Spring Break
Love conquers all, even the economy
Nia Richardson
Issue date: 4/14/09 Section: Opinion
Romance novels. Just typing those two words makes me smirk as I remember my grandmother having stacks of them around the house when I was a kid. I was always tickled by the covers of Fabio, hair flowing behind him, with a frail looking woman clinging to his C-sized chest against a backdrop of a stormy sky with a castle ascending in the distance. There is always a castle or a boat.
Nonetheless, in these hard economic times, book publishers are the ones laughing … all the way to the bank. The book industry as a whole fell almost 3 percent last year; however, top publishers of romantic fiction saw an increase of $3 million to its normal projected sales of over $1.5 billion.
I have read a few romance novels and found that they were not exactly my thing. However, they do offer a refuge of emotional plight as you follow the heroine in her quest for true love, and of course she finds it in the arms of a sexy farm hand who turns out to be the heir of an oil fortune who decided to keep that little piece of information a secret until he knew that he had her heart. How sweet is that? OK, maybe I really got into one or two. It is the security of happily ever after that, in these hard times, gives romantic fiction its appeal. People are looking for an escape.
Another virtue of romance novels is that they are cheap. Any fan can afford $4.99 for a paperback novel. The romance novel business has also managed to dip into categories that no other genre ever has. There is a love story for everyone.
If you are into NASCAR, there is NASCAR romance. You can find such titles as "Speed Bumps" and "Full Throttle." There is medical romance, like "Single Dad, Nurse Bride" and "The Baby Issue," which depicts a doctor who wants to be a father to his patient's unborn child. And no, I did not make that up.
Supernatural romance is especially popular now with the "Twilight" series. There is also historical, paranormal and inspirational romance available for those who want to escape a tough day by diving into a love saga.
I suppose I can scoff at romance novels all I want, but I cannot deny my own fascination with fantasy, so I definitely get why people are drawn to these stories. With all the bad news swirling around the real world about the tanking economy, we all could use a fairy tale ending.
This writer can be contacted at opinion@theeastcarolinian.com.
Nonetheless, in these hard economic times, book publishers are the ones laughing … all the way to the bank. The book industry as a whole fell almost 3 percent last year; however, top publishers of romantic fiction saw an increase of $3 million to its normal projected sales of over $1.5 billion.
I have read a few romance novels and found that they were not exactly my thing. However, they do offer a refuge of emotional plight as you follow the heroine in her quest for true love, and of course she finds it in the arms of a sexy farm hand who turns out to be the heir of an oil fortune who decided to keep that little piece of information a secret until he knew that he had her heart. How sweet is that? OK, maybe I really got into one or two. It is the security of happily ever after that, in these hard times, gives romantic fiction its appeal. People are looking for an escape.
Another virtue of romance novels is that they are cheap. Any fan can afford $4.99 for a paperback novel. The romance novel business has also managed to dip into categories that no other genre ever has. There is a love story for everyone.
If you are into NASCAR, there is NASCAR romance. You can find such titles as "Speed Bumps" and "Full Throttle." There is medical romance, like "Single Dad, Nurse Bride" and "The Baby Issue," which depicts a doctor who wants to be a father to his patient's unborn child. And no, I did not make that up.
Supernatural romance is especially popular now with the "Twilight" series. There is also historical, paranormal and inspirational romance available for those who want to escape a tough day by diving into a love saga.
I suppose I can scoff at romance novels all I want, but I cannot deny my own fascination with fantasy, so I definitely get why people are drawn to these stories. With all the bad news swirling around the real world about the tanking economy, we all could use a fairy tale ending.
This writer can be contacted at opinion@theeastcarolinian.com.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 3
Emma
posted 4/14/09 @ 4:49 PM EST
Weird. I heard about the romance novels sales increase the other day (on saturday) on NPR and other stuff they talked about was almost the same as what I am reading in this article. (Continued…)
So
posted 4/14/09 @ 6:26 PM EST
you're saying TEC reported information accurately?
Which would be weird.
Or that they ripped off other people's work and submitted it as their own?
Which would be about as unweird as a thing could be. (Continued…)
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