Jessica Pryde Needs Personal Growth in Her Romance
2 Questions Answered by Book Person Jessica Pryde
Welcome to a new series in which I ask bookish people in romance 2 questions and they answer.
Meet Jessica Pryde!
Name: Jessica Pryde (she/her)
Jessica Pryde is a librarian by day who also spends the rest of her time thinking about books. As a contributing editor for Book Riot, she co-hosts the When In Romance podcast and writes general content, mostly about romance novels. She is also the editor of the essay anthology Black Love Matters: Real Talk on Romance, Being Seen, and Happily Ever Afters.
What is one thing that must be present in a romance novel for you to enjoy it, and why?
Personal growth. I know there is an ongoing conversation about where the line is between romance and “Women’s Fiction” (I really do hate that term), and a lot of people would say that the amount of time the protagonists spend working on themselves is on the other side of the line.
But I’ve discovered that my favorite romances always come with someone realizing they need to make themselves better–not just for their lovers, but for themselves. This can be anything from addressing how they treat other people to realizing they’re working on the wrong part of their own life.
Okay, so some of this comes from a significant imprinting upon Beauty and the Beast at a young, impressionable age. A growly, grumpy monster who treats everyone around him badly turning around and making the best choice for someone else because he loves them? And then getting that happy ending anyway? YES.
But it also comes from getting my heart ripped out by authors like Helen Hoang1 and Anita Kelly. It comes from speaking the words “how are they going to resolve this???” aloud seventy-five percent of the way through Intercepted.
It comes from watching sunshine characters making the grump smile, and keep smiling. It’s not always some giant “everyone is in therapy” conclusion that works for me, though Kennedy Ryan2 made me snotty with tears by the end of Before I Let Go.
I could probably enjoy reading a romance in which nobody changes between the meet cute and the grand gesture, but why would I want to? It would probably be pretty boring.
Where and how do you get the majority of your romance book recommendations?
Is it cheating to say “the internet”? You’d think as a fiction selector at my library I would get a lot of new recommendations while I was buying books, but half of the time, I’ve already heard of them by the time they come across my desk. But twitter? I discover something new every day from twitter. And Instagram. And the massive number of Discord groups I’m on.
If Sil (@thebookvoyagers) posts one of her adorable screenshots, pouring her feelings all over a short scene in a book that she sometimes neglects to name fast enough for all of us, I will find that book immediately (even if I don’t read it right away).
If Beth (@bandherbooks) posts a themed instagram list about reproductive justice or Nicole Falls (@_nicolefalls)3 hosts a Black Romance space, my Goodreads shuts down because I’m trying to add too many books too fast.
I could spend pages and pages writing about the amazing people on social media who sell books faster than any publicist known to man.
And of course, the folks at Book Riot keep me in books morning to night. Not only are they writing some great romance content about topics like sci-fi romance and romances featuring married couples (a recent favorite!), but the number of time zones we all live in means the Slack is always going.
I’ve been on Goodreads since 2009, and I have over 5,000 books on my to-read list. But anything these folks mention, even if I added it five years ago, gets pushed up to the top.
Learn more about Jessica on her website: https://jessicapryde.com/ or on Instagram
Various and Sundry
What’s up in Shelf Love land?
I am in the final stages of preparing my Bad Romance Data presentation for IASPR 2023 Romance Conference in Birmingham, UK at the end of June.
It involves poring through decades of Romance Writers of America “ROMStat” reports, and trying to answer the question: is romance actually a billion dollar industry, why should that matter anyway, and why are there so many inaccuracies in how people talk about the size of the romance market?
We’re also finishing up our trilogy of episodes on Dreaming of You this week, with the thrilling conclusion: a discussion with the fabulous foursome (Isabeau & Morgan from Whoa!mance, plus Dame Jodie Slaughter and myself representing Shelf Love) where we get very unlikable and talk about the lack of weirdness in trad pub romance lately.
Catch up on the first two conversations here:
Thanks for reading!
xoyoyo,
Andrea
Listen to an episode about The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang: 041. The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang with Dr. Maria DeBlassie and about autism in romance, which discusses The Kiss Quotient, with Amanda Cinelli: 139. Autistic Representation in Romance with Amanda Cinelli
Listen to Kennedy Ryan on Shelf Love!
Listen to Nicole Falls on Shelf Love!