Viva logo

Reading Romance Is Self-Care

Or, relearning to love romance books brought me closer to reading again

By Delise FantomePublished 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago 8 min read
1
Reading Romance Is Self-Care
Photo by Theo Crazzolara on Unsplash

I'm at a point in my life now where I want to believe in happiness again. There were a long few years where all that seemed to show upon my horizon was bleak, enduring toil and that eroded my mental health like waves upon the beach shore. But I'm older now, and though in a material sense things still seem stretched thin, my mind is starting to fight back for pieces of happiness. In fact, I'll selfishly and boldly proclaim that I want more than just pieces- I want the whole cake dish of happiness and I'm tired of settling for less. One of the ways I'm doing this is by renewing my relationship with reading again. And the number one genre that's helping me get back into that excited, voracious headspace for new literature?

Romance novels.

I won't lie, I was kind of shocked at myself for being so interested in this broad genre- books with honey soaked prose and ghost pepper heat. I've had a complicated relationship before with romance books- specifically that, as a teen, I never truly wanted to read romance novels but every single YA fiction geared towards young girls had inevitably one end goal relationship- or, if they were really looking to get saucy, a love triangle- subplot that always served as some kind of reward for the main character after her soul searching or whatever she did that counted as a relatable coming of age tale. Which, actually, never ended up being relatable to a black teenage girl in South Florida. Who, also, wouldn't come to realize she was a romantic and asexual until years later. But they were kind of cute and pretty much all I had available after I dropped off of science fiction, so . . .

Long story short, I finally had enough of all that teen drama romance, and packed away my Sarah Dessen books into a box that was always shoved into the back of every closet I ever rented until finally donating them (Meg Cabot stays on the shelves, though). After that I sort of drifted around speculative/contemporary fiction before college and the crushing reality of averageness beat most of the good, happy things right out of me.

Until now. Romance novels are quickly becoming just about my favorite thing in the world. I love that every (proper) romance novel has a happy ending. Right now, in this unstable world with my shaky existence, I need about as much of that as I can get. I want all that soft, happy shit: puppy's fur, rainbows, cream cheese frosting, velvety blankets, and the "happily ever after" of a well done romance. The satisfaction of rooting for a character, and that character gets what they want is such a rush to me. It makes me happy to read about other people being, or becoming happy! Makes it feel attainable to me, in some way, as if every HEA is a manifestation I grow within my heart. "I can be happy too, I can, I can!"

The appeal of a surefire deal- everyone like's an expected good outcome right? If you know before starting something that the end result can only be something that not only enriches you but, goes so far as to nourish you mind and soul, then the natural response is eager. And the stories are so cute! You get to follow along with the story of a cute baker, or a blogger, a couch gremlin or even an aquarium mermaid! You get to bite your lip to fail at suppressing a dorky smile while they're wooed by a grumpy, hot tattoo artist, or a dorky hot IT tech, or an obsessed hot chef! The possibilities for happiness and cute, fluffy interactions is endless!

So, now that I think about it, what exactly got me into romance novels again . . . ? Ah! It started with this book:

"Get A Life, Chloe Brown" by Talia Hibbert was a heralding trumpet. A surge of buttery sunshine through a dark thicket deep in the forest. It was the gentle kiss of saltwater spray after being whipped by hurricane gales. It had been years since a book gripped me like that- to the point where I was pulling it out every lunch break and coming back two or three minutes past time for one last line, and then gushing about it to my work bestie. I just loved- I still love it so much! I got about halfway through rereading it again, and then I was just impatient and started skipping around to reread my absolute favorite parts. I just adored prim, proper and funny Chloe, and the insanely sensual, charming Red. From there I was just ravenous- a book I purchased was a reread for the first time in years? Could I actually be feeling a craving for more of this book, of this type, when I had nearly forgotten what it felt like to want to consume another's words? I was just blown away by the . . . sugary rush of happiness I felt from the words Hibbert carefully penned, and the giddiness of being able to open up that book like a piece of dessert after lunch in my work day.

It wasn't about the kissing or the sex for me. It was about watching these two people take small, nervous steps towards a positive connection that they were sorely lacking. It was reading how happy they made each other, and themselves by learning again how to be vulnerable and honest with other people. I love getting to watch or read as people find their person! It's the sweetest thing in the world to me and I dearly wish that everyone, including myself, can have at least one person who is . . . oh, a number of terms can be used here. Their best friend in the whole entire universe! Their soulmate! Their match, their person!

It was the start of a journey. From there, I knew I'd need a little help curating the list of next books to read from the romance genre, and so sought out help from Twitter. I started trying to include more about romance books on my Twitter, and of course that picked up in my suggested topics, which lead to suggested people, and boom! It introduced me to a handful of Twitter users including Sil (@thebookvoyagers) and mina thee hilo simp (@minareadss), along with snippets of other users who they follow that share the same love for a good, steamy romance. All of a sudden I had half a page of dedicated tweets with excited people screaming nearly every other day about a new fave ship from their new fave book and . . . well, that kind of enthusiasm is catching!

And the snippets were like, scintillating. Blurbs of love interests completely obsessed with the main characters, or MC's going on and on about something amazing the love interest said, or did, or motioned, etc.

So I'd be reading these snippets and thinking to myself, "Huh, this sounds so happy! Full of lighthearted banter, some flustered moments but nothing too angsty. The writing is sweet, prose for days, and the characters are so full of secret yearning or completely obvious worship- and of course each one is oblivious, except oh in this one they're not it's just a ploy to increase tension and . . . wow, the love interest just spills over with flowery compliments and heartfelt sentiments for his heart's desire- you know what this is kind of . . . really unrealistic? I fucking love it."

Next thing I know I've got like 20 bookmarks for books I've either got to find at Barnes & Noble or purchase from an online seller. As soon as im settled into a new place, I'll be ruthlessly hunting down books like "A Line In The Sand", "Digging Up Love", and "Electric Idol". My smile is automatic and easy when those snippets are posted, or I see someone retweeting sil's recommendations with a good natured lament of "Oh my wallet!" There's so many books I can get excited about because now that I know just a little of what it contains I can really up my excitement! I don't have to worry that a cover might be misleading or a summary to unclear because I've seen a morsel of what can be offered, and now my appetite is stirring.

Do you know what I did a few weeks ago, without even thinking about it until I suddenly blinked back to reality? I was at work, just chilling in a closed off area before I had to start stepping, and because I was bored I just went onto my kindle account and browsed around. Took less than a minute to find my kindle recommended books, see a two for one special about Australian romance, and buy them. All I needed to know was that they sounded cute, they were romances, and they were on sale. HEA assured, money gone! I didn't even realize what I'd done until I was ten pages in, and by then I couldn't regret doing it because ten pages was enough to get me hooked. I finished book one in two days. Those books, by the way, were the Rebirth series by Eve Dangerfield.

I'm excited to read all these books I'm seeing readers and writers rave about. Some aren't out yet, and some I can't get for a while longer. But, I'm so excited! I'm excited about being excited, and about anticipating good things . . . there's been, and will continue to be, so much to dread but it's been a long while since I can confidently counter that with things to await pleasantly, and oh wow I'm just so excited!

I cannot wait to fall in love with two idiots falling in love.

artbook reviewspop culturerelationshipshealth
1

About the Creator

Delise Fantome

I write about Halloween, music, movies, and more! Boba tea and cheesecake are my fuel. Let's talk about our favorite haunts and movies on Twitter @ThrillandFear

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.