Romance Vs No Romance

One of the things that a lot of my reader friends always say is how they can’t read a book, or don’t enjoy it as much, if there isn’t romance. It got me thinking about the books I read and whether romance affects my enjoyment of them. I found that it does! My favourite books all have a huge romance element but on closer inspection for me, it doesn’t have to include it. So I decided to do a post about the pros of reading books with, and without, romance. You’ll find some of my favourite books mentioned as well.

Romance

Why do I read books with a heavy romance element? I’m a hopeless romantic at heart and I’m a sucker for a good romantic storyline. Here are three main reasons why I think people enjoy a good romance novel.

• There’s a happy ending! I love knowing that even if my heart is going to be put through the wringer a few times in the journey of the book/series that in the end it’s going to be happy ending and I’m not going to be heartbroken.
• Romance can give people hope! Relationships, especially romantic relationships are often the cause of many hard times for a lot of people. If you are going through some hard times and you connect with a character, it can give you hope that you’ll find a happy ending too.
• Romance can lighten up a darker storyline! I find that romance can be a nice positive break from all the drama in a book. Especially in high fantasy books or dystopia books when things can be very dramatic and dark, it gives that little bit of light heartedness to the story.

Some of my favourite books with Romance:

No Romance

Now, a lot of my reader friends always say how they need romance to enjoy a book. While I do prefer if there is some romance I’ve found some books I’ve absolutely adored didn’t really have any romance at all. So here’s some reasons why I love book with no romance.

• There’s more focus on the plot! Without a plot I cannot read books. If there is all romance and nothing else happening I get really bored. I love a fast-paced, action-packed plot and if I have that I find I don’t need romance.
• They can explore other types of ‘love’! All love doesn’t have to be romantic love and some of my favourite books has focused more of friendships and familial bonds and I have absolutely loved that.
• It can be empowering! Some romance can be portrayed in a toxic way, and show toxic relationships being ‘endgame’. We have a societal expectation that everyone is going to end up married and with a happy family so seeing a book where the main character, regardless of what sex they are, end up realising that they can be happy alone can be really empowering and representative for those people who don’t want to be in relationships etc.

Books I’ve loved with no or very little romance:

Do you prefer books with or without romance? Let me know!

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