Chocolate & Spice: Young Love -- YA Romance

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Young Love -- YA Romance

Ever wonder why so many of us (non-young adults) can't seem to get enough of reading stories about teenage love? Not that some YA can't get pretty steamy, but there are far smokier scenes in adult romance novels. So why do we still love our regular doses of young love?

Some of my guesses?

We Miss Being the Center of Attention

Bella & Edward - Twilight

There is nothing like that rush of realizing -- for the first time -- that his sun (pardon the pun, Edward) rises and sets for you. Adult men have just as many responsibilities as we do. Teenage men can make the girl of their dreams the center of their world.

Our Complicated Isn't Really So Complicated

Elena & Stefan - Vampire Diaries

It may not feel that way, but our lives are fairly unfettered during our teenage years. Emotionally challenging, you bet, but most are spared the worrying about bills, mortgage payments, shuttling the kids to soccer practice. A teenage girl can enjoy falling in love without a mile long To-Do list waiting for her when she gets home.

You Can Only Experience Your First Time Once

Joey & Pacey - Dawson's Creek

First kiss. First love. First sexual experience. First heartbreak. Those things only come along once, and because we don't have any experience with them all our senses are running full tilt. We're constantly caught in a state between terrified and exhilarated.

We Still Believe Fairy Tale Endings Are Possible

Sam & Austin - A Cinderella Story

Not that we all turn into jaded shrews as we age. . . but after we suffer a broken heart or two, we often guard our emotions a little more carefully. After we lose our first love, we tend look at new romantic partners with the hope that he'll turn out to be our Prince Charming. Whereas the first time we fell in love we were sure it was going to last forever.

Those are just some of the reasons why I think I tend to get swept up so easily in a good YA romance. How about you?

5 comments:

Linda Kage said...: I'm with you; that first spark of love is just sooo...sweet. Dreamy sigh. And you can really focus on the emotional with teens; don't have to worry about a bunch of yucky adult junk like jobs and dishes and kids and bills and...well, you already said it!!!

I do love me some YA romance. And I REALLY wish that publisher would get back to me some year on the one I submitted!! Ugh.; March 31, 2011 at 6:57 AM
Stina said...: Both you, Tracy, and Linda nailed my reasons for loving YA. I enjoy adult romances, but they really aren't the same thing. Nothing's quite the same as the concept of that first kiss, that first love. And for those of us whose first kiss didn't live up to expectation, it's a chance to experience it through another's eyes (either from the perspective of someone's elses character or our own).; March 31, 2011 at 10:09 AM
Gina Ciocca said...: This post is perfect. I must re-post at some point, because I couldn't have said it better myself. YA rules!; March 31, 2011 at 3:38 PM
Tracy said...: Gina, you are more than welcome to borrow the post. I know, I always enjoy getting a day off from having to work up a topic on my own blog. Borrow away. :D

Stina, I think I enjoy the adult romances for the fact that it's actually the heroine who often gets in her own way and has to smarten up and fix her problems. Which is why I like reading about teens. They get themselves in trouble without even realizing that's what they're doing!

Linda - Good luck with that publisher. It's good to know the waiting game NEVER stops! lol; March 31, 2011 at 7:46 PM
Anya S. Winter said...: There's something about Joey and Dawson that do it for me ;); April 4, 2011 at 8:06 PM