Romance Novel

I was delighted to read that A.S. Byatt too likes Georgette Heyer. I have loved Georgette Heyer ever since I was introduced to them way back in the late 80s. We were living in Saket then. Aparna, Indu and I were of the same age and all three of us were avid readers. There was Shanti too, whom we called Shinti Ponti. But she was not into reading. Aparna, Indu, and I swapped books and told each other which books to read. And if I am not mistaken it was Aparna who introduced me into the world of Georgette Heyer. There are all kinds of reasons why I like Heyer so much but the bottom line is that she is not mushy.
Mills and Boons are different kettle of fish. I was introduced into that world in the hostel and I read them because there was singular lack of any story books. There were no libraries in Baroda and there was no way I could get my hands on any book. M&Bs were circulated - I have no clue how they came into the hostel-from one room to another and from one girl's hostel to another. And believe me, after a day's work in the lab where experiments often times do not work, M&Bs were welcome.
Truthfully, the large majority of them are pure trash and I give them a wide berth. I simply cannot stomach those idiotic novels or the language. However, there are few authors who do not insult the reader's intelligence and those I read. Alas, the new ones coming out in the romantic genre are fit only for the dustbin.
However, that does not mean that my brother should not read it :-). In fact I urge him to do so at all possible opportunities. So here are two view points from Guardian for his benefit.