A community college administrator and psychology professor, Carolyn McCutcheon, 66, still regularly indulges in a passion that began when she was a teenager. She’s a devoted reader of romance novels.
“I’ve always loved a good love story and a happily-ever-after ending,” said McCutcheon, who lives in Indianapolis.
Back when McCutcheon took her babysitting money to the bookshop at the mall, she bought books with tales exploring the exquisite drama of first love, complete with a dewy-eyed heroine and the lusty hero with his requisite chiseled profile.
“You know, the dream of finding that perfect man, that romance that sweeps you off your feet,” she recalled.
Now a long-married grandmother, McCutcheon has remained a romance reader, but today she seeks out books with older leads.
“My taste changed. I want characters who have depth and struggles; ones who aren’t perfect but are likable. It’s the journey that I like,” she explained. “I read the occasional first love story, but if a heroine is 19, it doesn’t connect with me. I want someone with more miles on them.”
Popularity of the ‘seasoned romance’ novel
The billion-dollar romance novel industry — and it is an industry since one-third of all mass market fiction books sold are romance novels — is beginning to take notice of the tastes of its older readers, and there are a lot of them. According to a 2017 survey commissioned by the Romance Writers of America, one-third of all romance readers are over 45.
These readers have time, money and loyalty to the form and its many subgenres. Today’s girl-meets-boy (and occasional girl-meets-girl) stories range from chaste to hot and heavy and allow readers to choose their novels by the niche — historical, contemporary, paranormal, suspense, inspirational, erotic and more.
The subcategory with characters in their 40s, 50s and even 60s, often called “seasoned romance,” is still relatively small but has spawned an active community of enthusiasts.
More than a thousand readers and writers of the books share recommendations on the Seasoned Romance[1] Facebook FB, +0.45%[2] page and a curated Goodreads list[3] refers them to 315 novels featuring middle-aged love stories.
Looking for a second chance at love
“There is huge growth potential for more age diversity in romance. We’re starting to see much more focus on representation of all kinds. I think authors are paying attention and exploring older characters more and more,” said Leah Koch, who co-owns, with her sister Bea, The Ripped Bodice[4], the nation’s only bookstore devoted exclusively to romance, in Culver City, Calif.
Koch calls the books she stocks that feature older heroines “second chance romances,” appealing to readers who savor stories about couples taking another stab at love. The oldest heroine in a book on the shelves of...