My friends are always telling me how much of a hopeless romantic I am, so it comes as no surprise that I love Valentine’s Day. Garrett woke up to a couple little treats around the house, and once he headed off to work, I got started on a carrot cake for dessert tonight….at 5:00 am! It was the only time I had all week to bake it, so I got up, put my apron on, and started to work. I still have to put the cream cheese icing on it when I get home, but I’m sure I’ll be glad to have the baking part of it out of the way.
In honour of Valentine’s Day today, I thought I would confess to one of my favourite hobbies – reading romance novels. I’m not talking about those cheesy books from the 70’s and 80’s, but more like modern chick lit. Something with a great heroine, a little comedy, a hunky male lead and of course a fun love story.
It all started when I was stuck working a job where I spent most of my time at a park, sitting in the middle of nowhere, waiting for campers to arrive. There were many days of sitting around with nothing to do. That was when I started reading books at an alarming rate. 2-3 a week. I was reading anything I could get my hands on.
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| Kristan Higgins – Always a fun read! |
Flash forward to years of sitting on public transportation or waiting for bus, killing time with a good book. Even now I find myself reading for at least 30 minutes every night. It calms my mind, letting me escape from the toils of the day and throw myself into a fun story.
I still read many other types of books – popular fiction, non-fiction, work related, you name it. But when I’m looking for something that can just let me step into another world for a couple of minutes, I often find myself returning back to a paperback romance novel. It’s not uncommon for me to keep one in my purse for those moments when you’re waiting for awhile, like at a doctor’s office.
Jennifer Crusie’s book, Crazy For You, is what started it all. Since then, I’ve read everything that she’s read at least once and often go back and read my favourites (Agnes and the Hitman, Fast Women, Bet Me, Faking It, all great reads!). Her characters are so fun and relatable, that it’s like visiting an old friend. Her own books are great, but I also love her collaborations with Bob Mayer. These usually have some kind of military/special ops backstory, which makes them a little more accessible to men. Garrett even read a few of them last summer and enjoyed them.
Some other authors that I’ve really enjoyed over the years – Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Lori Foster and Janet Evanovich (especially her Wicked series) to name a few. I tend to lean more towards those with a witty sense of humour and a captivating story. I’ve read lots of books that are hit or miss, but I find that anything by these authors is entertaining.
If you’ve read any great books this year, I’d love to hear about them in the comments! I’m always looking for a good read.
Anything Marian Keyes is good in my opinion – she’s HILARIOUS
I don’t think I’ve ever read anything by her, but I’ll have to give her a try. Thanks for the suggestion 🙂
Have you ever read Great Expectations? One of my all-time favourites, and I might consider it a “romance”.
I’ve never read it, but now I’ll have to add it to my list. There are so many of the classics that I’ve never gotten around to reading yet, but I should!