I confess that I am a bibliophile. I love books – the smell of the ink and paper; the texture of the cover and pages; the soothing swish of a turning page. Books represent nostalgia too; they transport me back to my childhood home, where I would gaze at shelf upon shelf of books and have that wonderful feeling of being on the cusp of a world full of magical stories and knowledge just waiting to be explored.

There is a certain romance to be found in reading a book. You curl up in an armchair with a mug of hot chocolate in one hand and a paperback in the other, snug and safe, while the rain beats against the window. You rest on a bench beneath a shady tree on a warm summer’s afternoon, escaping into a story while half-aware of the drone of bees and the scent of freshly mown grass. You lie in bed at night, your body aching and your mind buzzing in exhaustion, and prop up a hardback to drift into another world.

The book is solid, comforting. It exists; it is tangible. You relax into the journey of the story that is bound to the pages. You hold the book; you feel the book – you feel the book.

As well as the many books I have in my homes in Kent and France, I have an e-reader. I find it convenient for travelling, first and foremost, and useful for downloading materials when researching my novels. But for me, the experience of reading an ebook is a little different to reading a print book. It works fine for many types of book, but when I’m reading pure romance, when I want to just get swept away and escape into the characters’ dramas and passions, I find myself a little less connected to the book. The sense of escapism is less for me – I think because I spend so much time on a computer, reading on a screen is less relaxing.

What do you think? Do you notice a difference in how you engage with a romance novel depending on its format? Do you think the very romance of reading print books contributes to the romantic feelings stirred by reading a romance novel? I would love to hear your thoughts.