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'Firmly in a spotlight so bright that their popularity cannot be ignored'

21 November 2022

‘The TikTok success stories of Colleen Hoover and Emily Henry have done the genre a wonderful favour by putting romance firmly in a spotlight so bright that their popularity cannot be ignored. And even better that they're women (that's one in the eye for the misogynists). I am seeing the start of a ripple effect where readers who have read everything these two writers have to offer are hungry for more and are seeking out other writers of romance. But then romance is more celebrated in the States and not treated like the poor cousin at a wedding. We need that US effect to jump on a boat, cross the pond and work its magic here, to help us batter down the walls of prejudice...

‘Romance books are often as deftly plotted as books in other genres, they can be as challenging, the prose as beautiful and yet they're judged harshly by comparison and there is no logic to it when readers buy them in their millions and those sales figures do a lot of talking. A Happy Ever After does not a lesser book make.'

Milly Johnson, author of 28 romances, including Together Again and The Woman in the Middle in Bookbrunch.

https://millyjohnson.co.uk