I love category romance. I've been reading M&B romances ever since I was a school girl and the books have been with me through thick and thin. I can't remember the first M&B I ever picked up, but back in the day the books weren't split into lines like they are know, but all simply published as Mills and Boon romances and although writers have come and gone, covers changed and made more colourful and lines may have evolved, my enjoyment of these books hasn't diminished and nothing gives me greater pleasure than going to town in the first or second week of every month to pick up my books from my favourite bookseller and then going home and settling in for a good read. I'm also lucky in that as a reviewer of category romance, I get books by my favourite writers popping through the letterbox and there's been many a time when the postman delivers a review copy early in the morning, that I forget about the dirty cups in the sink or the pile of ironing and just put my feet up and indulge in the last romance by one of my favourites.
Although critics are quick to scoff and dismiss category romances, I just love reading them. I love the passion, the drama and the intensity of Modern/Presents, the variety, the humour and the emotion of Romance and the adrenaline, passion and humanity of Medical. And as a historical romance junkie who cut her reading teeth on Austen and Heyer, I just love being transported to the past and the M&B Historical writers deserve to be applauded for writing romances that are not just wonderfully passionate but also evocative and richly textured with historical details as opposed to many of today's historical romances published by others which could be set in the present day so scant is the research. Of course, then there are the books being published with Silhouette and there are many wonderful writers being published under the many lines such as favourites like Susan Mallery, Leanne Banks and Diana Palmer.
In my opinion, some of the best writers of romance writing today are writing category romances and people who disparage them clearly do not know what they are missing!
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3 comments:
Thank you, Julie. Great to have you back blogging. And I agree with all you have said. It is such a shame that so many people sneer at category romance fiction as there are some superb writers and books out there to enjoy. The majority of the detractors have probably never read one - or if they have, it was years ago and they have no idea how the lines have evolved.
Books, category and otherwise, bring so much pleasure and that should be celebrated.
Happy reading!
Love,
Mags
Julie,
Hi! You know that I just love reading category romance. I think that most people that have something negative to say probably have never read a single category romance book. They don't know what they are missing.
There are so many different series, and so many wonderful authors. They are missing out on some great books!
Lidia
Thanks for such an impassioned blog, Julie. It's an honor to write books that are appreciated, even loved, by many people all over the world.
It's a shame that some people judge books and their readers without ever opening the covers and allowing themselves to be swept into such wonderful stories. I'm so glad you do. Don't ever lose the joy of reading whatever touches your heart.
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