Men read romance novels, though many do so in secret, according to several reports. While it is often assumed that the genre does not appeal to men, many enjoy these stories discreetly. Paul, a 28-year-old maintenance worker in the United Kingdom, reads five to six books per month, including Love Bytes by W.D. Robertson, which features a werewolf woman who leads an artificial intelligence company and falls in love with a ballroom dance professor. He notes that in romance novels for men, the dynamic is often the opposite of those for women, with the woman taking the initiative, which has helped him accept himself better. He shares his passion online on the Discord channel "Romance for Men" due to fear of judgment. According to an editorial director at Mills & Boon, the main British publisher of romance novels, men account for only 4% of customers. Only 2% of members of the Romantic Novelists' Association, the professional organization of British romantic fiction authors, are men. However, the genre is increasingly appealing, with more than 11 million romance novels sold in France in 2025, and the genre accounting for 10% of the book market. The fifth volume of Heartstopper by Alice Oseman became the best-selling graphic novel in the United Kingdom and was adapted into a successful Netflix series of the same name. Andrew, a 31-year-old science fiction and fantasy enthusiast, discovered Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, a romance that tells the story of Violet Sorrengail, a young heroine who rides dragons and wields lightning. He found it refreshing to see things from a woman's perspective, as he had never read a fantasy book that dealt so much with romance and sex. He prefers reading on his phone or Kindle e-reader rather than buying paper books in a bookstore, due to embarrassment over the perceived focus on sex. Romance novels for men are mainly sold in digital format and are generally written from a male perspective, with the main character often attracted to a powerful woman, a reversal of mainstream romance novels. Authors are now investing in this niche. Mike Gayle, who has been writing about love and relationships for nearly thirty years, won the excellence award from the Romantic Novelists' Association in 2021, becoming the first man to receive this distinction. He focuses on established relationships rather than the beginning of a romance, finding it sexier to write about the moment when you get into a relationship and the real romance of staying together and making it work.