If you read any of my reviews here (and I hope you do!) you should notice I read a variety of genres. I read Young Adult, New Adult, Dystopian, Romance, Sci Fi, Literature, Horror, LGBT and the list actually does go on from there. I don’t review everything I read because not everything is worthy of a review. I read a lot of 3 star books and in general those reviews would be pretty boring so I try to stick to the 4 and up or the 2 and below. So if it seems I read only a certain genre on here that would be why!

But one genre that I do read a ton in is romance. I love romance books. Which is why I get so incredibly annoyed and quite honestly pissed off when I hear over and over about how dumb romance books are or how predictable and fluffy they can be. I assume those people have never read the romance books that I am reading because I don’t read predictable or dumb romance books – those would be the ones I pick up and put down immediately.

I love romance books because they are so all encompassing. They can include literally every genre there is, so you have paranormal romance, the urban fantasy romance, contemporary romance, historical romance, sci-fi romance, inspirational romance, Christian romance and the list seriously goes on and on and on from there. A ton of young adult books can be considered romance because most of them are centered around a romantic triangle of sorts, even while other dramatic events are taking place.

What I hear over and over again is – oh romance is fluff. REALLY? Not the stuff I read. I read Nalini Singh’s captivating Psy/Changeling series with it’s great world building and a build up over 12 books as of now with 3 different races – the Psys, the Changelings, and the Humans trying to coexist. I read Singh’s Guild Hunter series with it’s insanely complex mythology, and a gritty world where archangels guard over their cities. I read Sarah Mayberry’s and Shannon Stacey’s contemporary books with real life settings and real life problems that are so incredibly well written, laced with humor and with intense feeling that I don’t see how it’s any different from any other “normal” book.

I read Ruthie Knox and Tessa Dare. Jill Mansell, Mary Balogh, Jeaniene Frost. I was super excited to read new author Mary Ann Rivers and fall in love with her writing. I just discovered Elyssa Patrick and Sabrina Elkins and absolutely loved their recent releases. Ruthie Knox and Nalini Singh both recommended Laura Florand and off I went to discover yet another author I loved with a totally new twist. I discovered the New Adult genre by reading romance and fell in love with Colleen Hoover, Jessica Park, K.A. Tucker, Tammara Webber.

That’s the other thing I’ve discovered about the romance genre – the people. I was lucky enough to stumble upon a group of book lovers online and then even more lucky to discover a small group of romance lovers within that group. I love having friends who read some of the same books I do. They suggest great books for me to read and we have excellent book discussions on who to read next. We band together because when people get asked what genre they read what we hear most often is anything BUT ROMANCE or I don’t read fluff. We have long discussions about how our favorite books are so not fluffy, they’re emotional and intense, hilarious and suspenseful. I love my romance book friends – they are ridiculously awesome!

But I’ve found that the authors are also just really amazing. Maybe that’s true with all genres, I don’t know. But I find that these authors are kind and funny on Facebook and Twitter. They interact with their fans, give recommendations and get them. Quite honestly, it makes me like some of them even more than I did before.

So the problem with romance critics is that they don’t get it. These books definitely have romance in them obviously. But there is SO much more to them. There is humor, suspense, action, mystery and so much more. But you know what? If you don’t want to read romance that’s totally fine with me. I’m cool with that, I’m not a huge fan of sci-fi either. So don’t read it.

But please do me a favor. Shut up about how stupid or vapid Romance books are unless you read them and want to review them – because obviously if you do so that’s your prerogative to not like something you’ve read. But if you don’t read them then just shut up already. Say you don’t read romance. Leave it at that.

And stop using the word fluff. My books are not fluffy, my cats are fluffy. Get it straight.

~Clio