Who reads romance novels? A better question might be who doesn't read romance novels? According to statistics provided by Romance Writers of America, the average romance reader is female, married, and college educated. But fans of the genre can be of any age and any economic background. They could be your mother, your babysitter, your doctor … or even the father of one of your children's friends.

Yes, a steadily increasing number of romance readers are male. But regardless of gender, income, or career, the thing to understand about the romance reader is why they read this particular genre of fiction. They read it for the romance. They read it because they want to experience the emotion of falling in love.