I worked in a used book store in my late 20s and the owner and her loyal customers were crazy for romance novels--especially the steamy ones. I was heavy into Science Fiction, but I TRIED to read a few romance novels, just to get a little more in sync with the "community". I don't think I was able to finish a single one. Just wasn't my cup of tea. I gathered that the authors did tend to be well educated and intelligent, but that the publishers had a strong control over what went into the novels, from style of writing, to types of characters to types of plots. Obviously, they were onto something, but I think you'd really have to already love the genre to be happy concentrating on it, or producing something that didn't seem mechanical.