Few things are more fun or controversial than reading romance novels and stories.

Critics often diss romance as fluff, and your high school English teacher probably never told you to grab the latest bodice ripper off the shelves and enjoy yourself (he or she was probably reading them in secret, though). So why read romance?

1. Read romance because you like it! We all have so many things we have to do, why read books and stories we don't like simply because they're on the New York Times Best Seller list?

Settle back with your favorite romance novel and enjoy!

2. The pure escape offered by reading romance novels and stories make them well worth any expense involved.

Daily life can bog us down and romance novels or stories offer us the chance to escape into a romantic adventure for a while.

We come back to our lives refreshed and ready to tackle that pile of dishes!

3. Reading romance novels set in different locations and parts of the world give you the chance to learn, yes, learn,

about new states and countries.

You can even go back in time with a historical romance novel and learn, yep, about how people lived during other time periods.

Why, you can even go into the future and find out what living--and romancing--may be like in a hundred, or even a thousand, years!

4. Reading romance gives you the chance to become someone else. Yes, when actively taking part in reading, you can become another person entirely.

You may well meet yourself on the page, but find an entirely new way to approach a romance problem you're having-- sometimes you can even find the solution to a relationship problem.

If nothing else, you have the pure pleasure of not being yourself while you're reading. You're Lindsay in the novel who's dashing around all over London with a dashing count madly pursuing you--not Linda with four loads of laundry to do and dinner plans to make.

5. Romance stories and novels are a great way to take a peek into many kinds of love lives without having to ask embarrassing questions or enduring conversations you'd rather not have.

So reading a great romance story or romance novel has the distinct advantage of giving you information and ideas that you can try out with your partner!

And it's for sure, your partner will be grateful!

6. Think of the fun you have when reading romance! That in itself is reason enough for indulging in a romance novel or romance story.

Fun! These days, fun seems to have gone out of style. Everyone's so busy working and rushing around like crazy that few people have enough fun.

So read romance for the sheer fun of it! And if it happens to make bedtime more fun too, well, good for you! You deserve it.

Now, go, grab that romance novel or click to a great romance story, snuggle up in your favorite afghan and have some fun!