According to research, Noah from “The Notebook” is the most beloved book boyfriend (33%).
A recent survey of 2,000 romance readers found that Christian Grey from the “Fifty Shades” series (28%) and Edward Cullen from the “Twilight” series (21%) round out the top three book boyfriends.
As for the best book girlfriends, the top three were found to be Anastasia Steele from the “Fifty Shades” series (27%), Bella Swan from the “Twilight” series (23%) and Juliet from “Romeo and Juliet” (25%).
The survey looked at how romance novels have shaped respondents’ real lives and found that on average, those surveyed have read four romance novels within the past six months, with 25% getting in the romantic mood for Valentine’s Day.
Commissioned by ThriftBooks and conducted by OnePoll, the survey found that a third of those surveyed said their interest in romance novels has most impacted their expectations of what love should feel like (33%) and their overall perspective of love and relationships (31%).
Thirty percent also said books have inspired their expectations of what a good relationship is and the kind of person they want to be with (29%).
Two in three readers even said it’s important for their real-life partner to share the same qualities of their favorite literary romance character.
More than half of respondents in serious relationships said that reading romance novels has made them more particular in choosing a partner (56%).
“Everyone loves a good love story, but who knew that it affects how people see their partner in real life?” Barbara Hagen, vice president of marketing at ThriftBooks said. “Results showed that the power of good storytelling moves people so much that it can affect their perceptions of love, relationships and the kind of person they want to spend their time with. For many, finding someone who makes their stomach flutter like their favorite romance story is the real-life version of getting that classic happily ever after.”
And those romance lovers may just get their happily ever after, sharing that their partner matches their favorite literary romance character’s humor (44%) and patience (41%).
Four in 10 said their partner has gone as far as doing a similar grand gesture of their love as their favorite character (39%).
Further, 49% said a romance novel or plot has inspired them to “make a move” on their crush like confessing their feelings (50%) or flirting with someone (44%).
Romance reads have also brought hope to single respondents who feel more optimistic about being able to meet the right person (49%).
Some of the most popular romance novels include “Romeo and Juliet” (49%), “The Notebook” (47%) and the “Fifty Shades” series (45%).
The “Twilight” series (44%) and “A Walk to Remember” (33%) also made the list of frequently-read romance novels.
Respondents enjoy reading romance novels for their happy endings (45%) and because they’re an escape from real life (45%).
