we will be.



JONATHAN MABERRY-

The importance of reading romance for your well-being seems obvious to me. It’s all about optimism. We live in tough times –socially, culturally, politically, economically. One of the effects of this kind of stress and depression is a loss of imagination. You see, when we’re depressed we can’t imagine feeling anything except that depression. It blinds us to the possibility that whatever our current troubles are they will one day end. Love, on the other hand, brings with it an antidote to depression: hope. Love is about the future, it’s about possibilities, it’s about joy. All of those things conjure images of a new phase of life that exists on the other side of depression. A good romance story transports us out of the now and into a wonderful possible future where light shines in and a new day is a joy rather than a prison sentence. The novel (and movie) Warm Bodies by my friend Isaac Marion, played with that theme rather brilliantly. In the gloom of a post-apocalyptic zombie apocalypse it’s love that spreads like a new infection and brings characters –human and living dead—back to a new and better life. That’s why I dig romance in even the darkest of fiction, and it’s why I include it in my own, admittedly grim, novels. Because there should be light at the far end of darkness, and love –let’s face it—is the brightest light. Once we see it we can imagine what our lives will be like when we step out of the shadows of our own sorrows.





ANNE ELIZABETH-

Romance touches the heart, lifting the spirit and bringing to light aspects of hope, joy, passion, and excitement. For me, that’s the gift romance writing brings…celebrating life.




LORI FOSTER-

Romance is important because of the affirmation of love. It's not just an escape, but an escape that, at the core, is based on the truth that love makes everything better. We all face hardship, some problems enormous and some trivial, but whatever challenges come our way, they're more easily conquered - as shown in the romance genre - when you have your true love in your corner, offering support or understanding or sometimes, just being there with you so that you're not facing those challenges alone.
Unlike the misconceptions that romance are fluff or porn, at heart, it's all about the basic instinct to be loved.


LAURA KAYE-



Romance has so much to offer readers. Besides offering a fun, page-turning, heart-pounding experience, romances are some of the most hopeful and positive books you can find. They give the message that there's someone for everyone, and that you can overcome whatever obstacles your life and relationship faces. And, in the diversity of characters they include, they argue that everyone deserves love. I think it's important for readers to be able to see themselves and the kinds of relationships they cherish reflected in books, and romance novels are at the forefront of embracing that.


JON LAND-

I think the answer to this question is not specific to Romance, because reading anything is important to your well being! Kind of like fill in the blank. Reading in general, and reading romance in particular, takes us into other worlds, offering escape from our own minutia while providing the kind of entertainment that makes us feel like kids again. The key word there is "entertainment," and no literary form fits that bill more than romance, since it tends to be about people working out their problems by working together and, hopefully, finding love. Unfortunately, real life doesn't often work that way and it's nice to be able to lose yourself, for a few hours anyway, in a story that does.



KAREN ROSE-

The defining element of the romance genre is the happily-ever-after ending. Some may say it’s trite and predictable, but I believe it’s dependable, warm and lovely – a place to escape the real world for a while when burdens become too heavy. The optimism of romance is heart-lifting and reminds us, especially in times of uncertainty, that the people around us are basically good. That love is stronger than fear and hate and at the end of every long day, love remains. Happily-ever-afters heal the soul.



SARA HUMPHREYS-

Let’s be honest, the world is in a state of unrest at the moment and we are surrounded by uncertainty. Now, more than ever, we need romance novels because these lovely pieces of fiction guarantee us a soul satisfying happily ever after. As readers, we know that when we pick up a romance, there will be a happy ending because that is the hallmark of a romance novel. Our hero and heroine might go through hell. They might be fighting for their lives in the darkest of places but we know that in spite of it all, they will end up blissfully, gloriously happy in each other’s arms. No matter what. So, if you feel down or scared, and you need a respite from the craziness of the world, pick up a romance and get lost for a little while in the glow and hope of true love.


CL WILSON-

The romance I love and read (voraciously) is literature entirely infused with hope. No matter how bad, how hard, how broken our characters or their lives may be, the heroes and heroines of romance novels will always find a way to earn their happy ending. Romance celebrates the healing power of love, the redemptive power of love, the joy and the hope of finding that one soul in the universe that resonates in a perfect harmonic rhythm with your own. No matter how hard, difficult, devastating, or despairing real life may sometimes be, romance reminds us all that even from the worst days of our lives we can recover, grow strong, and find happiness, peace, and love again. And that is a story always worth telling, and a tale always worth reading.


KATIE RUGGLE-

Writing and reading romance keeps me sane. When I open a book or pull up a manuscript on my computer, I get to escape into a world where goodness prevails and the hero and heroine always get their happily ever after. The best romances encourage the idea that every person, despite flaws and insecurities and mistakes, is worthy of love. For me, it’s both escapism and a way to hold onto hope.
Plus, I like the sexy parts.


SHEILA ENGLISH-

Reading romance helps encourage us to believe in love, hope, each other and happily ever after. In a world that’s full of so many daily challenges, where kindness often gets overlooked, reading romance helps us to recall the importance of caring and that love should conquer all. Reading romance puts hope into the world.



JOANNA WYLDE-

www.joannawylde.com

Why should people read romance? Because it's full of strong women. Romance heroines come from every walk of life, but the one character trait they share is personal strength and the desire to make their lives better. Women are so often portrayed in films and novels as two dimensional consorts for the heroic men around them. Women in romance novels may find strong partners in their heroes, but if they aren't strong themselves, the readers usually reject them. As a teenage girl, I loved romance novels because they inspired me. As an adult writer, I love the freedom to write strong women who aren't afraid to meet their men halfway.


REBECCA ZANETTI-



I think romances are important because they're full of hope and possibilities. It's good to be able to escape reality for a little while, and doing so with the assurance that there will be a happy ending at the last page takes the anxiety away. Plus, in reading, we get to live many different lives without truly being in danger. It's the best of multiple worlds.


CD REISS-

Many bestselling books are about adventure, and that’s great. Murder mysteries and fantasy adventure sagas give readers a sense of power and wonder. But Romances do more than that. Romances teach us how to be in relationships. Romance is about hope. It’s about saying you’re sorry. Becoming a better person. Not about getting a vault full of gold or exacting vengeance. What I’ve learned from romance novels has had real life applications. Honestly, and this is hard to admit…romance novels have made me a better wife. When I’m acting like an immature, self-centered nag, I put my actions and words on a page and I say “am I being the villain in this story?” I can’t slay an orc but I can be a better partner because of what I’ve learned from romance novels. I’m proud of the genre I write in. Nothing is more important than growing as people together.



Has reading a romance ever given you hope or helped you during a difficult time? Do you have a "comfort read"? Please share YOUR story about the importance of reading romance!


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