Why we've fallen head over heels for romance novels

Ahead of one of the world's largest celebrations of romantic fiction, author EMMA-CLAIRE WILSON pens a love letter to the perennially uncool genre

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I KNEW I wanted to be a writer at the age of nine, hiding under bed covers when I was meant to be asleep and devouring the Brontés, Jane Austen. In my teens, I chased literary credibility through Zadie Smith, Dan Brown and Margaret Atwood - following trends and reading what was considered important.

But I was keeping a secret... lurking under my mattress were the well-thumbed pages of the latest Point Romance series. I devoured these stories of teenage love affairs in the darkness and never told a soul. Nine-year-old me would be so proud because I did, in fact, become a writer when I grew up.

When I finally confided in my husband, during a very drunken night in my thirties, that I had secretly always wanted to write a novel, I expected him to laugh me out of the bedroom. He didn't. Thankfully. But even then, I was hesitant when he or anyone asked: "What kind of books will you write?"

I wanted to write books that made people think - books that reflected real life - and romance is central to most people's lives. But I bitterly resisted being labelled a "Romance writer" because romance writers were never taken seriously.

The irony? None of my books work without their romantic elements. They may not be bodice rippers and might not rival Sarah J Maas for passion and fire, but love drives every story I tell.

When my first novel hit the shelves in 2023, I was so excited. I'd bagged a debut book deal with a big publisher with a story we were sure would grip the hearts of the nation. It was called a "tearjerker that will break your heart and put it back together again", and the "next JoJo Moyes" - I was thrilled! Tearjerkers were a winner, no matter the season, no matter the year. But what happened? How did romance go from being the wallflower at the party to the Prom Queen on stage in such a short amount of time?