To have never had even the tiniest interest in romance novels!

[Judy35]

This is meant to be light hearted, not too serious.

But I am 29, I read lots of books and I have never read a romance novel.
Lots of my friends read, I have recently joined a book club too and I am actually so surprised at how many people my age love romance books!

I thought I’d give a romantasy novel a go and honestly, I’m struggling to read it. I have absolutely no interest in romantic scenes, couples, flirting - any of it. In fact even the tiniest hint towards it makes me cringe. It’s made me want to DNF.

I think I just feel a bit out of place compared to most people my age!
(for context I am in a relationship and am very romantic in real life!)

I can’t stand anything with sex in it. Really makes me cringe and immediately makes me want to put the book down. My preference is for thriller or fantasy books but so many fantasy books now are basically porn in a book which I hate. I guess we’re all different and if people like that then that’s fine but definitely not for me! (Not sure if it’s age related, I’m 45 but always been like this).

I do not have much preference for romance but I did when I was younger probably. I think the rise in crime novels is particularly curious. If I was going to question anything it would be why there’s so much gruesome interest in horrific murders.

I'm 45 and can't abide romance novels. Never could. The closest I've ever got is Jackie Collins.

I like horror and thrillers and vintage fiction like Elizabeth Taylor/Mollie Panter-Downes.

I like romance in novels but I prefer sex scenes to be fade to black or just hinted at otherwise I find it a bit cringy. I like anything by Jane Austin and some of the milder romantasy novels. I also enjoy fantasy without much romance in it.

I'm not a fan of thrillers/gritty crime novels or books with no female characters.

I'm half way through writing a fantasy novel at the moment (just for fun) and there's only about 3 kisses in the whole thing 😊

Many many years ago when i left school i went to work in the local authority public libraries as a Trainee Librarian. I'd never come across Mills and Boon until then and it amazed me how popular these books were. Lots and lots of women absolutely devoured them. It was a bit of a joke amongst the library staff, which was actually quite cruel because it was a very deprived area and I expect these romance novels were possibly the only, and pretty innocent, pleasure a lot of the women got in their lives.

I do like a bit of Jane Austen or similar type romance but that's because I like classic literature.

To have never had even the tiniest interest in romance novels.
Me neither. Yawn

Yeah never really appealed either but then a lot of people may not like the books I enjoy..

I used to think the same, but really enjoyed pride and prejudice and wuthering heights after avoiding romance for a long time.

I do cringe at ones that get very sexy but isnt that erotoc fiction rather than romance?

YANBU, why would you? We're all different.

I don't like Horror or crime.

I used to read a lot of the cosy romance type books, confessions of a shopaholic, Bridget Jones etc but got sick of them when going through a breakup and never got interested in them again! I prefer a cosy murder mystery now, nothing psychological or grizzly though!!

I don’t really understand why anyone would think this was a big deal. Of course not everyone likes the same type of books.

Not liking romance novels isn’t any more unusual than not liking, say, crime fiction or sci-fi or horror or spy novels or any other genre.

This. I'm sorry but it feels like people are trying to demonstrate how morally superior they are.

Personally I like old fashioned sci fi, childrens literature and erotic fiction. It doesn't make me better or worse than anyone else.

I wouldnt read a strictly romance book with nothing else going on but I dont mind there being romance in a mystery, horror or thriller book.

Depends on the genre… the Brontes are romance? So is Jackie Collins.

There's a huge variety of romance novels though. Dismissing all romance as if they are all Mills & Boon is silly. I'm not a great fan of erotic romance novels but Joanna Bourne, Georgette Heyer and Laura Kinsale are all excellent. I firmly believe that if Heyer had been male, her books would be celebrated rather than dismissed as romance.