India, Feb. 14 -- I am obsessed with romance novels and going by statistics, so are millions of other readers. For all its popularity, it is not easy to admire this genre comfortably in a public setting or on social media, thanks to the 'trashy' reputation that people associate romance novels with.

Hardcore readers of this genre soon realize that admitting openly to one's love for reading romance invites judgment, snobbery, and contempt. After all, romance novels are "usually written for women by other women, on sentiment-laden topics" like love and marriage. They "don't offer motivation like self-help books, intellectual invigoration like non-fiction, or bragging rights of reading award-winning fiction."

They are dismissed as 'fluff' o...