Three Things I Wish to See More in (Contemporary Romance) Books

For most of the past semester, I went through a reading slump of sorts. I didn’t necessarily stop reading, but everything I found myself reading was as a result of stress, and they were all fluffy, contemporary romances. You know, the kind of story where Person A meets Person B, sparks fly, conflict happens, and they live happily ever after. During my stress-induced romance binge, I noticed some things that got me thinking. So, here are three things I wish to see more in romance books.

Characters with STDs.

I went right to the heavy stuff, didn’t I? But don’t you wonder about the characters that go through “ho phases”, but always come out unscathed? Really, what are the odds? And I’m not talking about heavy stuff like AIDS, I’m talking about the curable STIs like syphilis, chlamydia, “crabs”. Heck, even mono. In most contemporary romances there’s a cynical person who doesn’t believe in love, but is quite generous with their body (if you know what I mean). Especially in New Adult books where college students are portrayed as sex crazed, orgy-having people. Even the seemingly harmless Harlequin-esque books that show millionaire playboys who sleep around always leave me baffled.

And yes, I am aware that most Romance stories are all about the HEA, but still. Does that mean no one gets to face the consequences of risky sex? And are STIs and HEAs mutually exclusive?

Characters that don’t change their minds.

Specifically, I’m talking about when it comes to having kids. It seems like there’s a misconception that happily ever after only happens when the epilogue shows that the characters involved had children somewhere along the line. This applies more to female characters, but I’ve seen it with male characters as well. The idea that a person that does not want to have kids (for whatever reason) would meet their true love and suddenly start feeling the urge to procreate doesn’t sit well with me. Sometimes, the author would start the character out with a puppy (practice, maybe?) before shocking them with baby fever and making them realise that they wanted to have a baby all along. What’s that about?

Also the idea that characters who don’t want to have children must have reasons that justify their lack of interest. I don’t get it. Sure, a character who is scared of being a shitty parent is cool, but what about those who just don’t want to have kids? That’s a valid enough reason that should be portrayed more in books, don’t you think?

Characters interested in certain fields of study.

When I was younger, most of the things I toyed with studying in uni were inspired by characters I read about in books or watched on TV. So, it’s safe to say that there are young readers who get that kind of inspiration from what they read. I don’t think I ever read about a character who studied Economics, so the fact that I’m now studying Economics happened despite the lack of representation. But these past few months, I became painfully aware of the fact that most (female) protagonists in the books I read are the artsy, creative type (which is great). So, I can’t help but wish other fields were celebrated just as much as those creative fields.

Of course, it could be that since most authors are creatives themselves, they just default to writing about similar characters. Or maybe I’m just not looking in the right places?

Are there things you wish to see more in the books you read? What kind of books do you reach for whenever you’re stressed out or going through a reading slump?