Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. (Proverbs 13:12 NRSV)While listening to the pilot episode of the podcast “Hot and Bothered,” I was surprised to learn that romance is the best selling and most profitable of all literary fiction genres, and by large margins. Even given its established, if disparaged, dominance, romance is currently the fastest growing genre of fiction. Sales of romance novels have been increasing significantly throughout the pandemic and into 2023. Given the success of the Bridgerton series on Netflix, the arrival of all sorts of rom-coms the likes of which popular culture has not seen since the early 2000s, such as The Lost City or the upcoming Love Again, I think we should all prepare for romance to enter into our lives in a big way, no matter our relationship status.Click here to read the rest of the article at Fidelia Magazine, a digital publication of Young Clergy Women International where I am a Writer-in-Residence.
