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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Entertainment
Eelemarni Close-Brown

Love, desire and community: the new generation of readers bonding over romance novels

Women sitting at tables eating and talking at a bookshop
Romance readers gather for a Halloween event at Sydney bookshop Romancing the Novel. Photograph: Scarlett Hopper/Romancing The Novel

In a packed room in Sydney, an excited crowd riffles through stacks of stickers and bookmarks searching for their favourite characters. Another group flicks through racks of clothing, pulling out T-shirts that say “romance readers club” and “probably reading about fairies”.

A poster on the wall, with tear-off tabs, invites visitors to take what they need: a love triangle, a love confession mid-dragon battle, a morally grey man or a cowboy.

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