The Mills & Boon effect: Why a romantic read can harm love lives



'Rose-tinted': A leading psychologist has claimed romantic fiction is damaging relationships because of its idealised love and sex

Generations of women have devoured Mills & Boon-style romantic fiction.

But the ‘rose-tinted’ novels are damaging modern relationships, a leading psychologist claims.

The genre may still account for almost half the novels bought, but its idealised love and sex give readers false expectations, insists relationships expert Susan Quilliam.

And although the stories can be enjoyable and fun, they encourage unreal expectations of a life of unbridled passion and trouble-free pregnancies, she added.

Miss Quilliam hit out at portrayals of non-consensual sex and female characters who are ‘awakened’ by a man rather than being in charge of their own desires.



Writing in the Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care, the TV agony aunt said: ‘Clearly those messages run counter to those we try to promote.

‘A huge number of the issues we see in clinics and therapy rooms are influenced by romantic fiction.

‘What we see is more likely to be influenced by Mills & Boon than the Family Planning Association.’

The books have come a long way in terms of depicting a more realistic view of the world, but ‘still a deep strand of escapism, perfectionism and idealisation runs through the genre’.

She added: ‘While romance may be the wonderful foundation for a novel, it’s not a sufficiently strong foundation for running a lifelong relationship.’

There is also another more ‘worrying difference’ between sexual health professionals and the producers of romantic fiction.

Miss Quilliam, author of award-winning book The New Joy of Sex, said: ‘To be blunt, we like condoms – for protection and for contraception – and they don’t.’

She pointed to a survey of romantic fiction titles in which only one in ten mentions condom use. There was a correlation between the frequency of romance reading and negative attitudes to condom use.

Some fans read up to 30 titles a month.

So while women’s exposure to formal sex and relationships education may be as little as a few hours in a lifetime, the brand offered in romantic novels may be as much as a day every week, she added.

‘I’m not arguing all romantic fiction is misguided, wrong or evil,’ said Miss Quilliam.

‘But if readers start to believe the story, then they store up trouble for themselves – and then they bring that trouble into our consulting rooms.