'The romance genre is underestimated'

FINDLAY — Before opening a romance bookstore, Brit Kirkwood did her homework, like any new business owner. She can speak with authority, providing facts and figures about the business of romance books and explaining trends and subgenres within the romance genre. She is also aware many people don't take this industry seriously. "I think that the romance genre is underestimated," Kirkwood said. "It is, year after year, the highest-grossing genre in the fiction category. Because that's what people want to read. Women like to see themselves in novels. They like to think about that big lumberjack or maybe the dragon rider. And there are so many different subgenres." The new store Forced Proximity offers sections devoted to several of these subgenres, such as romantasy, contemporary romance and "clean" romance. Some romance readers are interested in sports-centered stories, Kirkwood said. Others gravitate toward a Western setting populated by cowboys and ranchers. And some seek out paranormal romance stories haunted by ghosts, werewolves and witches. Kirkwood herself loves "light and fluffy books" but sometimes reads romantic suspense for a change of pace. These books blend a love story with a "whodunit," she said. They aren't extremely dark, but they do cover heavier subjects, "and then also give you the 'big strong man who's going to go find his woman because she went missing' kind of thing. And it just feels good, you know?" Forced Proximity also includes an LGBTQ+ romance section, as she is determined for every reader to feel at home in her shop. "Anything that we can find that is going to make somebody feel like they are accepted and welcomed into this store, we're going to have it for them," she said. Kirkwood recalled a recent report that stated that 51 million copies of printed romance books had sold in the past 12 months. The figure had doubled within just a few years. "People are finally feeling like they don't have to hide that they read romance. It's much more accepted," she said. "And I hate that people would ever feel ashamed of what they want to read. Because reading is supposed to be fun. And I think we get it ingrained at such a young age that reading is work and it's not fun and you have to do it. But when you really find something that you love — it's so much fun to just sit there and lose a couple of hours getting completely pulled into a story or a world that doesn't exist. You know, it's easy to just kind of escape into romance for a while." Romance novels are wide-ranging, she said. Some are indeed extremely steamy, which may be what people think of when they hear "romance." But others are "clean" love stories without this type of content. "And there's nothing wrong with either of those," she said. "I want to be here to provide reading material, you know? I don't care what you read. I just want you to be happy when you read." "People push it off as just 'smut' or just sex," she said. "And that's not at all what I get out of these books. I find that they are wholesome, that they make you feel good. You can kind of find yourself in these books." For example, she might think about a fictional character, "Gosh, that girl is really scatterbrained and needs to get her life together. And I'm like, 'Yes, girl! Me too!'" Readers may catch glimpses of themselves in fiction, or notice qualities they hope to find in a future partner. "I truly think that our readers take these books to heart," connecting more in an emotional than an intellectual way, she said. "I think these people are opening themselves up to the ideas in these books, like love and trust and communication, and I think, hopefully, that is going to make us better humans."