Right--nothing at all wrong with liking happy endings. I'm wondering if shootingstar was feeling sad because her niece, who not all that long ago lost her mother, was yearning for happy endings, after such a big loss for them both.
I think romance novels is so broad a term. I would guess that different subtypes of romance novels appeal to different groups of people.
"My predominant feeling is one of gratitude. I have loved and been loved;I have been given much and I have given something in return...Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and an adventure." O. Sacks