Nine Rules for Reading Romance from Sarah MacLean

Long before I was a romance writer, I was a romance reader. And once you’ve started reading romance, you’re hooked. You always have a romance novel with you (thank heavens for eReaders, because now you always have hundreds of romance novels with you), and anytime something crazy happens in your world, you think, ‘How would my favorite heroine respond to this?’

As you can probably tell by the titles in my Love By Numbers series, I like lists. So, it’s only natural that I have one for reading romance.

I give you, Nine Rules for Reading Romance:

1. It’s ok if you fall in love with the hero. The man in your life never has to know a thing.

2. Before you crack open that historical romance, be aware of one thing: there was an epidemic of virgin widows in 18th & 19th-century England.

3. Shapeshifters are hot. If you didn’t know it before, I’m telling you now.

4. Resist the desire to think about historically accurate smells. All characters in Romancelandia live in a special bubble where people are obsessed with good hygiene.

5. Chances are, you’ll want to be best friends with the heroine. It’s ok. Chances are, your current best friend has some of the qualities you like so much in the heroine.

6. Stick with the hero when he does something dumb. There will be groveling. And it will be worth it.

7. If you fall for a secondary character (and you will)…no worries. The author is in love with him, too. And she likely won’t rest until he gets his own love story.

8. Be warned: once you start reading romance, you won’t be able to stop.

9. Happily Ever After happens.

What are your rules for reading romance?

Books One and Two in the Love by Numbers series from Sarah MacLean are available from Piatkus Entice now.