I don’t know if anyone else feels this way, but it seems like most of the romance books that are being recommended on Goodreads and Booktok and the like don’t actually have much romance to them? Like I’m all for some fun spicy reads, but that seems to be what everyone means now when they talk about the romance genre.
When I go for a romance book, I want a love built on genuine connection and shared goals and communication, not just “we’re the two main leads so of course we’re going to get together”. I keep seeing that in almost every romance I pick up, where the plot is just contrived reasons to stick characters together until they suddenly decide they’re in love (often with a Very short time having passed between this and their first meeting) and the book ends because they’re together now.
Where’s the growing pains of learning how the other works? Where’s the revelation of their flaws and the acceptance of who they are as a person? Where’s the domesticity of them actually being together? The two most recent couples I’ve read like this were >!Claire and Jamie!< from Outlander and >!Vin and Elend!< from Mistborn, which are both series that are older, not talked about as much (at least on my social media), and not (technically) marketed as romance. How then are you supposed to find relationships like that intentionally?
Note- I’m not bashing on the current popular romance genre books because I do enjoy reading them, I’m just frustrated that it’s so hard to find “true” (or maybe traditional?) romance lately.
by korehanan