of gold and a mullet of awesome. Add a heroine with a bustle and the will to kick major butt. Then include enough contrivances to keep them fighting while getting them alone and possibly without key pieces of clothing, and what do you have? A romance novel. What else? Enough lessons about life, love, and everything in between to help you with your own happily-ever-after.

Lessons like...

• Romance means believing you are worthy of a happy ending
• Learning to tell the prince from the frog
• Real-life romance is still alive and kicking
• No matter how bad it is, at least you haven't been kidnapped by a Scottish duke (probably)

Sarah Wendell is cofounder of one of the top romance blogs, SmartBitchesTrashyBooks.com.