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    All I Need to Know in Life I Learned From Romance Novels
    All I Need to Know in Life I Learned From Romance Novels
    All I Need to Know in Life I Learned From Romance Novels
    Ebook117 pages1 hour

    All I Need to Know in Life I Learned From Romance Novels

    By Victoria M. Johnson

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    About this ebook

    Wouldn't it be exciting if your life was like a romance novel? Now it can be. This uplifting guide proves that real life isn't all that different from fiction. Tips for living a fulfilling romantic life include: True love is worth the risk; If you don't treat your partner right, someone else will; If you stand around waiting for a man, you'll be alone for a long time; Attitude makes all the difference; and Love changes everything.

    All I Need to Know in Life I Learned From Romance Novels is the ultimate companion for romance novel loyalists. Johnson's lessons on love, culled from many years as a romance reader, are accompanied by quotes and examples from popular novels, along with words from the authors themselves on why they love what they do. These quotations and excerpts reinforce Johnson's intriguing observations. By examining common themes of romance novels, Johnson has found that truths on finding and keeping romance alive and well are hidden within the pages of these powerful stories.

    Despite the common misconception held by nonreaders that all romance novels are pure fantasy, featuring a knight in shining armor who rides in on a white horse to save the helpless heroine, avid fans know that this couldn't be further from the truth. Today's romance heroes and heroines are strong, savvy people who--whether they were looking for it or not--find true love. And their trials and tribulations on the road to "happily ever after" aren't all that different from those of ordinary people. The heroes and heroines in romance novels may often learn the hard way, but this book offers romance readers valuable lessons from these tales. You'll discover how to apply the wisdom of romance novels in your own life.

    This book was originally published in hardcover in 1999. This is the eBook version.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherVictoria M. Johnson
    Release dateMay 17, 2013
    ISBN9781301238828
    All I Need to Know in Life I Learned From Romance Novels
    Author

    Victoria M. Johnson

    Whether I'm writing a World War II drama, a romantic comedy, or a thriller, my goal is to entertain, enlighten and surprise my readers. I write non-fiction, too. I write non-fiction to inspire, inform and help others.The Substitute Bride is my debut on Smashwords. I've always loved attending weddings and I know many of you do, too. Don't you love a festive celebration with a romantic ambiance and lots of bling? In addition to that, I was caught up in the excitement of the royal wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton and I decided to write these intertwined wedding stories. I hope you enjoy reading them.

    Read more from Victoria M. Johnson

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      Book preview

      All I Need to Know in Life I Learned From Romance Novels - Victoria M. Johnson

      All I Need to Know in Life I Learned From Romance Novels

      by Victoria M. Johnson

      http://victoriamjohnson.com

      Copyright 2013 Victoria M. Johnson

      First published 1998

      All rights reserved

      Cover design: Chitra Sekhar

      Smashwords Edition

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Finally, a self-help book that reveals how an ordinary person can achieve all the heat, passion and moral fervor of a dime-store novel. Really. - People Magazine

      …a light but pragmatic look at the various lessons taught by romance novels and the difference they can make in readers’ lives… - Library Journal

      …Captures the truths that lie at the heart of every great romantic tale… - Romantic Times

      Dedication

      To my dashing husband, Michael, whose love, encouragement, toughness, and sense of humor helped me become a writer. To my marvelous children, Michelle and Justin, who inspired me to follow my dreams.

      To my mother, Frances, whose inner strength and big heart showed me what real heroines are made of.

      For Melissa McClone and Linda Hill, special friends and romance writers extraordinaire.

      To romance writers everywhere for their devotion to bringing the world stories of hope, love, courage, and romance. The world would be a dreary place without romance.

      Table of Contents

      Foreword

      Introduction, by Phyllis Taylor Pianka

      1) Never judge a book by its cover

      2) No one is going to rescue you—you have to rescue yourself

      3) Marriage is still a wonderful institution

      4) The secret to hot sex is trust

      5) Opposites attract

      6) Hardworking, successful, charming men are still in demand

      7) Women in control of their lives are appealing to men in control of their lives

      8) True love is worth the risk

      9) Communication is the key to a healthy relationship

      10) If you don’t treat your partner right, someone else will

      11) Whining isn’t attractive

      12) Never trust anything a woman who has her eye on your man tells you

      13) You can make up for lack of experience with enthusiasm

      14) Your past will always catch up with you

      15) If you stand around waiting for a man, you’ll be alone a long time

      16) Attitude makes all the difference

      17) Real heroes do not wear suits of armor these days

      18. Real heroines look for the opportunities in their situation

      19) Emotions are timeless

      20) Just when you’ve convinced yourself you don’t need a man, one comes along to change your mind

      21) Marriages of convenience can work

      22) Trust your instincts

      23) The cowboy lover can be irresistible

      24) Keeping secrets leads to trouble

      25) We all want to forget something

      26) 100% genuine commitment is the goal

      27) Love changes everything

      28) Romance revives the spirit

      29) Happy endings are for real

      Appendix 1: Types of romance novels

      Appendix II: Romance publishers’ web sites

      Acknowledgments

      Permissions

      Connect With Victoria M. Johnson

      Other Books by Victoria M. Johnson

      Foreword

      With words alone, romance writers grab us and pull us along on the all-absorbing experience of falling in love. Romance novels show people at their best and their worst, at their strongest and their most vulnerable.

      But what makes millions of readers worldwide turn to romance novels? Is there something about them that rings true to real life? You bet there is! This book compiles the good sense I’ve learned from reading thousands of these cleverly written books. There is a multitude of wisdom within the pages of romance novels—subtle lessons that apply to life and that motivate readers to strive to be their best in their own lives.

      This book applauds the significant, optimistic veracity of romance novels. Enjoy!

      Victoria M. Johnson

      Introduction

      By Phyllis Taylor Pianka

      I first began reading romance novels as a young girl. Grace Livingston Hill’s books, based on Christian living, sweet heroines, and gentle yet strong heroes, were popular then and I read every book I could find.

      There was no doubt in my mind that these heroes and heroines were idealized characters. What woman would fall in love with a man simply because he left a white rose on her chair in the choir loft? What sensible woman would fall in love with a man the first time she saw him?

      Yet from the moment I met my future husband, I knew that he was the man for me. I was right.

      During the ensuing years, romance novels have evolved along with the changing role of women in society. In the ’70s, romance novel heroines were young and virginal nurses, teachers, or secretaries, destined to give up their pursuits to become homemakers. Heroes were father figures, they were macho, handsome, and, above all, rich.

      As the demand for romance novels increased, writers began to realize that women wanted more realistic stories. Stories about struggles and hardships, stories about babies, and about strong women and heroes to die for. At the same time they wanted stories that retained an element of fantasy. Women had found their roots; now they wanted wings.

      Like today’s women, heroines in romance novels were offered choices; a banquet of opportunities, along with the necessary courage to step up to the table and ask for what they wanted.

      Perhaps the most valuable lesson that women have learned from romance novels is that we can do anything, be anything, if we have a need and the desire to accept the challenge.

      But it is not women alone who have learned life’s lessons from romance novels. Men, too, have become romance readers as well as romance writers. One man once said to me that he never realized what women really wanted from a man until he read his wife’s romance novel on the train to the city. It was wrapped in brown paper, he admitted with a grin. Nowadays it’s not so uncommon to see a man reading romances.

      And why should it be? Love and commitment are basic human needs. Romance novels are a celebration of love. And love, along with commitment, symbolizes all that is good in this world.

      Romance novels give us hope: hope for the future, hope for the present. For a few moments we can escape our mundane lives and read of someone else whose problems will be solved and the ending will be happy. If we're lucky, the story will be remembered with a smile.

      —Jude Deveraux

      I'm not so much a romantic as an idealist, and that's what I like about romance novels. They present the world as it could be—a place where people really communicate and care about each other, a place where in the end everything works out just right. A beautiful world—that I'd really like to live in!

      —Leigh Michaels

      1. Never judge a book by its cover

      "You needn’t be afraid to tell me the truth, he coaxed... Despite your wanton behavior, I won’t send you back."

      "Back where?" I asked, startled.

      "To the bordello you’ve run away from."

      "Is that what you think?" I said aghast. Okay, so I’d flirted with the guy—that didn’t give him the right to treat me like a prostitute. The nerve.

      —Miriam Raftery, Apollo’s Fault

      We’ve all seen them—those risqué illustrations overflowing with muscles and bosoms, long hair cascading down bare shoulders, a breeze blowing from somewhere offstage, a horse looking out of place. Then, after

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