Anyone who peruses the shelves of current romance novels will see that supernatural romances are really in right now. I think they have been in for a while because when I worked at a library, I saw them being constantly checked out. However, Twilight (which I have not read) catapulted them into a whole ‘nother category. Now men (and sometimes women) are werewolves, aliens, angels, vampires (a dead person who could eat you at anytime is not attractive!), etc., and it made me wonder why on earth these books are so addictive. So I read one recently about an angel falling in love with a girl, which, for the record is so un-Biblical. But, I liked it. It lured me in. So why are these novels so fascinating? Here is my thesis:
1. We long for a supernatural God. I know you’re thinking what does God have to do with it? Everything. I think God designed us to want more than the mundane in life, to want more than what we can just see. And furthermore God designed women for romance. And the combination of the two has translated into these unique storylines. In our heart of hearts, we want more.
2. They take us back to our original gender roles. The guys are generally very masculine. I think the desire for these types of romance is a push-back against society trying to make men more feminine. Ok, I have no proof of this. But honestly, the media tries to make men more like women and I think women don’t want that. These supernatural guys (I haven’t read that many, but) have a tendency to be very strong, and very sure of themselves in ways that I think human guys are being put down. Also, there’s usually a reason for the supernatural guy, some kind of war or something in which he has to protect the girl with his supernatural power and once again you have the male protecting the female, just like in the olden days.
3. It’s different. Supernatural romances allow the writer to attribute to the characters anything they want. This allows for each novel to be different…though I think after a while, regardless of their powers they are all the same. But, all these possible different combinations can make for far more interesting storylines than perhaps the usual guy or girl next door story.
So, these are some of my reasons. Do you have anymore you want to add? Any you disagree with?
remaininhislove 