When nine-year-old Nichole Perkins picks up her first romance novel, she knows she’s onto something good. Thus begins a lifelong affair with a genre she tries to emulate in her real life relationships, often with disastrous results. Yet even after Nichole realizes she’ll never become the women in her books—and that that’s not necessarily a bad thing—she fears the love she yearns for is only found between pages. Romance Novels Ruined Me is a reader’s journey that takes us through the stages of a typical long-term relationship: early infatuation that gives way to disillusionment and ends in enlightened commitment—with lots of growth along the way, and heroes found in the most unexpected of places.
Born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, Nichole Perkins writes about the intersections of pop culture, race, sex, gender, and relationships. Nichole loves Prince, romance novels, and the television show Frasier.
You can find some of her work online at Vulture, BuzzFeed, Fusion, and The Toast to name a few.