Is Seasoned Romance a Real Thing?

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.

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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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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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