The old interests of aristocracy – the romance of action, the exalted passions of chivalry and war – faded into the background, and their place was taken by the refined and intimate pursuits of peace and civilization.
It was not till toward the end of the thirteenth century that the prose romances began to appear.
Pragmatism and romance are sort of opposites.
Constant romance with my laptop through the day is a must for me, whether I am using it to send emails or just google something, which I do quite often, as I love to keep myself well-informed with my Blackberry.
The Odyssey is, indeed, one of the greatest of all stories, it is the original romance of the West; but the Iliad, though a magnificent poem, is not much of a story.
At any given time, all of us have an empty spot: one that is calling for companionship, for example, or for justice, love, romance, or a belly laugh. When I sit down to write, I look to see what hole needs filling at that particular moment.
I have been married twice, and those were not the happiest times of my life. Part of the problem, quite frankly, is that when you get married, the romance disappears and the children arrive and the love is transferred. It shouldn’t be that way, but too often it is transferred to the children.
When you become famous at 19, it does a number in your head, so you find romance in the mundane – isn’t it so great that a guy would pick me up at my house and take me to a restaurant?
The emphasis in ‘Notting Hill’ was perhaps, I thought, slightly more on the romance than on the comedy. But I think ‘Mickey Blue Eyes’ is maybe slightly more on the comedy. And the tone on ‘Mickey Blue Eyes,’ it’s a far sillier film.
One of the things about the con artist lifestyle is that all the romance is sort of sloppy and fast and loose.
I am just like any other girl, a sucker for romance.
‘ The Lucky One’ is at its heart a romance novel, elevated however by Nicholas Sparks’ persuasive storytelling. Readers don’t read his books because they’re true, but because they ought to be true.
I like those stories that capture the brutality of life, but there’s still some kind of melancholy romance.
Romance doesn’t have to be portrayed physically. I love being part of romantic films, but I wouldn’t venture into something I’m not comfortable with.
One of our fundamental human needs is finding our partner that we hope we will stay with for the rest of our lives. You often find the same search in other genres. The mystery novel has a romance subplot. Literary novels often focus on that relationship but do not often end well.
The thing is, I am a loving person. I am super sappy when it comes to romance. But I’m not the Antonio Banderas, swashbuckling, Pierce Brosnan, smooth-talking type.
I don’t write the kind of ‘happily ever after’ that romance readers enjoy.
They ask questions like ‘do you believe in aliens’ and those types of things. They were really interested in aliens, and that was really something that the Japanese have an interest in, and they are also very big fans of romances.
There is a fundamental difference between men and women – women need romance, men need intrigue.
I think it’s a very old and deep-seated double standard that holds that when a man writes about family and feelings, it’s literature with a capital L, but when a woman considers the same topics, it’s romance, or a beach book – in short, it’s something unworthy of a serious critic’s attention.
I wasn’t captivated by the romance of Paris or London. I love visiting, but I’d rather be in L.A.
Doing comedy and romance is easy, if I compare it with playing the role of a real-life person.
What I loved about romances was the character, and I think I still bring that to my novels. What romance taught me was that the ‘who’ will always matter more than the ‘what.’ It’s fun to come up with plots, but I want to make sure the reader cares about who it’s happening to.
I’m a huge fan of romance as a concept.
I’ve always thought that, as a romance writer, I had the best job in the world. I sit around all day making up emotion-drenched, conflict-laden stories that push my heroes and heroines to the edge of sanity. Then I give them a happy ending.
I think we worry way too much about where books should fit inside genres. In a romance, the hero and heroine are on a journey together, and no matter how awful it gets, by the end of the book they’ll be in love, with the probability of a happy ending.
For me, romance isn’t an over-the-top act. It’s someone offering to help and to support me. Or if that person thinks I’m making the wrong decision, he’ll tell me. I want him to be honest, because being that honest takes a lot of guts.
We all face difficulties of our own, and how comforting it is to immerse yourself in a book – my book, any book, any romance. It’s entertainment, it’s escape, and it can even be an inspiration!
I’ve been typed as historical fiction, historical women’s fiction, historical mystery, historical chick lit, historical romance – all for the same book.
Romance is important to me, and to have a romance with your husband takes a bit of doing. The key is to make sure your partner misses you. That means you have to take yourself away.
Yes, I’ve heard of the ‘Mad Men’ comparisons, but I like to think ‘The Hour’ has its own distinctive voice. Although it is set in 1956, I have tried to give it a contemporary edge, and its themes of love, passion, romance, fury, professional jealousy, and personal failure are universal, I think.
I think sex is a very minor part of most romance novels.
I did a co-authored book not so long ago that was an American historical romance set at the turn of the century. I’m fascinated by that period in time and would love to do more.
My songs are my girlfriends. I have a secret romance with all of them. I romance with them year after year.
I grew up around writers, and there was always a romance to them. They were charming. They would tell their stories of what they were working on, over the table.
‘True Romance’ was definitely, in part, still me finding my voice as a writer. I was nervous, and I was a lot more shy. The album sounds bruised.
Life is full of confusion. Confusion of love, passion, and romance. Confusion of family and friends. Confusion with life itself. What path we take, what turns we make. How we roll our dice.
I think the most ordinary romance is showing your partner the way you are and leaving behind the things that we cannot understand.
Family or love or romance, whatever it is, is not restricted to perfect people. If it were, it wouldn’t exist. All of that comes out in my work in some way.
In my books and in romance as a genre, there is a positive, uplifting feeling that leaves the reader with a sense of encouragement and hope for a brighter future – or a brighter present.
There is perhaps no more rewarding romance heroine than she who is not expected to find love. The archetype comes in many disguises – the wallflower, the spinster, the governess, the single mom – but always with one sad claim: Love is not in her cards.
Romance is the glamour which turns the dust of everyday life into a golden haze.
I think that different people are objectively attractive in different ways and a big part of the romance genre for me is in discovering what that true attractiveness is.
A lot of our assumptions of the world are fairly cynical, fairly negative, and assume the worst. What our reading tastes show – in this rush to fantasy, romance, whatever – is that we actually still want to believe in a world of possibility, in a world of mystery.
Other genres are plot-driven, but the entire focus of a romance novel is on the characters and their arcs.
I see romance as a state of mind. I may find it in a candlelit dinner or by walking in the rain.
We grew up during the ‘peace and love’ of the 1960s, only to discover that there are wars everywhere, and love and romance is a con.
I would see Shah Rukh in most romantic films. I would see him in ‘Notting Hill’ and ‘Pretty Woman.’ He is the king of romance.
Romance classically has tragic underpinnings to it.
Even the geekiest of guys could get the girl if he read every romance novel that came out in any given month.
Romance is a bird that will not sing in every bush, and love-affairs, however devoted the sentiments that inspire them, are often so business-like in the prudence with which they are conducted, that romance is reduced to a mere croaking or a disgusted silence.
Romance is tempestuous. Love is calm.
It’s the contemporary woman that movies don’t know what to do with, other than bathe her in a bridal glow in romantic comedies where both the romance and the comedy are artificial sweeteners.
No doubt, much of the joy of a great romance is the moment when these stoic heroes crack open and reveal themselves to their heroines – the only women strong enough to match them.
Recently, I haven’t had too much time to read. But I love a good romance novel.
Science is not only a disciple of reason but, also, one of romance and passion.
When we are in our dorms, we watch romance movies and dramas. When a romantic scene comes on, we hold on to each other and scream.
In a world where there is so much sadness and so much to be afraid of, good things do happen to people. Romance is still something we can find even if we’re not consciously looking for it.
