Are These Kissing Books?

A pretty common question that I get asked a lot here.

The answer is a pretty clear yes.

I’ve had a lot of people who have really enjoyed my world building sort of side eye that, because too often romance books are the butt of the industry’s jokes.

But the joke is actually… on you. Because I really love kissing books and I feel like they’re so important.

I like to think of my books more as a place to escape than anything, basically a fantasy for other people to experience as well. While I love the classics and do in fact have my degree in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing, and have taken multiple courses in genres like Science Fiction and Fantasy– I like kissing books. Actually, I love romance novels. You can enjoy the symbolism and beauty of Narnia while also liking a good love story at the same time, no shame.

I’m not going to get into the academic importance of kissing books, nor their association with the many waves of fandom, or how literary canon has been shaped against traditionally female dominated genres– but I am going to say that romance is so much more than people give it credit for, and that people should be allowed to read and write the things that make them happy, no matter how ‘respectable’ other people think it is.

So, while some people think I should just market as straight YA fantasy, I don’t think that gives enough credit to romance nor how much I love it as a genre. Every single romance in my books in central to the plot, and you see a lot of reoccurring romance tropes as a result. To me, as a reader, it just sort of feels like coming home at the end of a long day and pulling off your socks to snuggle under the covers.

I don’t think that the fact that they’re kissing books takes away all that much from it if you want to sit back and enjoy the worlds, but I do think that it’s something that I’m never going to shy away from.

So, with every B. A. Lovejoy book, just keep in mind… Romance.