I am so excited to host my friend Kariss today. We're almost out of February - the "month of love" - but she's got some really valid points on what romance and love really is and how we may have lost the reality of it in what we are reading. We'd both love to know your thoughts below!
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Up until a few years ago, I would have described myself as a closest romantic. Then I had this book come out that my publisher called “romance,” and I could no longer hide. The secret was out. I was a huge romantic. Even as my second and third book released, I continued to struggle with this label until I finally realized why I was wrestling. I didn’t want to identify with romance as culture defines it. We’ve messed it up. Instead, I wanted to redeem the definition.
Romance as God paints it in scripture is something that is strong and steady. It pursues, it asserts, it is something beautiful. Basically, romance is near and dear to the heart of God because He is the embodiment of love. But we have desperately messed it up. Over the past few years, I set out to read more outside the Christian genre. I wanted to see what others called romance. I’ve made a few observations, particularly from my reading of Young Adult Contemporary Romance and Young Adult Fantasy (both genres that I LOVE).
