Boy meets girl.
Boy chases girl.
Boy gets girl.
Or switch the boy and girl, if you so please.
It’s a common plot for many a romance.
What’s not common is the age of the boy and the girl.
We’ve got Twilight, where the boy and the girl are in high school. (Granted, the boy is actually incredibly old…but let’s put that aside for the moment.)
We’ve got Remember Me, where the boy and the girl are somewhere in their 20s.
We’ve got my most recent (and wonderful) read, When Sparrows Fall by Meg Moseley, where the boy and the girl are in their 40’s and upper 30’s.
We’ve got Letters to Juliette, where the boy and the girl have gray hair and wrinkled skin.
We’ve got The Notebook, where the boy and the girl go from high school, to young adult, to a nursing home.
My question to you is….
Do you have a preference? Or does a good romance transcend age?
Let’s Talk: When you read or watch a romance, do you have an age you prefer the hero and heroine to be? If you write romance, do you find yourself gravitating to a certain age?
I’m not so much into the YA romances, but most of the romances that I like have characters in the 20s and 30s. I think they resonate with me because they’re my age … Oh, they’re NOT? Oh. Well. Maybe they’re the age I FEEL?
I love ’em all, Katie. 🙂
Definitely think romance transcends age! But I usually gravitate to ones near my age. I like mid-20s.
I don’t know. I’m not really into the YA ages, but it’s because I don’t read the genre. And older couples are kind of rare. The only books that make me cringe are when the couples have vast age differences. It kind of grosses me out!
Have a great weekend!
I like them all, but as I age, I find myself doing a lot of eye-rolling when I read YA romance. I can get into it, but occasionally I have a really hard time buying that “Little Miss 16” knows exactly what she wants for the rest of her life. Children are not adults and YA protagonists are mostly kiddos. I still like YA, but…
Maybe I’m just getting old. *sigh*
Romance can happen at any age. If it’s a good story, it will touch the heart.
A good romance most definitely transcends age. And I LOVED Meg’s book too. I should re-read that one this year. 🙂
For the longest time I was stuck in the “romance characters need to by 20-something” mindset. What? Romance only happens in your 20s? Now, I’m more flexible. I actually purposely mixed-up the ages of the main characters in my second novel.
And YA? Don’t read that — except in Jenny B. Jones’ case. I loved There’ You’ll Find Me. And I guess Heather is my book supplier too. I just bought Shiver for my Kindle.
20, 30, 80…as long as the characters are likable, the plot is intriguing and the dialogue is believable and full of tension, I don’t care! 🙂
I like romances with characters of any age, but like Jeannie, probably relate more when the characters are around my age (20s). I would probably tend to write a romance with characters around my age too, just because it’s what I know. However, I think it would be a good thing (and a stretch as a writer) to try writing one with characters of different ages since it would take more imagination on my part. 🙂
Oh, I’m not too picky about the ages of the characters I read as long as I can relate to them somehow, but I write my characters young. My first completed manuscript, the characters were twenty and twenty-two.
Now, I’m writing young adult – seventeenish.
There really are some great young adult romances out there. Like Barb, I just discovered Stephanie Perkins’s books Anna & the French Kiss and Lola & the Boy Next Door. Both were wonderful contemporary romances. Steph is a wonderful writer!!! If you haven’t read those, Katie, I highly recommend them.
I just got the samples of both on my Kindle. AND the samples of Shiver and Hush, Hush. You’re like, my book supplier this morning Heather!
I love that title – book supplier.
Katie, you will love, love Anna & the French Kiss. Such good writing and fabulous characters.
Great question. I tend to gravitate toward 20, 30, or 40-something year old protagonists. However, I’ve been pleasantly surprised to discover some great YA romance (Anna & the French Kiss). Turns out, it’s easy to remember what it was like to be a teenager in love. But I also like the stories that span time, where you see how the couple’s love endured through ups and downs. I’ve not yet read The Notebook. Do you recommend it?
You know….I don’t. But probably a million people would cry out, “Yes, read it!” I watched the movie first…something I don’t usually do. And I LOVED the movie. Loved, loved, loved. So I decided to read the book. Only I totally could not get into the book. This was a very strange case of “I think the movie’s better”. If you read it – let me know if you agree or if you think I’m whackadoo!
Once again, you and I are in sync. The Notebook: loved the movie, HATED the book.
I don’t have any age barriers. I just recently read a romance, One for the Road, (not an inspirational) where it was about the two people getting second chances and the sweetness of that. Loved it.
I can’t get into Twilight, but I see the pull for the high school set.
My favorite stories are actually more about love and how it rekindles through life. The falling in love part is always fun, but I love the rest of the story even if I have to tell it in my own head.
hmmm. i guess i always prefer them to be around my age….i relate more to that, i guess. but i generally like a romance no matter what. if the girl is closer to my age, though, i can more easily replace her with myself, lol!
No age limit.
An eighty-something widow at my church, a godly woman with one of the biggest servant’s hearts I’ve ever seen, lost her husband several years ago. I rejoiced when she remarried a few months ago and thrill to see the grin on her snowy-headed hubby’s face when he looks at her.
Romance is timeless!