Daily Archives: April 5, 2007

Things That Make Me Go Mmmruh…

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Why Romance?

by Geralyn Ruane

Did you notice? Here on this E-zine for and by romance writers and readers, NONE of the things I mentioned in my last column, the things that make me go mmmruh, had anything to do with love, sex, smooching or marriage. So, if I live for these moments of mmmruh, why the heck and am I so spellbound and compelled by romance?

True, romance rips a pretty visceral mmmruh from me. A billboard on Ventura Boulevard: “Malia, will you marry me? Love, Roberto.” I drove right past it! A radio dedication from a man in Los Angeles, aching to rekindle a romance, to his former lover in Orange County. As I sped along the 101 listening to Nickelback’s soulful singing (I’ve loved you all along . . .), I realized that maybe the former lover in Orange County was, at that very moment, picking up the phone to call the man in Los Angeles! I was possibly listening to the most romantic moment in someone’s whole life!

But if I can be just as moved by a whiff of Chanel No. 5 because it reminds me of my mom, why do I feather my nest with books by Nora Roberts and Susan Elizabeth Phillips? And why do I own three different movie versions of Pride and Prejudice?

It’s simple, really. What is romance, but the perfect vehicle for delivering these moments of mmmruh? A love story is driven by such emotional intensity that it naturally provides fertile ground the poignant, enlightening aspects of life. And the more mmmruh woven throughout a romance, the more mmmruh seeping beyond the heroine/hero plot line, the more unforgettable the story.

Geralyn Ruane’s favorite Hardy Boy is whichever one Parker Stevenson played, and these days she writes romance, chick lit and women’s fiction. Last year her short story “Jane Austen Meets the New York Giants” was published in the New York Times Bestselling anthology The Right Words at the Right Time Volume 2.