BellaOnline Forums Books and Music Romance Novels What does reading romances do for you?

I find when I read a good romance that I completely fall into that world. Everything around me drowns out and I feel as if I become a silent watcher. In a romance book I like, I laugh when the characters laugh and cry when the characters cry. I used to tell people that I read romances because for a few hours a day I could pretend there is the perfect man out there. Now I read them because I always know there will be a happy ending. As I get older my reasons change. What does it do for you? Or How does it make you feel?

Great topic! Reading romances makes me feel happy. A lot of media gives marriage a bad name. Cynics don't seem to believe it can last, and they label as "unrealistic" anything that talks about a forever love. But I know lots of happily married people. My parents, for example. They've been married for over 30 years, and they still have a lot of fun together. Sure, there are also people who aren't happily married, but that doesn't make unhappiness the only realistic way to view the world.

For me, reading romances, or anything else, is sheer escapism. I have a very stressful life, and when I read a romance, I know there's going to be a happy ending - that whatever the characters' problems are, they'll work through them. A book starts, has a middle, and an end -- giving me hope! I don't have to endure explicit violence, death and destruction, and all of that - which is what we have at the movies these days, when we're not inundated with 3rd grade wit and foolishness. A lot of romances are silly - all the females are gorgeous and the males are gods, etc. But there are good ones out there - Katie Fforde, Alexandra Raife, Cadell, D. E. Stevenson, Elspeth Thane, Pilcher, Heyer - that don't just follow the formula. They entertain and enlighten - and take you away from whatever's troubling you. If you're short on time, as I frequently am, the short story collections by various romance authors are perfect.