Why I Love Romantic Comedies by Jon Rance

WHY I LOVE ROMANTIC COMEDIES
By Jon Rance

 

Hello! Thanks so much for having me on your blog! I’ve very excited to be here and to introduce my new novel, Dan And Nat Got Married.

So the title of the blog is, why I love romantic comedies. It’s called this because I’m a man and I’ve just written a romantic comedy novel. I know they’re called chick-flicks or chick-lit, but the truth is, a great romantic comedy is for everyone more than any other genre. It used to be that way anyway, but we seem to have been convinced that romantic comedy books need to be all girlie and blokes can’t read them, which definitely isn’t the case. My new novel, Dan And Nat Got Married, is actually written from both the male and female perspectives, so you literally get both points of view. It’s a book as much for men as it is for women. So let’s put aside our sexual differences and look at why I love romantic comedies and why they’re for everyone.

There’s something comforting, warm and familiar about a great romantic comedy. It isn’t like watching or reading a crime, thriller, or science fiction film or book because you’ve probably never experienced any of that. I’ve never been involved in a serial murder case or seen aliens landing outside my house. But every single person who watches a rom com film or reads a rom com book has probably had their heart broken, fallen in and out of love, or cried their eyes out over a failed relationship. We’ve all been there. It’s an experience that binds all human beings together no matter where you’re from, how much money you have, or how old or young you are. Whether you’re living in poverty in Africa or you’re from the wealthiest parts of Europe or America, you have the same thoughts, feelings, and desire for companionship. It’s the one thing that all humans can relate to – love.

Love. That’s what it’s all about, right? Life isn’t about money or houses or careers, but love. Everything is about love. It’s the biggest subject matter in the world and also the smallest. A single word. Love. So easy to say, so easy to feel, but yet it’s been the driving force behind literature and music for hundreds of years. ‘Romeo and Juliet’ was a romantic comedy – admittedly with a tragic ending. ‘Price and Prejudice’ was a romantic comedy. The Beatles sang ‘All You Need Is Love’, and Richard Curtis made ‘Love Actually’ and it’s become a modern classic shown every Christmas. Love really is all around. It’s so simple and yet so complicated and it’s this dynamic that makes it such a timeless subject matter.

So here’s why I love romantic comedies. Because they’re hopeful, optimistic, and they leave us believing that love really can conquer anything and perhaps that’s no more important than today. People might think it’s cloyingly sentimental at times and maybe it is, but to me it’s like the feeling of sitting at home as a child on Christmas day morning, about to open presents, my parents there, the smell of Christmas, love, family, and excitement. Because that’s what love feels like. It’s like that moment when you’re a kid and life just feels so full of possibilities and potential. Love is the same and whenever I watch a great rom com film or read a romantic comedy novel, I get that same feeling and that’s why I love them. Love gives you the most important thing in the world – hope. Hope for a life together, for children to hug and watch fall asleep in their bed, to grandchildren and beyond. It all starts with a single look, a smile, a kiss.

When I watch a great drama or a brilliantly clever crime show or film, I feel nothing like that. I appreciate the writing, the intelligence, even the emotion of it, but they never leave me with the same feeling as a great rom com. Excited, hopeful, full of love, happiness, joy, whatever you want to call it. So when I sat down to write, Dan And Nat Got Married, the one thing I wanted to deliver – other than laughs and romance – was that feeling. When you get to the end of the book, what I hope more than anything is that when you read that final word you feel it – sentimentality, happiness, joy, love, optimism, warmth, and everything you should feel at the end of a great love story. I hope you do because I know I did when I finished writing it.

Thanks so much for having me today, it’s been an absolute pleasure. Dan And Nat Got Married, is out on Amazon. Read the first few pages and I hope it grabs you because it’s the romantic comedy I wanted to write. It’s all of my love for the genre captured in a few hundred pages. It might just change your life or maybe it will leave you with a smile or make you feel the need to text someone you love and just write, “Love you”.

 

The British romantic comedy you need to read this year.

 

From the bestselling author of This Thirtysomething Life, Happy Endings and Sunday Dinners, comes a brilliantly funny romantic comedy, perfect for fans of Love Actually, Notting Hill and Bridget Jones.

 

Marriage can be difficult. Especially when you’ve only just met. Meet Dan Fox, 34, an online marketing manager from Clapham, who was jilted at the altar two years ago by the love of his life and hasn’t dated since.

 

Nat Howard, 32, is living back at home with her parents in Dorking after her perfect boyfriend dumped her and she had to move out of his bespoke flat in Putney.

 

On separate Stag and Hen weekends in Las Vegas, Dan and Nat wake up married. Both too drunk to remember what happened, they return to England and try to get on with their lives. But there was something about Nat that makes the usually cautious Dan think they should give their marriage a go. Nat’s still in love with her Ex, but maybe Dan can help mend her broken heart.

 

Can marriage between two relative strangers really work? And when Nat’s ex-boyfriend – the gorgeous Charlie – comes back into her life, she must decide – something old or something new?

 

Set in London, Dan And Nat Got Married, is a funny and full of heart modern romantic comedy about marriage, relationships, and giving love a second chance.

Click here to get hold of your copy of Dan and Nat got Married.

A huge thank you to Jon for this wonderful guest post!

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