Author Laina Villeneuve highlighted a thought-provoking blog by NYT best-selling romance and YA author Christina Lauren: Romance Novels Are Primed To Make An Impact On Society, So Stop Calling Them “Trashy,” OK? I loudly applaud the idea that we stop denigrating our own books, and that we challenge those people who do. You may recall this blog: Let’s All Stop Shaming Women Who Read Romance.

Coming at it from the perspective of someone who left the sciences to write romance and has encountered the ubiquitous assumption that what she is doing is a step backward for her life and for society, Lauren proposes that romance novels are about to change the world, and many writers of it are deliberately embracing a brave, new landscape.

She’s right about the growing change in the romance paradigm:

“The [new, independent] voices in this genre are busy telling the world what matters to…