Hello readers! Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, so let’s talk about romance books. I am going to have what I believe is the best Valentine’s Day of my life this week.
It’s my first Valentine’s Day with my current boyfriend, and he is doing more for me than I’ve had done for the previous 10. I hope everyone has a great Valentine’s Day! If you’re single, celebrate yourself or your friends!
Last year, I made myself a bag of gifts, and one for my mom and my daughter. Of course, I made my daughter a bag of gifts again in 2026. Please make a big deal out of holidays like this for your kids so they have high expectations for future partners!
Check out my Book Blogger Hop Masterlist to see more Book Blogger Hop posts I’ve done!
If you’ve never heard of Book Blogger Hop, it is hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addict. Each week a discussion topic is given and many book bloggers post based on that topic. New topics start on Friday and end the following Thursday. I personally always post my answers on Sundays.
Prompt| February 13th – How do you feel about the current state of romance novels?
I am very happy that romance books have become so big in the past few years. Romance is nowhere near my biggest genre, but I do really enjoy it. And I enjoy it more and more as I get older.
I believe that for most of my life, romance has been viewed as a lesser genre. It was seen as something only for women and lacking substance. I think the boom of the genre has really proved the impact that it has.
In the era we are in, where subgenres of romance are so prominent, readers who wouldn’t typically pick this type of book up are doing so.
It’s most interesting to me to see it merged with the literary fiction genre. These types of books can really go deep into trauma and other issues of the main character, while also giving them a happy ending.
Even though I am not a reader of dark romance, I do understand its importance and impact for those who read it. I’ve spoken to a lot of readers of dark romance on Booktok who say they enjoy it because it helps them work through personal traumas they’ve been through in a safe environment. That is deeply powerful.
Another thing that I love that is really big right now in romance is indie authors. Of course, we don’t want to give a lot of praise to Amazon. But because of Amazon and KDP, indie authors are thriving. Becoming a successful indie author has never been as accessible as it is right now. They make more money per copy through Amazon, and can make even more if they put their books on Kindle Unlimited.
If I could give one criticism of the current state of romance, it would be the lack of diversity. When I say this, I mean among the popular books. Of course, there are books that exist by many people of color, are lgbt, or center characters with disabilities, but one of those rarely becomes really popular.
This topic always comes up as a criticism of Goodreads during the Goodreads Choice Awards. The books that are picked as the top 20 are not diverse enough, and this goes for more than just romance.
However, it isn’t Goodreads that’s the problem here. It’s the readers. Goodreads is a popularity contest, so if we are not making books that are diverse popular, they won’t appear on the Goodreads Choice Awards.
I’m actually very interested in the comment section if you, as a romance reader, imagine yourself as the main character. I personally don’t do this myself, and I’ve noticed that the majority of people who do this do not want to read characters who are different from them.
If you liked this post, check out these other romance posts| ✨💟
Let’s Talk Bookish: Romance Tropes
Happy blogging and bookish adventures! 📚🦒✨
This post was created by Allison Wolfe for www.allithebookgiraffe.com and is not permitted to be posted anywhere else.
Where to find me: https://linktr.ee/Allithebookgiraffe
Add this user on Goodreads for all your trigger warning needs: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/86920464-trigger-warning-database
Alli the Book Giraffe 
Leave a comment