The new romance change, gone are the clichés of our grandmothers’ erotic-sentimental books. Speech is freed, feminized and breaks the codes. So yes, there is always a love story that carries the story but that is not the main thing, all subjects are approached without taboo with the target audience, mainly female, aged 18 to 35. It must be said that this literary genre represents 7% of book sales in all categories and is increasingly often at the top of sales.
Among the French female authors who are making headlines, there are Delinda Dane et Lylyblabla, the new French wave of this literary genre with phenomenal success. They will both be the Saturday July 6th at the Fnac of Bastia to meet their readers and sign their books. Their latest novels are “friends-to-lovers”. In Love Charlie by Delinda Dane, Charlie and Lex have been friends since childhood, made for each other, but she doesn’t realize it except when he falls in love with someone else… Delinda devotes herself fully to writing and has had a string of successes since the publication of her first novel in 2019.
Lylyblabla, an active and fulfilled young woman
We met Lylyblabla before her arrival. The 30-year-old author whose name is Lycia has a very busy life, compiling three or four days into one. Indeed, the young woman wears several hats: a job in finance, mother of a 3-year-old boy and therefore an author for a few years. “It’s not easy, it requires a lot of rigor, it can’t work without meticulous organization. On a daily basis, my days start at 7 a.m. with my son, I follow that with a day of work in finance then my evening with my family and as soon as everything is in order, I sit down in front of my computer for two or three hour writing sessions.” Helped by her partner, she nevertheless admits that in life her temperament carries her: “When I have a goal in mind, I do everything to achieve it”. A conscious and balanced lifestyle choice where she combines the creative side of writing and the cognitive side of numbers and Excel tables.
All our tomorrows, His latest novel, published in March, breaks the codes of new romance and goes off the beaten track. Touching and sincere, through the story of Chris and Chloé, it addresses very serious subjects such as illness. “It’s a relationship that is above all a very sincere friendship before transforming into much more than that. But life unfortunately means that by having waited too long they may have lost precious time…” She insists, for younger readers, to take into account the warnings on the first page which warn that this story is psychologically trying and addresses difficult and sensitive subjects. It should be remembered that new romance is aimed at an adult readership, but young adults, from 16 years old, are also tempted. Lylyblabla’s novels lend themselves to this because unlike more classic romance, there are very few explicit scenes in her texts. “I asked myself the question when writing my first duology, would breaking this code that was seen as THE main code of this literary genre not make it a new romance. But the new romance is changing and addresses subjects that affect a new generation of young adults who need to identify with other more psychological subjects, to find themselves in their traumas.” So the bet was successful!
The sequel to his graphic novel with Morgane Moncomble in November
Lire All our tomorrows, is to enter the world of Lylyblabla by continuing reading with Midnight ‘Sun, a revisited Cinderella story. The two stories are linked with characters common to all three books. “I’ve had a lot of feedback from readers at the moment who are saying ‘‘I finished All our tomorrows and I threw myself on The Midnight Sun”. It’s a virtuous circle.”the author enthuses.
With such feedback, she’s not going to stop there. She of course has another novel in preparation, a trilogy still about romance that would be released at the end of 2025, but she won’t say more. She doesn’t rule out making another sequel to All our tomorrows. But in his recent news, there is above all the second volume of his graphic novel True Colors with the most popular French writer of the moment, Morgane Moncomble, in November.
When asked what it feels like to be part of the literary revival, she modestly explains: “I tell stories the way I want to tell them, breaking the codes a little. New romance is evolving, it’s not just empty stories. Female authors have a voice that is relayed by social networks more than traditional media.”
Committed literature that comes out of the closet and allows us to put love in the summer literary program.
Dedications on Saturday, July 6 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., Fnac Bastia Furiani.
