Guest Post: Reading Romance by Emma

Today I have a wonderful guest post about reading romance by Emma from Book Angel Booktopia. Like me, Emma likes her books steamy and she sure does like to swoon over the male leads! So, over to Emma...

Where to begin?

I never considered myself overly romantic, I would even go so far as to say I was rather cynical about the whole ‘romance novel’ concept. I remember my mother reading the stereotypical Mills & Boon books when I was younger – you know the ones with the picture of Fabio on the cover and the bodice ripping – yeah well those – that’s enough to make anyone scoff at the ‘romantic’ relationships portrayed.

THEN I started reviewing. Why would this make a difference to reading romance I hear you ask? Well, via reviewing you tend to learn a lot about your own personal tastes and it provides a lot of time for reflection; you know one of my catchphrases is ‘Reading is Subjective’ you project your own experiences and views onto the characters and situations you read about. This is how I discovered that for me to really enjoy a book, I had to connect with the characters, be swept away by their interactions and relationships. You can see where I am going with this can’t you. For me the difference with giving a book an OK to giving it a good would be based upon the Romance within the story. I can tell you this came as a little bit of a shock to me – WOW I had a romantic side.

You may be aware, if you have followed me for a while, that I have been through a rough break-up in the last few years. Rather than it having a negative impact on my love of romance, I have found that I crave the romance within the stories more than ever. It’s my version of an adult fairytale (these words appear a lot in my reviews, lol) It takes me away from the ‘real world’ it makes it possible to find your Prince/Soul-mate in the most unexpected of places. It shows love lasts and endures, that relationships grow rather than fall apart – utter swoonage.

Don’t get me wrong, I can’t read just any romance – oh no – I maybe 42, separated with 3 children but I don’t want to read about characters that are in the same sort of situation as I am. I’m living that reality I don’t want to read about it. I read about first love, the feelings you get when you find the person you belong with. The increase in heart rate, the butterflies in the stomach, the silly grin for no particular reason. How the characters are better people because of the other person *happy sigh* There maybe struggles involved for the characters that wrench your heart apart but ultimately it’s the Happy Ever After that keeps the candle of romance burning bright. I know a lot of people don’t like the insta-love concept, I am not one of them, for me it just re-enforces the soul-mate ideal and that makes me blissfully happy.

Young Adult and New Adult Romance has all the feels. It takes me away from the reality of raising 3 girls by myself and into a world where I can be swept away on a tide of emotion. I utterly love it.

Have you ever thought about why you like a certain type of book and why? 

Thank you so much Emma! Even though I'm newly married, I love a good steamy romance and losing myself in someone else's story!