Top Ten Reasons I Love Contemporary Romance

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Hey everyone! It’s been a while since I’ve taken part in TTT consistently, but it’s a new month and I have a good feeling about June.

This week’s topic was sort of a freebie: Top Ten Reasons I Love X. In the spirit of summer, I chose contemporary romances. Summer weather just puts me in the mood for a cute romance. For fun, I’ve included pictures of books that fulfilled each of the items on the list. 🙂

1. They make me smile.

Let’s be honest: sometimes I need to be captivated by a story that isn’t dark magic and life-and-death situations pushing characters to the brink. Sometimes, I just want to read a cutesy love story with great characters and even better dialogue.

2. They help me recover from darker stories.

As I said, I can’t read doom and gloom fantasy novels 24/7, no matter how much I love them. I’d die of heartbreak and stress. Contemporary romances give me a chance to shake off the stress, heartbreak, and darkness from one fantasy series before starting another one.

I’ve also noticed that when I oscillate between fantasy and contemporary books, I have clearer memories of each, because I don’t ever have similar novels back-to-back. This only seems fair to all of the books I read.

3. They make me want to go out and do new things.

Since You’ve Been Gone really did this for me, as did The Summer of Chasing Mermaids. There is nothing like reading about realistic characters going off and having adventures in the real world to make me want to do that for myself. As a fairly introverted person, it takes a lot to get me to want to do new things, and I love that these stories can have this effect on me.

4. Everyone needs some romantic humor at some point.

I know I can count on contemporary books for some hilarious dialogue, usually with a lot of cringe-humor flirting. Few things can put a smile on my face faster than an awkward cute meet between two characters…or watching them stumble into love.

5. Two words: swoon-worthy love interests.

This isn’t specific to contemporary books (I’m looking at you Rowan…and Gansey…), but it is basically a requirement for fluffy romances. And you know what? Sometimes a hot, witty love interest is exactly what I want from my reading experience.

6. I have a soft spot for ridiculous things.

A lot of contemporary romances have somewhat ridiculous premises. Characters get shoved into one-in-a-million circumstances, the boundaries of “possible” get stretched to allow for a cute meet, worst-case scenarios come true with remarkable frequency. It’s ridiculous and improbable…and I love it. I don’t necessarily need my adorable romance to have realistic foundations, not all the time. (Just as long as I believe in the romance that develops)

7. They bring friendship to life.

Again, this isn’t something that is inherently specific to contemporary books, but some of my favorite friendships have come from this genre. There is something about seeing friendships tested by (and survive) real life circumstances that makes them come to life.

8. They can make me cry.

A lot of people never cry at books. I am not one of those people. I cry all the time, and crying about a book gives me a special release that I can’t get anywhere else. I love books, even when (especially when) they destroy me—it’s part of the magic. And while I cry at all genres, contemporary books have a high success rate in this area.

9. They talk about the real world.

I guess this is obvious, but contemporary books inherently talk about the world we live in today. A lot of times, they shy away from social issues and focus more on the romance—and that’s fine. But I love it when books weave swoony romances together with discussions of important societal problems.

10. They are so much more than “cute.”

I know that when I pick up a contemporary book, 99% of the time I’m just looking for a pick-me-up with some witty flirting, but most of the time, these books get the better of me. They talk about social issues and emotional frustrations and fears and joys.

It’s easy to write off these books based on their lovey-dovey covers and ridiculous plots—to be honest, I’ve done this—but it is almost never fair. I don’t think I can list a single book that could be described as “just romance.” Contemporary romances push us to see our own world in a new light, to understand our emotions in a different way, and that is a power that should never be ignored.

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What about you? Why do you love contemporary romances?

Do you have any recs? I desperately need more of these books if I’m going to survive my heartbreaking TBR for this summer.