Internet, I have a confession. Its one that may surprise you if you knew me in real life. Because Internet...I am a closet romance reader. *deep breath* There. I said it and its only because of me love for Alea that I admit this very little known fact about me. If people ask I will tell them that I only started to read romance recently...and then I’ll often clarify that with it’s the paranormal/vampire type books which aren’t really romance. Not like say, all those books with the scantily clad ladies locked in the embrace of an equally scantily clad hunk of a male. But in truth, it has been years. Many years.You see Internet, my mom is a romance junkie. She always has been. In my parents house there were shelves upon shelves of books jammed in every which way. Now they were all romance but I’d say a good 85% of them were. I don’t recall when it first began but I started to sneak read some of her books. I started with some older Harlequin historicals as I have always been fascinated with the past. My public face would make fun of the romances my mom would buy week after week at the book store while I scoured the Fantasy section for Anne McCaffrey, RA Salvatore or the latest in the Forgotten Realms series. But when no one was around I’d whip out one of my mom’s stolen romances and devourer it. I read everything the Diana Palmer’s, the Nora Roberts, Amanda Quick, and Jayne R Krentz. Historicals were my favorites but there were many a contemporary I’d go back to again and again.
That’s right Internet. Not only was I reading Romances...but I was RE-READING them as well!Then Internet it wasn’t long before I began to buy them as well. That’s around when I discovered Julie Garwood, Jo Beverly and many others. I would sneak these books into the house and hide them in my room. When I went off to college I would always have a stash of romances hidden under my bed. Tucked away where no one could see. And when someone would stumble on my secret I’d stumble, turn red and make up some lame excuse never sure if they bought it or not.
Even now, on my blog I keep up this lie that I am new to the genre. One of my recent posts was for Julie Garwood’s The Prize, in my review I make it seem like it was my first time reading this story. But Internet. It wasn’t. Not by a long shot. I’ve read this book dozens of times. First reading it back when it was published...in 1991. It was my first Julie Garwood and one of the first romances that I bought. Please don’t be mad at me Internet for this secret I’ve been keeping. I don’t know why I continue to do it. I’ve just been doing it for so long I don’t really know how to stop. Though, maybe now that my secret is out, now that I have confessed all to you. Maybe...just maybe I will change my ways.Or
Maybe not.
But Internet know I do not mean to deceive...truly I don’t. Its just a long standing habit. So shh...you’ll help me keep my secret? Right?
Thanks Irish!
Your secret is safe with me! Fun post.
ReplyDeleteOoohhh, I'm so proud that you're out of the closet Irish. :D
ReplyDeleteJoin the club!
Love this post. :) Love my romances.
ReplyDeleteHaha, my sister has a closetful of Julie Garwood books x3
ReplyDeleteYour secret is safe with us! What's not to love about Julie Garwoods historicals?
ReplyDeleteI kind of wonder what's the shame in enjoying romances? I don't get why it's considered lame. I've been trying real hard lately to not make up excuses or pretend I don't read romances. I shouldn't be ashamed, right!? So yeah, I'm also a closet romance reader slowly coming out and trying not to care about the weird looks I get for reading romances or watching old movies or any of the other lame things I like. :P
ReplyDeleteCan I said ditto for this confession Irish . :) I have been a closet romance junkie too but then it's a secret.
ReplyDeleteAlea, you have not only been reading romances but are also making other closet romance readers confess :) Your stacks of romance novels week after week will start a new trend LOL
:) Fun POST! I loved it! I used to hide Mills and Boons books too.. and I love Romance books, but u cannot make me admit that LOL!
ReplyDeleteI wonder why there is stigma attached to reading romances, they are just books like thrillers? We romance lovers need to change that.
ReplyDeleteI have LOVED romance ever since I started reading but I have never hid it, not even when I was in college. My guy friends used to make fun of me and sometimes even read some passages aloud. I just ignored them and in time it stopped. Today these same friends bring me romance novels whenever they visit.
I'm proud of the fact that you're out with the secret :)
I think part of the stigma for romances is that they aren't considered by the general populace to be literature. When someone thinks romance they might think that its just a book about sex without much story or plot to it. Its also very stereotypical for women to read romance...and who wants to be thought of as a sterotype?
ReplyDeleteFor my part I spend a good part of my teen years hiding romances because I would always poke fun of my mom for reading them. Making fun of the formulaic plotting and lack of substance. After doing that so often I couldn't very well admit that I liked them too...you know once I started to read them myself.
One thing the whole experience taught me is that I shouldn't judge a book/genre before trying it out for myself...One never knows when they might have to eat their words when they do. =)