Falling in love with reading romance
Since joining the team at the HEA Bookshop (in November- I cannot believe it has been that long!), I find myself often thinking and talking about what it is to be a romance reader. Reading has the reputation of being an introverted hobby, completed from the comfort of your own sofa with TV Show re-runs on in the background. Whilst reading, thankfully, can be that moment of the day where my mind quietens, it can also be one of my most social hobbies too! 24-hour readathons with your friends, book clubs, HEA Pop-Ups and of course, author signings- every part of the reading community includes people and friendship!
My reading journey began in 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown (when I was 17), where I suspect reading began for many of you too. Whilst I'd always loved escaping into fictional worlds, my parents had tried and tried to make me a reader but I just wasn't. In true stubborn child fashion, the moment they stopped trying to force me, I fell in love with the words on the pages. I was a complete and utter fangirl growing up and Twihard for many, many years. I would never change who I was to be considered 'cool' by my peers and ultimately, I didn't have many friends. The words I read and worlds I escaped into became my safe haven.
The first romance series I read over and over again (I think about 8 times in a row) was the After Series by Anna Todd. I couldn't get enough of the story and characters and quite frankly, I thought that no other books existed like them. Oh, how wrong I was. I began engaging in BookTok and reading every recommended book under the sun. Every single book I read consumed me.
Fast forward a few years to when I was at the University of Nottingham completing my undergraduate politics degree. I had no friends to discuss the books I was reading with, but every book I recall reading at that time has a memory attached to it. Whether that be a stressful deadline, the tram that had gotten delayed, or the particularly good hot chocolate I was drinking, you couldn't think of me without thinking about books.
It wasn't until my master's degree in Publishing where I found a true group of bookish friends. We spent countless hours (between and in lectures) talking about books and still do to this day. We attend HEA Pop-Ups together, exchange books and freak out over our favourite book boyfriends (I'm talking about you, Professor Orion from Zodiac Academy).
I'm no longer the 17-year-old with fictional characters as her only friends but am now a 23-year-old surrounded by the most loving reading community who somehow gets to say that this is her job! I am incredibly lucky and if I can spread a bit of the bookish magic I've felt through my reading journey to you then I'd consider it a job well done.
With love,
Robyn (@robyneve17)