From Regulations to Romantasy: My Literary Awkening

It was such an Innocent suggestion…”Harri, I think you’d enjoy this book I’m reading. It’s called A Court of Thorns and Roses and it’s all about faeries and magic, you should read it!”. Little did I know that that one little comment would , some might say, ruin my life (cheers Zos - I’ll forever be in your debt for that one).

When I tell you that book opened the floodgates to a genre of fiction I never knew existed - I’m talking full on Pandora's box. Suddenly I was consuming series after series after series, lost in the worlds of fae and dragons and epic love stories. It was an escape, and a much needed one at that. Day-to-day I am eyeballs deep in the world of product compliance and European Regulation, - about as thrilling as watching paint dry, trust me!, and whilst  I’ll admit, the nuances of my job can be intellectually stimulating at times, it simply doesn’t offer the same heart fluttering thrill as a brooding High Lord or a handsome WIngleader. Romantasy became my secret garden, a place where I could shed the weight of reality and immerse myself in worlds so far removed from my own that even a bad day becomes a little less terrible.

Here’s the kicker: for YEARS my reading habits were firmly rooted in the non-fiction aisle. Blame it on going to university…twice. Apparently I really appreciated a good old factual account, not so much as a shadow wielder in sight. BOOOOOO. That definitely would have made those articles a LOT more exciting, that’s for sure. Aside from the obligatory read of The Hunger Game back in the day, I’ve somehow missed out on all the fun the wonderful fiction authors of the world have to offer - not even so much as a whiff of Twilight, Divergent, or even Harry Potter! Does that make me a terrible book worm? Maybe? Or maybe I’m just a late bloomer who’s finally had their eyes opened to the wonders of fantasy realms and small town love triangles. Please bear with me, I’m learning.

I was such a newbie that I had failed to realise that romance as a genre is not always longing glances and sweet kisses. I don’t need to tell you that actually, sometimes it’s quite…graphic. Spicy romance  - emphasis on SPICE - was completely foreign to me. So when those first few steamy scenes in ACOTAR started to unfold, I’ll admit, I was shook.

Zos really left that little snippet of information out of her glowing review it seems. Seeing such explicit words written on the page and hearing them in my own head? I’m not too proud to admit that initially, it felt dirty. Surely it’s not just me?  But like the big brave girl I am, I pushed through and all I can say is, thank GOD I persevered. Because actually, how exciting is it to read something that makes you literally BLUSH?

So here I am, a complete convert, making my way through pages and pages of, for lack of a better word, absolute filth, bouncing from MMC to MMC like I’m getting paid (if only). There are so many authors out there and so many more series to discover, and I am well and truly in it for the long haul.

I feel like ACOTAR get’s the limelight as the entry point into romantasy, but I just KNOW some of you found the genre in less conventional ways. What was yours?