Is Seasoned Romance a Real Thing?

June 25, 2018 | By | 15 Replies More

So what’s up with the world of romance novels? Why is it that if you’re a woman of a certain age, then nobody wants to read about your love life? All of us fifty- and sixty-somethings and beyond are still falling in love, rediscovering love, renewing love, and by golly, we’re still having sex, and very possibly doing it with way more panache because we’ve all been there and we’ve got nothing to prove.

My books are geared to an audience of over-forty readers, who are tired of reading about hot little twenty-somethings and their hunky billionaire boyfriends. I don’t know how to write hip young women. I know nothing at all about their lives or how they think or speak or what they do.

I write about women of my generation because that’s what I know. My heroines have been around the block, so to speak. They’re divorced, widowed, have kids, or maybe even grandkids. They’re independent women who can take care of themselves, but who want someone to share their lives with.

They may be lovely, but they’re not hard bodies, they’re not wearing bikinis or flippy little sundresses; they’re more likely wearing yoga pants and hoodies. My heroes are older, still sexy, but they might be a little paunchy and that dark hair has streaks of silver. They’re settled, established in life, and ready for grown-up romance.
My heroines always need to find themselves—they’re searching…again, kinda like me…kinda like most of us who grew up in the sixties and seventies.

Think Meryl Streep, Rita Wilson, Emma Thompson, and Helen Mirren. My heroes are generally gentle, arty, sensitive guys. I don’t do macho well because most of the men my life are geeks or musicians and writers—guys like Tom Hanks, Jeff Bridges, Pierce Brosnan, and my own dear husband.

If sixty is the new forty in the rest of our culture, then why not in romance novels? Sixty isn’t what it used to be. I remember my grandparents in their sixties and they were old! Seriously old! My grandmother wore hairnets and house-dresses and clumpy shoes. She never bopped around town in jeans and a tank top. My grandfather always wore baggy suits, and I can’t remember very many times I saw him without a tie. And my grandparents never went to the gym or even exercised. Find me a sixty-something who doesn’t exercise—you’d be hard pressed.

I’m not sure the romance world has been ready for novels with older characters before, but I believe we’re ready now. Seasoned romance is becoming a real thing—check out this article from the June 1, 2018 edition of Next Avenue.

Personally, I’m looking for romance with a dash of maturity, two people involved in a relationship without all the nonsense of youth. I want conversations between grown-ups who are over the drama of coming-of-age and meet on the level playing field of self-knowledge. I’m hungry for sensual sexy love scenes written with that irresistible combination of humor, passion, and life experience.

I think Baby Boomers want to read about themselves—I believe with all my heart that it’s never too late to find the love of your life for the second or even the third time around.

So here’s to all of us Baby Boomers in our sixties and beyond. Sixty is the new forty…and before we know it, seventy will be the new forty! We’re here, we’re in love, we’re making love, and our stories are worth telling.

Nan Reinhardt is a USA Today-bestselling author of romantic fiction for women in their prime. Yeah, women still fall in love and have sex, even after 45! Imagine! She is a wife, a mom, a mother-in-law, and a grandmother.

She’s been an antiques dealer, a bank teller, a stay-at-home mom, a secretary, and for the last 20 years, she’s earned her living as a freelance copyeditor and proofreader, and currently works on romantic fiction titles for a variety of clients, including Avon Books, St. Martin’s Press, Kensington Books, Tule Publishing, and Entangled Publishing, as well as for many indie authors.

But writing is Nan’s first and most enduring passion. She can’t remember a time in her life when she wasn’t writing—she wrote her first romance novel at the age of ten, a love story between the most sophisticated person she knew at the time, her older sister (who was in high school and had a driver’s license!), and a member of Herman’s Hermits. If you remember who they are, you are Nan’s audience!

She’s still writing romance, but now from the viewpoint of a wiser, slightly rumpled, menopausal woman who believes that love never ages, women only grow more interesting, and everybody needs a little sexy romance. She has recently signed with Tule Publishing to write a series about four brothers who own a winery in southern Indiana.

Visit Nan’s website at www.nanreinhardt.com, where you’ll find links to all her books as well as blogs about writing, being a Baby Boomer, and aging gracefully…mostly. Nan also blogs every sixth Wednesday at Word Wranglers, sharing the spotlight with five other romance authors and is a frequent contributor the RWA Contemporary Romance blog, and she contributes to the Romance University blog where she writes as Editor Nan.
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Twitter @NanReinhardt

About SAVING SARAH

When Sarah Bennett’s abusive ex hunts her down in Chicago, her friends spirit her away to Willow Bay, where she hopes to begin again with a different identity. But terror keeps her holed up, unable to start her new life.
Deputy sheriff Tony Reynard never expected to be staring down the barrel of a gun when he enters Sarah’s apartment to finish up some handyman work, but that’s how the fiery little redhead greets him, and he’s beyond intrigued.

After an intervention by her loving friends, Sarah becomes involved in a project to turn an old mansion into a battered women’s shelter. The women work together to renovate the house, along with the help of the townspeople and the delectably handsome Tony, who is a true renaissance man.

Tony vows to bring Sarah back to life and love, but knows he needs to move slowly to win her heart.

When her ex tracks her down once more, Sarah must find the courage to protect her friends and her new love from his wrath.

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Category: Contemporary Women Writers, How To and Tips

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  1. Here is my interview with Nan Reinhardt | authorsinterviews | March 22, 2019
  1. Hi Nan. I think we all want to read about people we can relate to–so this burgeoning age group (ours) is looking for stories about seniors or near-seniors in love.

    This genre is set to explode (I think).

    In my very humble opinion, writers who write about their own age group delve into real, relatable characters, situations, and reactions–and the writing is done with empathy and passion. If we can relate to them, so can the reader…

    As has been said, the fiction writer is the first to meet his characters and to hear their story. Better we meet characters we understand than characters who speak and act in a way that baffles us–and quite possibly the reader too. If we don’t understand them, the reader never will. 😉

    • Nan says:

      Thanks for stopping by, Teresa! Yes, I agree–we’re seeing more and more romance novels with heroines who have lived life. I know that for me, older characters are more relatable and much easier to write. Thus the old adage write what you know seems appropriate here. 😉

  2. Charlotte says:

    I don’t normally read romance but as this one looked more WF and took place on an island I’ll be traveling to shortly, I decided to try it. The heroine is 50. I don’t mind and in fact want to read about older heroines, unfortunately the trope I’ve seen so far is along the lines of “My last chance at love!” “I’m fat and old, who would want me?” etc. While these might be genuine thoughts of older women looking for love, I’d rather the age factor not be part of the plot. I doubt men over 50 run around wondering who will ever want them again….

    • Charlotte–Granted some seasoned romance have those themes, but most are stories about women who have lived life and want more. Age isn’t so much a factor as it is simply that the characters aren’t young women, so their issues are different than the coming-of-age stories we’re used to in romantic fiction. Thanks for stopping by! I hope you’ll check out The Women of Willow Bay–I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

  3. My readers love my seasoned romances and old characters. Slowly but surely, it is catching on. There are so many of us baby boomers who still love romance 😃

  4. Peter Perrin says:

    Great post, Nan. I agree wholeheartedly with your comments and sentiment. I’m a recent contributor to the world of Seasoned Romance with my debut novel, Grace’s Turmoil. My characters are fun loving and lively in every way but most of their sex lives is hinted at or only just touched on. I wouldn’t feel comfortable portraying their activities in great and graphic detail, but I have no idea if readers would be.

    I aim to try to do a couple more books in the same vein to try to raise the profile (at least in fiction) of mature people and satisfy readers who don’t want their heroes and heroines to be the same sort of age as their own children. Keep writing the good stuff, lady.

  5. Marge Phelps says:

    Do I remember Herman’s Hermits ? I saw them in concert in Providence, RI at an arena that’s long gone. I do tend to write about and relate to Baby Boomers-it’s what I know best. I like books, films and TV series about people of different ages but one thing I simply can’t abide is that dreadful Millenial version of hip jargon. You know, where everything is described as totes this and totes that. I agree with you that seasoned women of a certain age are and have always been as interesting and appealing as their male counterparts of similar age.

  6. Yes!! We can use more “seasoned” romance novels. Thank you. Great article. 😊

  7. Liz Flaherty says:

    I’m SO looking forward to more “seasoned” romance. Great article!

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