Most people view the Romance genre as unidimensional. Same plot, similar characters. Two people meet, fall in love, have a misunderstanding, breakup, clear up the confusion and get together again. Some go a step further and say, “Okay, maybe the misunderstanding is because of a third person”; ultimately the genre is viewed as an outlet (or source!) of the most base emotions – love, jealousy…with no complexities – either with the characters, their situations or their feelings.
But most people are never exposed to the tip of the iceberg let alone the true gems, hence my claim that Romance Is A Misunderstood Genre.
Authors and Readers of Romance are not naïve or overly-optimistic fools viewing the world through rose-tinted glasses and ignoring the darkness – unable or unwilling to recognize life’s harsh realities, brutalities and negativity. In fact, these are the most resilient of the population – individuals whom life has dragged down (often repeatedly) but who refused to be cynical recluses and made the active choice to find, repair and wear those broken tinted glasses.
The plots and characters of Romance novels are assumed to be so far removed, the portrayed feelings so impossible, that indulgers are judged and harshly mocked with the constant refrain that “these sort of books are a waste of time, they mislead you towards the wrong path”.
What is overlooked, however, is the sheer hope these books believe in and instill. Abby Jiminez, Carley Fortune, and Emily Henry are writers who acknowledge the real world and its flaws; their books are centered on the very idea of what comes after the “falling in love”. Sure, there can be misunderstandings, but they also incorporate infidelity, anger, forgiveness for self-peace rather than others’ benefit, family, obligation, self-ambition, and even compounding of multiple factors leading to a long-term decision – these are what makes Romance, as a genre, so heartbreakingly beautiful.
