Love Between the Covers

2016 • 85 minutes

About this movie

Romance fiction is the behemoth of the publishing industry; it outsells mystery, sci-fi, and fantasy combined. Yet no filmmaker has ever taken an honest look at the global community romance writers and readers have built - until now. This funny and inspiring look into a billion-dollar industry turns up trailblazers who’ve found fortunes and fulfillment in romance, who are on the front lines of a revolutionary power shift in publishing. Creating online empires and inventing new markets are authors like Beverly Jenkins, a pioneer of African American romance, Eloisa James, Shakespeare professor and romance rockstar, Len Barot, surgeon and lesbian romance legend, and the incomparable Nora Roberts. For three years, we follow the lives of five published romance authors and one unpublished newbie as they build their businesses, find and lose loved ones, cope with upheaval, and earn a living doing what they love. In the process, we discover a global storytelling sisterhood. Love Between the Covers takes us into one of the few spaces where strong female characters are always center stage, where justice prevails in every book, and the broad spectrum of desires of women from all backgrounds are not feared, but explored unapologetically.

Ratings and reviews

I really enjoyed this. I found it to be an accessible, enjoyable look at a thriving community of readers and authors. I've never been much for romance novels, and only decided to watch this because it was about writing, even if not my usual genre, and I couldn't sleep. I loved that the group of authors the filmmakers chose to interview was diverse. Romance isn't my usual corner of the book world, and I was really interested to hear what authors and readers from marginalized groups had to say about how reading about a character they could see themselves in had affected them. I also really loved how positive the people interviewed were toward other women, and how much empowerment of women seemed from the film to be available in the romance community. No wonder people gravitate toward romance novels and the romance community. After watching this I feel like I have a little better understanding of the thriving community surrounding romance fiction. I also stumbled onto the first romance novel that's ever really connected with me. Yay good books. :)

This is a great documentary on the publishing industry's biggest money maker: romance novels. The documentary discusses readers, authors, publishing and the community surrounding all of it. I loved it!

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