When it comes to books, I usually veer towards a party mix of thrillers, depressing sagas, weird little novels, and short stories. But I like to read in high contrast, so after a long intense story, I wanted something light and flirty. A friend recommended a popular romance series, and I dove right in.

I started with the massively bestselling A Court of Thorns and Roses — aka the sexy fairy books. The first one kept me turning 200 pages in anticipation of the big cross-species hookup, but I was ready to call it a day when it was over. Then a friend said YOU HAVE TO KEEP GOING, so I did, and the second book was 500 percent hotter. I was reading it on the beach last summer when I saw a woman floating in an inner tube reading the same bright teal book, her kids screaming at each other in the sand. She didn’t seem to notice.

After a few chaste novels and The Shining for Halloween (hell yeah), I peppered in another romance, then another. A good romance novel can make you feel teenage butterflies in your stomach, a lusty crush, an attraction to the idea of a motorcycle, and the first few floaty months of falling in love — even if it’s all in your head.

I loved Emily Henry’s sharply told Funny Story, which took place in a Michigan lake town not unlike the one I was reading it in, Traverse City. I devoured Rochelle Billow’s food-loving book, Ruby Spencer’s Whisky Year. I adored Casey McQuiston’s Red, White & Royal Blue, which transported me to a land of rich people in the way Crazy Rich Asians had — and it was funny, too. My book club read the timeline-hopping The Seven-Year Slip, which was a cute weekend fling with a gentle nod to Auntie Mame.

I couldn’t help but wonder a few things. Am I reading these books to satisfy some unsatisfied part of my life? Or is reading romance just helping sustain the long game that is female libido? Many of us need build-up. We need imagination. I was glad these books got me thinking about it all. On Reddit’s r/RomanceBooks I saw a reader ask another if the book being discussed was “HEA” (“happily ever after”). The reader wanted to ensure she was in for a good time, no strings attached.

My question to my book club was, “What is the most romantic book you’ve ever read?” That means a love story that haunts you decades after reading. Mine was Waiting by Ha Jin, tied with Annie Proulx’s Brokeback Mountain. Not HEA, but I learned more about the nature of love, and felt the deepest pangs, from those novels than any other. Why not read them all?

Alex Beggs is a writer and copywriter who lives with her partner in Michigan. Her articles have appeared in Bon Appetit, Elle Decor, and The New York Times. She has also written for Cup of Jo about her dad’s meatloaf, cold cake, and (very) bad hair days.

P.S. Ashley Ford’s favorite romance novels and 12 great reader comments on books.

(Photo by Guille Faingold/Stocksy.)