First Day of Spring Into Romance

On the first day of Spring Into Romance I am honored to have fellow member of the Girlfriends Book Club and amazing author Carolyn Jewel post about why she loves romance!


Ah, Romance Novels, How Do I Love Thee!
By Carolyn Jewel




There are a lot of reasons to love the Romance genre, from some damn fine writing to stories that will make you laugh, cry or wish you hadn't turned out the lights just yet. A Romance can be set any time, any place and it can include any other genre as an over-arching container for the Romance. Mystery Romance? You bet! Steampunk Romance? Yes! Time-travel? Of course. Paranormal, Inspirational, Fantasy, Space Opera, historical, futuristic, horror, sweet, erotic . . . I really could keep going.

What makes a story a Romance? Characters who, by the end of the book, have fallen in love and are committed to a life together; a "happy ever after" ending. That simple element can drive some powerful stories. Think, for a moment, about the things that mean the most in your life. Love is one of them. You know it is. We all want love in our lives. It makes our hearts pound and our palms sweat and when we have it, when we're right there head-over-heels in love, we are happy.

We want to love and be beloved. There are times in our lives when the courtship might not even have begun yet or when that happy ending is in doubt and we fear we'll lose or never gain the person we love. It's a shaky, horrible, awful feeling. A Romance shows us how the characters in a story overcome that shaky start. When we realize we love and are in turn beloved? There's the lift of spirit you feel when the person you love walks into the room . . . and smiles at you. You'll find that sublime moment in a Romance.

In the pages of a romance, the author will make you feel the emotions that lead up to falling in love; the doubt, the skepticism, the fear you'll be hurt, the recognition that you've met someone who completes you, who admires you and thinks your jokes are funny. A romance will remind you how precious it is when you can confide in someone else, and how it feels when someone else places that same trust in you. The author will show you how that happens in the world she's written, and with the characters she's put on the pages.

A Romance might also explore the ways in which humans develop and express love through physical intimacy. Some might close the door at the bedroom while others keep that door wide open. For stories where the door is open, you'll find the sexual intimacy has meaning and power.

The very best authors know that falling in love is worth the risk, and they write stories where you just can't wait to find out how those characters make their relationship work. It won't be easy, but then, as we all know, the course of true love never did run smooth.

That's why I love to read romance.



Thank you, Carolyn! Please leave a comment about why you love romance. Everyone commenting will be entered into a drawing to win a copy of Not Wicked Enough, Carolyn's latest novel.

Carolyn Jewel was born on a moonless night. That darkness was seared into her soul and she became an award winning author of historical and paranormal romance. She has a very dusty car and a Master’s degree in English that proves useful at the oddest times. An avid fan of fine chocolate, finer heroines, Bollywood films, and heroism in all forms, she has three cats and a dog. Also a son. One of the cats is his.

Follow Carolyn on twitter and facebook.