My Amicable Breakup with Historical Romances

The long-ago time periods enraptured me as the characters strained against propriety and societal norms. Being naughty was frowned upon, which only made me turn the pages faster and faster, until one day I found myself struggling to finish a historical romance. Thinking it was me, I picked up another and had the same problem. It was like being stuck in the movie Groundhog Day where I seemed forever trapped in my historical romance book slump.
This was definitely a situation of “it’s not you, it’s me.” I’m still unsure what prompted my sudden disinterest in a genre I used to love so deeply. My guess is that I overwhelmed myself too much, too soon. It was like a relationship that happened at breakneck speed. You meet and fall head over heels. You love everything about that person and suddenly, you’re spending every waking moment together and talking about moving in together.

And then suddenly, you start to notice things that aren’t gelling. You’re always late and they’re always early. Are they chewing too loudly or am I just being overly sensitive? Their cologne or perfume no longer is the best smell you’ve ever smelled in the history of smells. With historical romances, I seemed to always find fault. There wasn’t enough sexytimes. The heroine was too innocent. The hero was too much of a jerk. But I realize now that none of my complaints were specific to the subgenre. I could have these complaints about contemporary romances or erotica. I was just being too difficult to please. Things didn’t necessarily go bad between me and historical romance, they just sort of petered off, and I had to sit down with myself and my reading tastes and admit that historically aren’t just working for me anymore.

It’s hard when you see all your friends and fellow readers having such a good time with historicals. Why not me? I want to be a part of that too! It’s like seeing your ex at a bar and he or she is having a great time. They’re smiling and laughing and you suddenly remember, for a brief moment, what attracted you to them in the first place. Then you remember the boring nights where you struggled to make conversation with each other or, like me, read the same paragraph over and over in the hopes of making some progress in a book. It probably won’t work out again and you’d rather not repeat the slog through another book (or another attempt at a relationship).
So the two of you lock eyes across the bar, give a gentle wave, and carry on about your business, which is my current standing with historical romances. I’m content see other people enjoying them and at times, I wish I could have a beautiful reunion with Tessa Dare and Elizabeth Hoyt. But why force it? Take a break, re-evaluate, and much like romantic pursuits, there are plenty of other fish in the sea. I can find a romance that suits my current needs.
Maybe historical romances and I will have tear-stained, beautiful reunion one day, or perhaps that ship as sailed. But much like a hot and heavy, passionate relationship, I’m grateful for the time we had together, even if we didn’t have our happy ending.
How enduring is your love for historical romance?