I wasn’t really a reader of the traditional “romance” novel until about two years ago.  I picked up a novel that sounded cute, discovered it was romance, and was kinda hooked on the genre.  I know that it does set up false expectation of how love and romance function in the real world.  In real life it is a mix of timing, chemistry, and yes, hard work that make relationships and love last.  The meet-cute is not likely to happen in real life.  No adoring looks across a crowded room.  No bonding over some silly situation.  No instant heat and chemistry.  No perfect Prince Charming to sweep a damsel off her feet.  But hell if it isn’t a damn hoot to read.  For the time while I am reading that story I get to have a little fun, keep a little of the faith, and just let go for a bit into a world of romantic possibilities.  Sometimes it’s nice to step away from the world at hand and just have something a little happy and a little romantic to lose myself in, when the real world isn’t so romantic.  I mix it up with more serious reading, but I find a good romantic story line hard to put down.  I oooh and ahhh, laugh, and find myself taking what I like to call the “Reading Vacation,” and I am not ashamed in needing to take one every once in a while.

K