WHY IS ROMANCE SO POPULAR?

        No matter how you look at it, the average woman wants a “real” man … a man who truly loves her to the point of adoration … a man who is a good provider … who understands what a woman needs and wants … a protector … a man who is strong for her but would never use that strength to abuse her.

        At the same time, we like to read about strong, brave women who match those strong men … women who appreciate their lover and protector. Even though they are brave in their own right, women in romances realize that they need and want a man by their side, and they love him in all the right ways. And I find it so much fun to write about a woman who has that strong man wrapped around her little finger … AND HE DOESN’T EVEN KNOW IT!

        I am smiling as I write this. Jake and Randy in my Outlaw series, and Zeke and Abbie from Savage Destiny are my favorite couples. They perfectly fit the kind of men and women I mentioned above. Most of the couples I write about also fit that description, but I guess because the man and woman in the two series above spend so many years together and go through so much together, they have become my favorites.

        To me, romance isn’t always about hopping into bed and having hot sex, although that is also enjoyable reading. But there is sex that is the result of true love, and gratuitous sex that is the result of lust, not love. I prefer writing the true love sex … the kind that brings a couple together in a deep, abiding need to please each other … the kind of love that encompasses all emotions and is many times more fulfilling.

         I received what I felt was a great compliment not long ago from a reader. She praised my love scenes, telling me they were the best she’d ever read. That really warmed my heart because romance writers do often wrestle with just how far to go in their sex scenes. They are not always as easy to write as readers might think. I have never liked reading lustful love scenes that are gratuitous and written only to throw some hot sex into a story. Nor do I care for sexual encounters between strangers just because they want to feel good and have dirty sex. My number one goal is to write a good love story about a couple whose love for each other helps them face the challenges and conflict that is bound to come between two people who spend years together.

        Sex should be very emotional. It should come from a desire to give pleasure to the partner because they adore each other, and to receive pleasure in return. Sex should be the result of sharing bodies right down to the core, both mentally and physically … to share pleasure that lasts long after the actual sexual encounter.

        We all know that a lot of men don’t understand what women really want, and it’s not even always the sexual act itself. Sometimes we just want to be adored, to be held close, to be respected and protected. I always try to write heroes who do understand that. Sometimes they don’t at the beginning of my story, but they end up falling so deeply in love that the understanding just comes naturally.

        Sometimes the hero has to be taught what true love is all about. That would be Jake, who never understood the meaning of love until Miranda walked into his life. And sometimes the hero has to be taught that a woman can cure his loneliness. That would be Zeke. And both men, along with many of my other heroes, have to be taught that they become stronger and braver, and they can control their anger and live with a tragic past when they have a woman by their side who understands them and can help them reason with their lawless urges. Nearly all men have those urges and need to learn to control them. Having a woman and children to provide for and protect helps them make the right decisions.

 

        Jake, of course, and Zeke, too, are unique in their desire to avenge wrongs against those they care about. Still, the very loved ones who drive that need are the same people who help them see the wrong of it. Men like the strong, brave, capable men who live in a lawless land are not easy to reason with, so I try to write heroines who can stand right up to such men and fearlessly demand that they control their wild side.

        Still, my heroines can usually do a pretty good job of taking care of themselves and their families on their own if they have to. They are brave and capable. No fainting flowers in my stories. But down deep inside, they love a man who makes them feel safe, a man who they know would stand in front of a train if it meant saving their life or the lives of their children. When I continue Jake and Randy’s story in my next Outlaw book, I am thinking of calling the book SAFE IN HIS ARMS. Isn’t that a wonderful feeling? Randy mentions that several times throughout the OUTLAW HEARTS series. “I feel safe in your arms” – or – “Nothing can hurt me when I am here in your arms.”

        Reading about heroic men and women, and reading about true love has to be the number one reason romance is so popular. Don’t you think? I have always told men that if they really want to know what women want, READ A ROMANCE!

 

 

PS -- the reissue of my 1989 book THIS TIME FOREVER is now available in trade paperback and ebook versions!  Read it for the first time or revisit an old friend:  https://amzn.to/4aWnsY9