Gen Z women are loving romance books. Gone are the days of middle-aged erotica, the newfound success of the romance category is largely thanks to Gen Z and social media. Colleen Hoover and Emily Henry are dominating the industry with their books that have been on the top of bestseller lists for months. Hoover’s publicist is not surprised about young readers’ love for romance novels and attributes their love of love to the fact that, “If you think about it, like [M]illennials, their youth has been marked by global and social upset and unrest in many ways, so looking for a happy ever after or an emotional outlet in a book seems like a healthy way of coping.” Plus, new marketing trends that feature cartoon figures and bright colors on contemporary romance covers are helping to lure in more of a younger audience. YPulse’s Hobbies and Passions report data shows about a quarter of Gen Z females say they regularly spend their free time reading. (npr)