If you don’t buy into the dream that true love will come calling on February 14, perhaps it’s time to curl up with a book and escape into a world of romance.
Romantic fiction is nothing new – from classics like Romeo And Juliet, Pride And Prejudice, Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights to contemporary stories like One Day, Normal People and blockbuster ‘romantasies’ such as Onyx Storm, the popularity of romantic fiction isn’t ebbing any time soon.
Here, two bestselling romantic fiction novelists offer their thoughts on what makes a good romantic read and how they go about it.
Mike Gayle
The Birmingham-born bestselling novelist, whose books include My Legendary Girlfriend and Half A World Away, reflects: “The secret to a good romantic novel is about having people that you’re invested in, to have characters that you want good things for, and even though they’re usually not together at the beginning, you know that they would work together.
“The real art is to find the most torturous route for them, to get every single obstacle possible in their way and to reveal their character, obstacle by obstacle, perhaps things they don’t know about themselves that ultimately will bring them to a realisation of who they are and what they need.”
The world of online dating hasn’t made things any easier, he reflects.
“It’s become more complicated now because it feels like there are more options. It should be more straightforward. We’ve got apps, we’ve got the internet and people are more likely to blame themselves (if they don’t meet the right person), thinking ‘What am I doing wrong?’”
Romantic writing is different from a male perspective, he agrees.
“It’s often overlooked because it’s deemed to be this female space. There are so many very good romances written from a female perspective. When people read my books, it’s like getting a peek behind the curtain. I can see the male character and his thought process, which perhaps female readers aren’t always given access to because traditionally men aren’t the best communicators.
“But equally, if more men read female fiction, maybe they’d understand women a little bit more.”
Gayle, 54, who has been married to Claire for 29 years (they have two daughters), says he doesn’t need to be in the mood for romance to write about it.
“For me, it’s less about mood than world building. I enjoy making readers feel something and by building this world and making it real and then putting these characters in there, that’s all the mood I really need.”
He says his books are read equally by male and female readers, and has written in first person as both female and male protagonists several times.
“I feel very strongly that we should be able to inhabit our characters, whether they are male or female. As an author, I like watching people and I’m not necessarily thinking from a male or female point of view, but as a person point of view.
“But the fact of the matter is that I have a female agent and a female editor and my wife is my first reader. So any mistakes that I do make are very quickly pointed out to me.”
Gayle, who met Claire at a wedding – she was friends with the bride, he was friends with the groom – says he doesn’t take his ideas from his own life which is ‘very mundane’. “I’m not transcribing my life,” he says.
His fictional characters have aged with him. “A lot of my early books were about the getting together, while a lot of my middle books are about the trials of staying together.”
And his writing has changed, he agrees.
“When I first started writing, I was aware of the need to be entertaining to get a reaction. The easiest reaction was to make people laugh and so you potentially end up relying quite heavily on jokes for fear of losing the reader.
“As I’ve got older, I don’t have that fear any more. I don’t feel the need to cram jokes in, so the books, which still have really humorous moments, also have contrasting moments of sadness and are less reliant on jokes.”
The readers need to care about the characters, he continues, and there’s always an element of hope in Gayle’s books, that the characters will fight their way through to a better day.
Hope Street by Mike Gayle is published by Hodder & Stoughton on February 6, priced £20.
Katie Fforde
As president of the Romantic Novelists’ Association from 2011-23 and winner of the RNA’s 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award, bestselling novelist Katie Fforde, says of writing a good love story: “The first rule is that you have to believe in it, or believe it’s possible somewhere in your heart. I don’t think you could write a really satisfactory novel if you were cynical about love.
“You have to find a romance in the unusual and the unexpected. A beautiful bridge in Paris, when you’re both holding glasses of champagne, is lovely, and you could have that through me writing it after you’ve declared your love.
“But the real romance is when you find yourself hiding in a little alleyway and it’s pouring with rain and your feet are wet and cold, and then one of you says something, probably him, and you realise that you’re in love.”
Fforde, who has written more than 30 novels including One Enchanted Evening and A Perfect Proposal, has sold more than 4.5 million books and over the years has researched different professions for her characters.
She’s been a porter in an auction house, tried her hand at pottery and even been on a Ray Mears survival course. But are her books total escapism as opposed to real life?
“Well, I do genuinely believe that people could fall in love and live happily every after, but you are buying romance because not everyone has it. I’m selling something that’s a little bit better and brighter than real life.”
However, she observes: “I think romantic fiction in general is rather despised because of its happy ever after thing.”
Fforde, 72, who has been married to Desmond for 52 years following a holiday romance (they have three children), says that the emergence of the internet and online dating has changed things significantly over the decades.
“So much dating happens online and also I think people jump into bed with each other quite soon. I’m not making a moral judgment here, but you miss that wonderful suspense and waiting for the moment.
“If you just quite fancy each other and go home together and have sex, I’m sure that’s fine, but you haven’t had the lovely build-up.”
Over the years, her story ideas have been sparked by TV programmes, small ads and snippets of conversation overheard in passing. She likes to have a plan, but doesn’t get the entire plot until much nearer the end.
Her books all have happy endings.
“It’s what I’m selling – and I don’t want to read a book that doesn’t have a happy ending. In a way, you know what’s going to happen but it’s not the ‘if’, it’s the ‘how’.
“Also, I feel quite strongly that I would never write a sequel where the couple split up, even if briefly, because I feel then I’ve cheated my reader.”
From London With Love by Katie Fforde is published by Century on February 13, price £16.99.
