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I am Lover of romance, who indulges in the romantic adventures of literature

My name is Renee, and I am the host of this site. I am a 34 year old woman, on the prowl for her mate, searching out the best of books, exploring the wilds of the imagination and delving into the heart of a beautiful love story.

 

Tea & Biscuits Book Discussions: Romance…Romance…HOOYAH!!

by | Aug 10, 2015 | Tea and Biscuits Discussions | 12 comments

 

 

Out of all the types of books I have read in my life, romance does it for me. Lately, I have been pondering the reason why. Why do I love romance? Why does it work for me? What made me fall in love with it in the first place?

I was fifteen when I was first introduced to romance. Now many need to understand that up until this time I hated reading *GASP* I know…I know….so bad of me right? But up until then I was more concerned with hanging with friends and playing outside than reading. Some of the first books was Nancy Drew…but then my father (yes, many men love romance they just hide it most of the time hehe), introduced me to a Christian romance, it was emotional and very romantic and that is what led me down my road. I then discovered the Avon True Romance series (for those that have never heard of this series, its a series that Avon did, where it is a YA based series, with a combination of authors: Beverly Jenkins, Karen Hawkins, Lorraine Heath and Meg Cabot) and boy were they fun to read. Witty, humorous, sweet love stories and that was the beginning of my journey of reading romance novels, and I have never regretted it. I have loved every moment of it. It also has been interesting as I love over the past ten years or so, and seen how much the romance genre has evolved and changed. When I first started it was most just historical romance and a few contemporary—does anyone remember those days? Before e-readers came to be or Goodreads, and you had to either go to the library or go to an actual bookstore to get the most popular books. it was much more difficult to find romance then now. There are so many sub-genres of romance now, it just blows me away–but in a very good way. I have loved seeing paranormal become popular, and to see science fiction and fantasy romance, and contemporary has become so huge!! I love contemporary, but if I had to choose a favorite it would always be historical romance.

The reason I love romance is how easy it is to connect with the story, and how much we learn about human behavior. What drives us and motivates us. Its fun to see how different each relationship is, and seeing a couple face a conflict and come together. I am fascinated with seeing a couple build a relationship and fall in love.  I do have my personal favorite that won me over in the beginning. The first one was The Secret by Julie Garwood, This is a book that is a must and it is one of the best books ever written. There are many books by this author I have loved, but if I had to choose just one, it would be The Secret. We see a beginning of a friendship (that is quite entertaining…anyone remember the bee moment?) and our heroine goes to visit her friend who is a Scot. And then she meets Ian, the hero. Even though she is just visiting, we see a magical bond form between these two. Garwood is a rare author, that pulls you immediately in. It doesn’t matter if its ebook, paperback, or audio…you fall in love. The humor and wit, the intimacy, and the poignant romantic moments. The second choice of mine would be This Is All I Ask by Lynn Kurland. This is a story that is very light in the sex department, but one of the best love stories I have ever read, and I have read quite a bit. This is a book set in the medieval era, and both characters are emotionally damaged, and you see how right they are for each other and need each other, especially since they don’t see it. Our hero is blind, and our heroine has been beaten and scarred by her father and has little belief in her own worth until she meets Christopher. What made this a memorable story for was, was how heartbreaking it was, but at the same time a most compelling story. My last and third choice is A Notorious Love by Sabrina Jeffries. This is more of an “on the road” trope of a romance. This pair is in search of our heroine’s sister who they believe has been taken. But they fall in love in the process and work out some past issues. What I loved most about this book, was seeing the process of these two falling in love with each other and the charming way they connect to each other. Now I want to re-read all of these again LOL.

I do want to mention one last thing, romance will always be my go-to type of books to read. In fact, I read pretty much just romance when it comes to fiction. As long as it has a love story I will read it —and must have an HEA. I love the way romances work and seeing the emotional and physical bonds form, and knowing that they will end up together.

 

Questions For The Readers? 

How old were you when you fell in love with romance? What is your story? 

Why do you love it so? 

What are your favorites that won you over?

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12 Comments

  1. Red Iza

    You… hated reading ?! I can’t even begin to imagine that, lol !

    I guess my very first romances must have been… classical romances, books by Daphne du Maurier, or Mary Webb’s Sarn, but my over-the-top favorites had to be the Brontë sisters (Wuthering heights, The tenant of Wildfell Hall). And I’m crazy about Jane Eyre, I can relate so much to her, her smoldering passion hidden under the proper appearance. Later, I loved Jane Austen’s novels. And the first (modern historical) romances that I became a fan of were written by the great Robin Schone 🙂
    Great topic, Renee, and I love its logo 🙂

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      haha I know I know!! I still look back and can’t believe it. The classics are always fun, and Jane Eyre is one of the best ones right? She is so easy to connect with. Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply
  2. Quinn's Book Nook

    Renee, I love this post. I really, really do. I love learning how people fall in love with reading or reading a particular genre.

    And also, I love that The Secret is one of your favorites. That is definitely my favorite Garwood book (although I love nearly all her historicals). There is just something extra special about The Secret. I love the wonderful friendship between Judith and Frances Catherine, and I love how Judith and Iain come together. Iain is just so dreamy.

    I mentioned in my HistRom101 post that I fell in love with the romance genre when I was a freshman in college. But that was a long time ago, also before Goodreads although there were some ebooks, but there weren’t ereaders. I remember buying a few and reading them on my desktop computer. Not the most comfortable, but so worth it, am I right?

    When I first got into romance, I went on this epic reading binge, and I’ve been thinking of doing a post on it. I’ve never been on a reading binge like that since.

    Thanks so much for sharing! I really enjoyed reading how you fell in love with romance.

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      Thank you, its always fun learning how others fell in love with reading. Every one has a unique journey, so its interesting to see how our expereinces affect that. I agree about the Secret, just because it has such depth to it, more than you see it quite a bit of other books. I so remember reading books on my computer…not a blast of fun, only had bought like a couple of books. But I do remember really liking those books. Reading binges are so fantastic….still on mine after ten years!! Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts on this topic.

      Reply
  3. Sophia Rose

    Adding my excitement to the others, here. I love reading your story aka journey to romance reading. I honestly can’t recall a time before enjoying romance. Like Iza, I started early with the classic romances when my mom read them to me and my brother. He appreciated the swashbuckling in 3 Musketeers while I sobbed over the doomed romance. As a teen, I supplemented my love of mystery with a slide into Romantic Suspenses of Victoria Holt, Phyllis A Whitney, Mary Stewart, etc. My first straight up romances were my mom’s Wagons West series by Dana Fuller Ross and White Indian series by Donald Clayton Porter. Historical Romance was my go-to and remains a strong favorite though I have ventured into the enjoyment of several other sub-genres.

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      It’s always fun to learn each others romance journey right? I think I always liked romance, just never really read full on romance until my mid teens. Victoria Holt is a fabulous author, I really have enjoyed her work. Both old and new. I do love those westerns though, they are always so fun. Jeanette Oaks was always a favorite of mine. I love romantic suspense too, I used to read Clive Cussler a ton, which didn’t have romance as the focus, but there was a romantic element which was always fun to see. Although his books are more adventure/suspense.

      Reply
    • Bea @ Bea's Book Nook

      “Victoria Holt, Phyllis A Whitney, Mary Stewart, etc” I went through 3 different libraries collections of those authors. Lately I’ve had an urge to go back and revisit them. At the time, I didn’t think of them as romantic suspense, but they really were, weren’t they? Mysteries are another fave genre of mine so the combo of the two appeals to me immensely. There was a time when I thought most romances had a mystery aspect to the story; it was years before I realized romantic suspense was it’s own separate subgenre. 😀

      Reply
      • Sophia Rose

        Oh yes, Bea! I think they would make excellent re-reads. I wonder if my library carries them…

        Reply
  4. Bea @ Bea's Book Nook

    Love, love, LOVE Lynn Kurland, happy sigh. And now I need to re-read This Is All I Ask.:)

    I started with romances by reading the ones my mother checked out of the library, I think I was 12 or 13? Then I started getting them from the library then I started in on my stepmother’s collection. I was very happy when romances shifted away from historical to contemporary. Contemp and rom suspense are my fave romance subgenres. I read the occasional PNR or erotica but my heart belongs to contemp and rom suspense.

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      Oh yes she is fantastic right?? Just love her books. Its pretty fun seeing all the various areas of romance and how it has changed right? rom suspense is a fun genre to read!!

      Reply
  5. Jo

    Romance isn’t my favourite genre, but when I read it, it tends to be YA. Outside of YA, I fell in love with the contemporary romcoms by Freya North when I received a free copy of Pip with a magazine. That lady writes such brilliantly emotional stories, but ones with warmth and humour. I love them. I’m also quite a fan of Rainbow Rowell’s romance novels too. Though I tend to steer clear of adult romance, because I’m not really a big fan of too much sex. I just end up getting bored. I prefer the emotional side of things in my fiction. Great post! 🙂

    Reply
  6. Jennifer_FairyTales

    My first romance novel was a contemporary fantasy called Bedazzled which had a magical bowl named Elvis that helped the hero/heroine get together. It wasn’t very good, but I was fascinated by the idea that a book could focus mostly on a love story. So I went hunting through my mom’s bookshelf and found Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Hannah Howell. Howell’s books really stuck with me so I delved deeper into historical romances. Julia Quinn’s Bridgertons series really sealed the deal with me finding the true joy of romance and I have been an addict ever since.

    Reply

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