The Romance Novel Cure Read Online Free Page A

tyger-shifter battle ever. And then, wounded but victorious, they had turned to one another in a grove of willows and…expressed their love… for pages, and pages. I sighed happily.
    Then, as I gathered my things for the day, I felt my mood plummet. Positive interactions, I thought, increase the positive interactions. What would Valerie do, I wondered, smiling at the crazy thought. If Caspian was sleeping, and Valerie was heading off to teach a bunch of wild toddlers, maybe Valerie would leave him a love note. I snorted, laughing. But, I put the second breakfast wrap I had made in a container, and grabbed a piece of paper from our grocery list pad. I always made double portions of my breakfasts, lunches and dinners, for Ben. Sometimes he took them, sometimes he didn’t. Our schedules hadn’t been overlapping much at all. I didn’t know what to write. Finally I wrote: caution: hot!!! And I drew a heart. Ben loves hot sauce, and I had liberally doused the wrap with Tapatio.
     

Ben
     
    I woke up when I heard Greta leave. I reached over and took my iPad, thinking I’d read a chapter. Instead, I looked at the author’s page on Amazon. Mireya Santos. Her author photograph showed her backlit by a setting or rising sun, so that her outline and features were completely blurred in the sunbeams. Who could write such inspired, hot scenes, I wondered. Her author bio stated that she considered romance novels her guilty pleasure, both reading and writing them. The only novels she had written were the three Silas and Sera novels, and apparently there was one more coming out soon. Each book had dozens of reviews, with an average of four stars each. I scrolled and saw a one star review:
     
    Meh. I didn’t even get what was going on idk but I couldn’t get into it. I didn’t finish it.
     
    I felt kind of mad on Mireya’s behalf. I’m sure as an experienced novelist, she could take it in stride, but it seemed mean spirited.
    I would have never imagined myself reading a romance, but I found myself wondering what was going to happen next. Who was Silas and why did he need to make Sera leave? What was going on? I liked what I had read so far.
    Another review caught my eye. It was five stars, and longer than most. The title of it was Silas the Perfect Alpha.
    Alpha? Wasn’t that some kind of wolf pack leader?
    I Googled romance novel alpha and clicked on an explanation in a blog called Shut Up Go Away Please I’m Reading . Alphas, apparently, are a common type of male character, the hero, in romance novels. They can be jerks, but they are also caring, confident, charismatic, skilled, loyal, possessive in a protective way, jealous at the drop of a hat in a flattering/exasperating way, and completely all about the female main character.
    I went back to the review about Silas the Perfect Alpha.
     
    Silas is such the perfect alpha because he does not come across as an alph-hole. He is all about being strong enough to put Sera’s needs first. He thinks she is wonderful, just the way she is. All he wants to do is keep her safe. He wants her all the time. He is vulnerable with her, because she’s the only one he lets in. He loves her with a loyalty that most of us never see in our lifetime. He cares about her pleasure. He’s a take charge kind of man, but only because he wants to serve Sera, and keep her safe, and make her happy. He’s bossy, but it’s only because he is protective.
     
    It went on for several more paragraphs, with other writers chiming in at the end, in the comments. At the bottom of the page were some quotes from the Silas novels that readers had highlighted and shared.
     
    * * *
     
    “You tell me,” said Silas, his hand coming to rest on her hip. “Tell me when you’re ready for our first kiss.”
    His hand slid under Sera’s shirt and he touched her waist, stepping closer. Sera looked up at Silas, at his dark eyes that looked hot enough to spark flames. His mouth was slightly open, and her eyes could not