Celebrate romance

Some words from Read a romance month, today. Theme: Celebrate romance.
Pictures from the works of John William Waterhouse, Pre-Raphaelite painter. 

What we love about those stories is that they’re excitingly different from our daily lives, but the romance element, if there is one, will be familiar, regardless of guns, death, or fur. The patterns of the human mating dance are hard-wired into us, and we’ve all followed the steps, one way or another.

Jo Beverley

Every reader is different, and every book is different, but for me, as a reader, the keeper romance has everything I look for in fiction: Lovely prose, compelling characters transformed by their experiences, strong world building, dramatic pacing, meaningful themes and a satisfying, well earned happy ending.

Grace Burrowes

The essence of romance, for me, is two people realizing that nothing matters more to them than the wellbeing and happiness of the other.

Pamela Palmer

The real deal is unique, unexpected, humble, tender, heart-felt, respected, understood and deeply valued. It’s an almost magical charismatic connection that occurs between two people. And it’s not rare. It’s real.

Susan King

In today’s romance novel, the heroine of the story is a strong woman, an equal match for an equally strong hero. Just as a football game is at its most edge-of-your-seat exciting when played by two teams of equal skill, so is the love story between a man and a woman of equal strength of character. That two people can remain strong and true to themselves and still commit to another creates a great story.

Diane Gaston

Anne Lamott once said that writing can do for you what having a baby can do. It can soften you up. It can make you pay attention. The same can be said about romance. Romance can wake up your senses and rouse your heart. It can make you kinder, braver, more attentive.

Virginia Kantra

My characters deal with issues of trust and the risks of commitment. For my heroes and heroines, mutual respect, compassion, and the willingness to do the right thing when the chips are down serve as the foundation of the relationship. The arc of the story is the creation of that foundation.

Jayne Ann Krentz

Romance novels are stories that tell girls they matter, that they should chase their dreams, that they can have adventures instead of being stuck at home as daughter/girlfriend/wife. Above all, these stories tell girls they can be true to themselves and be loved for it.

Maya Rodale

Because if romance does anything, it lifts our spirits. It edifies us as women in our robes of many colors, each color representing a different role in life.

Darynda Jones

A good romance novel can light up our lives by making us smile and laugh even on bad days. In a challenging world, a good romantic story reminds us that many of the best things in life are small and personal.

Mary Joe Putney

Most of the romances I love with all my heart remind me of what it felt like specifically to fall in love with my husband. To want him to want me in his life as much as I did him. The anguish of uncertainty. The pain of those moments when we failed each other, acted selfishly, or negligently. The relief of getting back together and trying harder.

Molly O’Keefe

Critics of romance often say romance novels give women unrealistic expectations. That’s insulting to women’s intelligence; moreover, it belittles the importance of romance in all of our lives. It’s not a silly idea that only exists in fiction. It’s real and vital and we can finds ways—big and small—to celebrate it every day.

Shana Galen