Last year, members of the bookstagram community on Instagram created posts to share their Romance reading journeys. I loved the posts and had fun checking out other readers’ romance journeys. I wanted to do one myself, but it looked like too much work for a social media post. So, I decided to save it for a blog post. This is that blog post.
Are you ready to go on my romance reading journey from past to present?
Let’s go!
First adult romance - Once In A Lifetime by Danielle Steel. Read at age 15. It was my mom’s book that I’d always seen and was curious about. I loved it and wanted to name my first born Daphne after the MC.
Soon followed by - Sam’s Letters To Jennifer by James Patterson
First Paranormal romance book/series - Charmed series by Constance M. Burge. Specific books: Kiss of Darkness, Crimson Spell. Now, these aren’t heavy on the romance, but the little bit of romance in them made an impact on me. This was where I’d first come across the phrases “cupped her face” and “framed her face.” I use both in my writing.
First YA romances - Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Then: All-American Girl by Meg Cabot and Teen Idol by Meg Cabot
Another memorable YA romance from the same time period - If I Have A Wicked Step-Mother, Where’s My Prince? by Melissa Kantor
Second adult romance book - The Ring by Danielle Steel
First Historical Romance - Calder Born by Janet Dailey
First Nora Roberts book - Midnight Bayou
Then I devoured nearly every Nora Roberts and several J.D. Robb books (funny thing is I started with Rapture in Death, which is Book 4) from 2007-2011.
Romantic-suspense became my everything, which is why romantic-suspense is my favorite genre to write. I also read a few Sandra Brown’s during that period. It was Chill Factor by Sandra Brown that gave me the idea to write Hurricane Crimes.