Which is bad for your health: chocolate truffles or romance novels?

No, it’s not a trick question, but a recent article in the UK and also in the LA Times discusses the perils of reading romance novels and how it might affect your health.

You can read the article here, but basically it seems we’re getting our fantasies mixed up with reality. I don’t know about you, but I read romance for the same reason I like raspberry truffles.

They make you feel good.

And I’m not giving up either one.

Especially as I work on my latest novel, Katie O’Reilly, the story of an enterprising Irish lass who takes the place of the Countess of Marbury when the Titanic sinks, and how a dashing gambler, a wealthy industrialist and a bet made between them changes her life.

Enjoying chocolate truffles and an uplifting romance novel warm my writer’s soul when I’ve finished my page count or editing for the day. And believe me, I’ve got a lot of pages to write and edit in a book that’s getting close to the 500 page mark as I write this blog.

Whoever knew so much could happen on a ship that sank less than five days into her maiden crossing when Katie O’Reilly meets Captain Lord Blackthorn. Are they willing to risk everything for love?

The grand ship Titanic with her 2,228 passengers and crew sank at 2:20 a.m. on April 15, 1912 on a cold, bitter night in the North Atlantic. Only 705 survived.

What did the passengers do during the crossing? Besides making mad, passionate love in luxury motorcars in the cargo hold or in a sumptuous Louis XV stateroom?

They read books.

Novels, mostly.

Both first and second class passengers had reading rooms where books were available to them. The first class reading room was designed with the ladies in mind (many gentlemen spent their time in the smoking room where the ship’s one sheet newspaper, The Atlantic Daily Bulletin, was posted daily), painted in white with elegant furnishings.

I can imagine ladies sitting by the tall window and reading, a cup of hot tea and crisp finger sandwich by their side, then looking out onto the Promenade Deck while they warmed their feet by the roaring fire.

What would a lady be reading? Surely not a romance novel?

Guess again.

I wouldn’t be surprised if she was reading “Arrows from the Dark” by Sophie Cole written in 1909, which according to the Mills and Boon website, “Critics gave it a glowing report and by 1914, 1,394 women had bought a copy. The writer went on to pen another 65 thrilling titles for the publisher during her fruitful career.”

So here we are nearly a 100 years since the Titanic sank and we’re still reading romance novels and doing quite well, thank you.

Raspberry truffle, anyone?