Hi! We’re J.W. and April, two smart women who got tired of privately defending our love, admiration, and educated interest in all things romance. Both of us have been reading romance novels from a very young age and both of us have Master’s degrees in English literature–something most would consider antithetical or even impossible. But, we know that reading romance has its benefits.

Of course, mass market fiction faces derision, even from its own: Stephen King once compared his books to a BigMac, and much of the world thinks romance novels are something even less appetizing and unhealthy–the trash novel (What a phrase!). But a genre written for women, by women, and about women deserves more respect and certainly more serious attention.

While there are many wonderful review sites on-line, Books with Benefits aims to offer a thoughtful and entertaining perspective on the genre. With reviews, writing advice, comics, editorials, How-To Guides, What-to-Read-Next Maps, and features such as Cover Me, Smarty Pants, and the YouTube series Romance in Real Life, Books with Benefits offers everything from fangirl squee to scholarly articles.

Though this site is about Romance Novels, we take the liberty and the right of extending this to everything from commercials to movies to graphic novels, and, yes, pop culture. If it has a love story, we’re probably talking about it. With a romance library that could rival Belle’s we want to speak the truth…and have fun doing it.

Enjoy the Benefits,

J.W. and April are part-time writers, full-time teachers, and full-time bloggers. (Wait! That’s bad math!) Bad math or not, this team has published fiction, nonfiction, scripts and other stuff in print and online all while teaching their dear pupils. Click here to learn more about them.