There was a time, and not long ago, when Colleen Hoover could stroll unnoticed through her own hometown 鈥 which is saying something since Saltillo, Texas, has a population of 300 people.
Authors of romantic fiction all used pen names.
Their books were shelved in the back of the bookshop, back near the Westerns.
Well, Toto, we鈥檙e not in Kansas anymore. Hoover is the No. 1 selling author in the world, romance novels dominate the bestseller lists, and the genre is changing the way the book business is done.
What in the name of Jane Austen is going on here?
鈥淚 think people are now seeing why people like me have been loving romance novels for a long time,鈥 said 蜜柚直播 author . 鈥淭hey鈥檙e fun. They鈥檙e easy to read, and when you finish, you鈥檙e as happy as the main characters are.鈥
People are also reading…
DeLuca鈥檚 name is now on the cover of four romance novels, the latest being 鈥,鈥 which was released last month.
To her, a good romance story is like a cup of hot chocolate on the nightstand. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e going through troubled times and need a place to escape to, you can鈥檛 beat a good romance,鈥 she said. 鈥淵ou know where it鈥檚 going, and you can鈥檛 wait to get there.鈥
All of DeLuca鈥檚 books have been set in Renaissance Faires, familiar territory since her days as a volunteer tavern wench in Florida.
鈥淚 wore the uncomfortable outfit, talked with the bad accent, the whole deal,鈥 DeLuca laughed. 鈥淓ventually, I realized I鈥檇 taken a part-time bartending job in the middle of nowhere and wasn鈥檛 getting paid. What was I thinking? But I always thought it was a pretty romantic setting. Women in attractive dresses? Men with swords? Eventually, that鈥檚 what I started to write about.鈥
DeLuca said she鈥檇 always loved to write 鈥 鈥淲hen I was little, my mom would staple sheets of paper together and I鈥檇 write books about dogs and girls who took naps鈥 鈥 and the rhythms of a romance novel were familiar.
鈥淚鈥檇 read hundreds of them before I sat down to write one,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 just wrote a book I wanted to read.鈥
Her timing was good. The romance wave had already started to build when she released in 2019.
Initially, the surge had begun with the emergence of online book groups. Hoover鈥檚 first book, 鈥,鈥 was pushed to the bestseller list by an army of digital followers who called themselves 鈥淐oHorts.鈥
鈥淪ince the big publishers weren鈥檛 pushing romance sales, readers started doing it,鈥 DeLuca said. 鈥淏y the time I came along, the tide was already rising 鈥 and then 丑补辫辫别苍别诲.鈥
BookTok invited readers to share video reviews of their own favorite titles on the TikTok app. Soon, it became clear that millions of them loved romantic fiction. Even the Big Five publishers saw the light. DeLuca, for one, is published by Berkley Books 鈥 a division of Penguin Random House.
Critics complain that romance novels are formulaic, which they are, but DeLuca suggests the formula is what draws readers to the books.
鈥淭he romance novel makes this promise,鈥 she said. 鈥淭he story will end happily. The couple will fall in love. So whatever the story might be, you can go on this roller coaster with me and feel confident we鈥檙e not going to crash. We鈥檒l all get home safely.鈥
Besides, DeLuca said, isn鈥檛 there a formula in place in other genres, as well? Don鈥檛 all mysteries need to be solved?
Romance writers have added at least two new acronyms to the lexicon of literature. All romance novels must lead to 鈥淗EA鈥 (happily ever after) or 鈥淗FN鈥 (happy for now).
Another new term is 鈥渟picy-ness,鈥 the word BookTokers use for erotica.
Every author has their own level of spicy-ness, and everyone has their own way of telling a story, but all romance books must take us to the corner of Happy and Hopeful.
DeLuca鈥檚 own rules are more nuanced.
鈥淭o me,鈥 she said, 鈥渢he characters are key. You have to like my characters. You have to believe in them, want good things for them. I want to hear that happy sigh when you close my book, so I spend a lot of time working on my characters.鈥
DeLuca and her husband Morgan, a production manager for Dixon Studios, moved to 蜜柚直播 in 2020. They are still exploring their 鈥渘ew鈥 hometown.
鈥淲e got here just in time for the lockdown,鈥 she laughed, 鈥渟o we鈥檙e still exploring. Where should we go this weekend?鈥
DeLuca suspects they鈥檒l be here awhile, and is confident her genre is here to stay, too.
鈥淥ne great thing is that romance readers are voracious,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e鈥檒l read Colleen Hoover and then look around to see what else is out there. It鈥檚 a great time right now for all of us.鈥
Footnotes
Thanks a million! has announced that a record 1 million digital books were checked out by cardholders in 2022. This includes e-books, audio books and all other digital content. That number ranks 51st among all public libraries in the United States. All readers with a library card have access to its digital collection.
The top three e-books borrowed by library members were 鈥溾 by John Grisham, 鈥溾 by Kristin Hannah, and 鈥溾 by Laura Dave.
The top three audio books were 鈥溾 by Delia Owens, 鈥溾 by Jane Austen, and 鈥溾 by Tara Westover.
The 蜜柚直播 Festival of Books has posted its schedule of author presentations of the , .
蜜柚直播 Landmarks: The Joel D. Valdez Main Library, located at 101 N. Stone Ave., is easily recognized by the red "Sonora" sculpture that stands tall in the front plaza. The Main Library is home to the Cele Peterson 蜜柚直播 Collection and the Steinheimer Collection along with other resources available to the public. Video by Pascal Albright / 蜜柚直播.
Browse previous Bookmarks columns and keep up with news from the 蜜柚直播 book community by following Bookmarks 蜜柚直播 (@Book蜜柚直播) on Twitter.
Linda Ronstadt will be at this year's 蜜柚直播 Festival of Books
