The Benefits Of Reading Romance Novels

Which Ones Should I Read?

You can gain much pleasure from reading a romance novel especially if you feel that you are stuck in a rut or bored stiff with your daily, routine and mundane life or, you are feeling really lonely and want to feel the beauty of love and romance in your head.

Let’s look at a few more reasons why many women choose romance novels over other genres:

Romance novels allow us to escape into a world of love and happiness and take us away from our lives and into someone else’s happy life even though it is just fiction. We hang onto every lovely word of joy, love and happiness and that alone brings us pleasure. We can safely experience the passion and the power of love that is being expressed by the characters in the book and feel a connection by becoming the woman or the man and enjoying the sensation and expression of love that those characters are experiencing.
For many years romance novels have always be aimed at women and it only natural that more women read them than men. Today around 82% of romance novels are read by women with 18% read by men. The plot usually always centres around the desires and pleasures of the female rather than the male. The woman is in control of her desires and pleasures so there is always a feeling of safety for women reading the book. The female reader is in control and she knows that the warmth and happiness of romance will keep her within that comfortable and pleasurable space and free from threats.
Romance novels always generally have a happy ending so the reader knows that when she has finished the book she will remain in that happy state of mind even if it is for a short time. Every woman wants a happy ending and expect it from a romance novel. The feel-good factor from reading how the romance started and progressed whether the characters were friends or foes beforehand allows for us to feel their love and tenderness with the full knowledge that all will end well like a fairy tale come true.
Women feel more confident to explore their own desires after reading romance novels which makes them feel empowered.
There is a sense of voyeurism when looking into someone else’s love life like you can through reading a book. It feels like you are observing the romance of a stranger and how they deal with it. Seeing if it is different from your past or current romance has an air of comparison about it. Would you do the same as the characters in the book or not. The curiosity through this voyeurism helps us understand, contrast and compare our relationships with the opposite sex.
This warmth and mellowing feel good factor women get from reading romance novels helps to de-stress women as chemicals in the brains that control our pleasures like dopamine and oxytocin are released.

The Chosen Romance Authors

There is many different type of romance novels. I have selected three top authors who have sold millions of copies worldwide. These are three different romance writing styles and plots.

Barbara Cartland which are clean, pure romances and these are for readers who just want a love story with stunning, safe locations and nice, romantic plots. Castles and palaces and beautiful buildings were often featured in her novels. Barbara Cartland was the step-grandmother of Princess Diana. She was married twice and had three children.

Danielle Steele incorporates rich, multi-generations of family in her romance novels. Set in modern times she writes about the crisis women face whilst overcoming trauma and finding love. Danielle Steel was married five times and had seven children plus two step-children. Elements of her life are often said to be within some of her plots.

Jackie Collins whose romance style can be lusty, brutal, revengeful with the rich and powerful Hollywood elite being the main characters. There was lots of gossip in Hollywood and Jackie Collins listened and transformed the gossip into her plots and dramatised them. If you want grit, action and steam in your romance novels then Jackie Collins novels are a good choice.

Barbara Cartland is a best-selling romance writer who writes about love and adventure. The women in her novels are strong and self-reliant and not afraid to make changes. They are young, kind hearted, intelligent women who use their minds to navigate difficult circumstances they find themselves in. Her storytelling centres around historical romances set in the Victorian and Edwardian days. The settings are glamourous with beautiful buildings such as castles and royal courts to fit in perfectly with the aristocratic characters who are rich. Being wealthy they travel to exotic places. The romancing and love are tender and pure just like her young female main characters. Cartland wrote over 700 books over 73 years, her first being written in 1925. She kept explicit sexual scenes out of the book plots basing the romance around love, chivalry and the embrace. If this is your type of romance novel then here are a selection of her novels for you to choose from.

Love Me Forever set in 1870 is about a daring Duke who meets Ame whilst on a secret mission on his way to Paris. The journey is filled with intrigue, forbidden affection and danger.
The Enchanted Waltz set in 1815 during the Congress of Vienna Wanda meets Richard and they fall in love whilst he is on a mission. Political intrigue, deceit and lies force Wanda to navigate the dangers that come with her new life.
Safe in Paradise set in 1887 Zarina comes back home from the glitz of London to her ancestral home. She meets Rolfe who owns a neighbouring estate, a dashing man who is very troubled due to the problems involving his estate. They navigate their way to love despite the drama and forbidden love.

Danielle Steele is the most successful romance writer selling over 800 million copies of her romance novels worldwide. Her emotionally compelling love stories are dramatic and powerful and appeal to a wide audience. Having written over 150 romance novels there is plenty to keep you in pleasure for a while. Her romance novels are less sugar-coated as they can take us away from that happy place by reading about loss. Her books therefore appeal to a much wider audience hence more of her books sold as some readers do not want 100% happiness in a book. Dramatic events in the plots may take women out of that happy space, others enjoy the pace as it empowers them to cope with dramatic events they may have had and are still struggling with or be feel more confident that they too can cope if something liked that happened to them in the future.

Matters of the Heart The plot centres Hope a photographer who meets a world-famous writer named Finn. With gaps in Finn’s history whilst falling for Finn Hope has to deal with trust, lies and dark suspense.
Safe Harbour Ophelie meets Matt through her young daughter Pip after a devastating loss. The plot is about a blossoming romance and healing after a loss.
Summers End The plot is about Deanna, a married woman who meets Ben on a secluded beach whilst her husband is away in Paris for the summer. Deanna navigates the emotional toil that the affair has on her and life-altering decisions she has to make.

Jackie Collins is another best-selling romance author whose plots are filled with glamour, sex, love, betrayal and revenge within high society circles and the entertainment industry. Her book plots are steamy and sleazy and very cut-throat. Marital infidelity, mobs and gangsters bring her plots into a modern world. Female characters are strong, powerful and ambitious and will do anything to get to the top. Centred around Hollywood and the glamour that and richness of the people within it brings excitement to her storytelling. Showbusiness and scandal makes her books very appealing to many women as it gives them a chance to escape in their minds to Hollywood giving them a taste of the lives of the rich and famous albeit all in fiction. It makes women feel empowered and stronger after reading her novels.

Married Lovers Cameron escapes her abusive husband Gregg and meets Ryan who is married to Mandy. Cameron becomes involved with Gregg and his best friend Andy. The plot centres around love, lust and betrayal amongst Hollywood’s glamorous high flyers.
Sinners Sunday, an aspiring actress meets Charlie, a well-known actor in Hollywood. The plot centres on love and lust and the dark side of fame and of the Hollywood elite with explicit content.
Dangerous Kiss Lucky, a strong and exciting woman grew up in top crime family. Her marriage struggles when a member of her family is gunned down in a hold-up. She meets a man from her past and begins an affair. List, love, murder and revenge form the basis of the story.

After reading three romance novels ask yourself how much have you learned from reading those books. Keep reading for added knowledge and pleasure.