Jane Austen once wrote about the tension between sense and sensibility — the tug-of-war between reason and emotion, protection and passion. I’ve been thinking about that balance a lot lately, especially when it comes to the popular books in the world — “spice and sensibility,” if you will.

Recently, I visited my beloved Barnes & Noble, browsing the aisles for the latest trendy reads — and noticing how much my favorite store has changed since I was a book-obsessed teenager.

As I glanced at a table near the “romance” section of the cozy bookstore, I did a double-take. The table was filled with about 20 popular, seasonal romance books, all sporting whimsical, colorful, cutesy covers, without much differentiation among them, despite eye-popping differences among their content.

That included

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