"Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance." ~George Bernard Shaw

Dear ,

Last week I asked you to tell me about your wedding and I was delighted at how many of you told me your stories—from small ceremonies like my own to events with hundreds of people spanning several days, I was an arm chair guest to over fifty wonderful unions.

You made me laugh. You made me tear-up. You gave me fun ideas for ways my hero and heroine can celebrate their love. You gave me gut-wrenching ideas for ways to create conflict, too.

More than half of you have already celebrated at least 10 years of marriage and many have hit 25 years or more. Thank you for sharing your hearts and stories with me.

Do you believe romance novels ruin marriages?

This past week I read a short article called, Romance Novels Bad For Women's Health and Psyche, Psychologist Says.

Oh my gosh, it was so offensive. For one, the whole piece focused on how reading romance impacts women, as though men are not also romance readers or aren't affected if they do read romance.

This psychologist claims that reading romance novels leads women to:

• make poor health and relationship decisions,
• allow emotions and passions to trump reason and solid decision-making, and
• believe they "should abandon their current relationship, because the passion has faded, and go in search of new love rather than trying to work things out."

I assume since you're reading this email from a romance author, that you read romance novels. So I'm very curious about your thoughts on these assertions.

Do romance novels give you the wrong idea about true relationships?

Does reading about fictional characters finding their happily ever after make you question your own relationship or marriage?

One of the things I thought as I was reading this article was that if I was to swap out "romance" and "woman" for "thriller" and "man" most people would think the conclusions were ridiculous.

If we replace Nora Roberts' books for the Jack Reacher books by Lee Child, for instance, the opening of this think piece would read:

Thriller Novels Bad For Men's Health and Psyche, Psychologist Says.

Thriller novels can be a bad influence on men and lead them to make poor health and relationship decisions, says a British psychologist.

The novels give men unrealistic views about what to expect out of engaging in heroic activities because they romanticize life-threatening situations and the fulfillment of non-committal relationships, said Suzie Q, a psychologist based in Neverneverland.

"They offer an idealized version of high-risk exploits, which can make some men feel bad about themselves because their athleticism isn't perfect," Q said.

And in some cases, they might lead men to make poor health decisions, including not to wear a seat belt when they're late to a meeting—a scenario often portrayed in the novels.

Come on! Does anyone believe that reading (or watching) Jack Reacher makes anyone decide to parcours across neighbor's rooftops? Or engage in hand-to-hand combat with a rude customer at a bar?

Even though romance is the most well-read genre of all books—of all books—you, the reader, and I, the writer, still have to defend ourselves as competent, thinking humans. Grr! That's what I say.

But what do you say to that? I really do want to know. What impact has reading romance novels had on your health, well-being and relationships—if any?

Challenge your autonomy & free-thinking skills

This story features a possessive, snarly, billionaire and the woman he'd do anything to keep safe.

This is a standalone and promises a pulse-pounding, HEA.

The Billionaire's Secret is available on Amazon, Apple Books and Audible.

Get for FREE on Amazon.

My Hideaway is a short-read, and book 1 in the five book series, Judged and Misunderstood.

Get your copy, but be warned that this story has explicit sex and graphic language that will make your mama blush.

Get for $0.99 on Amazon.

Rhodes to Love

My fourth book in The Mixed Six-Pack series was sent out to advance readers this past week. Three reviews have come in for Rhodes to Love. I can breathe again!

"Rhodes to Love made me laugh and it made me cry. It’s my favorite of Danika Bloom’s books out of all the six-pack series so far." ~EV on BookSprout

"Another heart-filling HEA from Danika Bloom! The road to love for these two is a bit rocky, but well worth the trip. It felt 100% real and my heart was invested in their story right away." ~Cecilia on Goodreads

"Adam and Lizzie will break your heart before finding their HEA!" ~Viper on BookBub

You can read the blurb about this single dad, fake marriage romance or pre-order Rhodes to Love for just $0.99. It will go up to its full-price of $3.99 on September 9.

Warning: Please don't jump into a fake marriage thinking it's the best road to happily ever after because these two fictional characters achieved that result!

Support romance authors and love over all!

Have a look at the wide variety of romance titles being offered by indie authors who have their books in Kindle Unlimited. Did you know you can download a sample of any book on Amazon to read the first 10 percent to see if you like it before you buy it? You can! Use either the LOOK INSIDE or DOWNLOAD A SAMPLE feature.

And the titles in the Small Towns, Big Personalities group are all free downloads (no Amazon required) of full novels and novellas, and sample chapters to try before you buy.

Thanks for being here, for reading stories about love and relationships, and for sharing your stories with me.

love&thinkingforyourselfstuff,

Danika

xo

PS—Do you believe reading romance novels is good or bad for your real life health and relationships? Why? What's your story?