Romance novels generate over $1.44 billion (with a 'b!') in revenue and are highest-earning, biggest, and fastest growing genre of fiction in the book industry. And yet, if you're a romance reader, you've probably had to defend it to someone at some point or maybe you've even been embarrassed of your reading. Why are these books that so many read still so fraught? We talk about our personal experiences with reading romance, the history of the genre, and discuss questions like, what defines romance today? Do men write romance? Is romance, even in its modern form, still limiting women? Or is it just harmless entertainment? Join us as we tackle a topic we've been circling around since we started the podcast. ----------------------- Books we're reading in this episode:  Elements of Cadence duology by Rebecca Ross (A River Enchanted; A Fire Endless) Flying Solo by Linda Holmes Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien The League of Gentlewoman Witches by India Holton (Dangerous Damsels series) Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Berkeman -----------------------  Sources (links provided when available and citations shortened to fit) listed in the order they appear in the episode:  https://observer.com/2022/09/derided-for-centuries-romance-novels-are-a-huge-business/https://wordsrated.com/romance-novel-sales-statistics/ Lyons, Martyn. 2011. Books : A Living History. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum. Pgs. 177-179.Avery, Jessica. 2017. “Feminist Romance Novels from #RomanceNovelsforHillary.” Book Riot. December 12, 2017. https://bookriot.com/feminist-romance-novels-from-romancenovelsforhillary/Rodale, Maya. 2017. “That Thing with Hillary Clinton and Romance Novels...” HuffPost (blog). December 8, 2017. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/that-thing-with-hillary-clinton-and-romance-novels_b_5a2a862de4b04e0bc8f3b3b5."'He's a little obsessed with me': Hillary Clinton reflects with raw honesty on Trump and 2016." Washingtonpost.com, November 28, 2017.https://www.lucymonroe.com/lucy-at-the-heart/romance-conventions-reader-expectations/Radway, Janice A. 1991. Reading the Romance Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Literature. 2nd ed. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.https://uncpress.org/book/9780807843499/reading-the-romance/----------------------- Intro and outro music: "The Chase," by Aves. Do you have thoughts, questions, or ideas for future episodes? Email us at [email protected]. And if you want to learn more about the podcast, visit our website at allbooksaloudpod.com. If you liked this episode, please consider leaving us a review to help us reach more listeners. And if you'd like to see more bookish content from Martha & Elizabeth, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @allbooksaloudpod. Read on!