Veena’s review of Romance is My Day Job: A Memoir of Finding Love at Last by Patience Bloom
Women’s Literature published by Dutton Adult 14 Feb 14

Books are my best friends. I’ve enjoyed reading since I could form letters and comprehend words. While I read other genres, romance is my comfort food which I rely on daily. So when this book came up on my radar screen, I was thrilled. An editor who sees more flavors of romance than I could imagine on a daily basis. It seemed like a match made in heaven.

Intellectually I knew this was about a journey to a true and lasting romance and the frogs that she had to kiss along the way, but our heroine is so desperate to find romance she reads it into every glance, every encounter, and her fertile imagination builds a virtual reality that seems to be far from the truth. Every relationship seemed doomed and almost dysfunctional to me. I eventually abandoned the book mid-way through because I couldn’t bear to continue.

The different encounters made me sad. It’s almost like she seems to lose her own sense of self-worth and identity as she molds herself into what her current “lover” needs her to be, even if that character is destructive to themselves or to others. There is even an episode where she becomes suicidal. I definitely find no comfort or relaxation from the reality painted between the pages of this book.

Grade: DNF

Summary:

Who knows the ins and outs of romance better than a Harlequin editor? A surprising and exhilarating look into Patience Bloom’s unexpected real-life love story.

At some point, we’ve all wished romance could be more like fiction. Patience Bloom certainly did, many times over. As a teen she fell in love with Harlequin novels and imagined her life would turn out just like the heroines’ on the page: That shy guy she had a crush on wouldn’t just take her out—he’d sweep her off her feet with witty banter, quiet charm, and a secret life as a rock star. Not exactly her reality, but Bloom kept reading books that fed her reveries.

Years later she moved to New York and found her dream job, editing romances for Harlequin. Every day, her romantic fantasies came true—on paper. Bloom became an expert when it came to fictional love stories, editing amazing books and learning everything she could about the romance business. But her dating life remained uninspired. She nearly gave up on love.

Then one day a real-life chance at romance made her wonder if what she’d been writing and editing all those years might be true. A Facebook message from a high school friend, Sam, sparked a relationship with more promise than she’d had in years. But Sam lived thousands of miles away—they hadn’t seen each other in more than twenty years. Was it worth the risk?

Finally, Bloom learned: Love and romance can conquer all.

No excerpt available.