Suppose you are someone that enjoys reading and sharing your experience about the books you have read with people. In that case, it is most likely that you have experienced a situation where you want to refer someone to a book but just can’t remember the book’s title or the author’s name. Worst still, you are not sure about the names of the major characters in the book. It can be a very frustrating experience and twice so if it is a romance novel. To find a romance novel in such a situation is nothing short of looking for a needle in a haystack and the reason for this isn’t far-fetched.
There are thousands of romance novels out there, it is one of the most popular genres, and almost all of the other genres incorporate elements of love and romance. As such, finding a particular romance novel might turn out to be one of the most tasking things to do if you can’t recall the basic facts that set it apart from other books. Nonetheless, it is not an impossible mission, as long as you can give a robust description of what the book is all about, its premise, and what have you.
Easy Ways To Find a Romance Novel By Description
If you are sure you are only dealing with forgetfulness, that you know the book’s title or the author’s name but can’t just remember it, you should sleep over it, and the information will return to you. However, if you don’t have the patience for that, you can find the book by description through the following means.
1. Google Everything You Can Remember About The Book
Of course, Google is the first place you would go to find a romance novel. If your searches there have not been productive and tiring, you might have been searching wrong. Searching for things like “romance novels about a serial killer” would only get you more frustrated as you would have hundreds of books to go through. You have to narrow down your search and to this, make a quick note of all the things you can remember about the book. Having done that, come up with a short but apt description of the book and then search again for it.
While you search, you should use the search operators as you deem fit to narrow down your search. The search operators are like a set of commands you can use to help Google understand what you are looking for and ultimately determine the kind of pages the search engine refers to you. For instance, you can use the minus (-) to remove multiple words you don’t want to see in your results.
If you know the book you are looking for wasn’t authored by Diana Gabaldon, and your search results have been referring you to her work, you should include her name in your description but with the minus symbol in front of it. E.g., Historical fantasy romance novel set during the Second World War -Diana Gabaldon. This would refer you to books other than Outlander written by Gabaldon.
2. Search Quotes, Notable Lines, and Keywords From The Book On Google Books
Google Books takes pride in describing itself as the world’s most comprehensive index of full-text books, and it is hard to argue with that. If you can’t find a romance novel by a description on the regular Google, you should head to Google Books. It is most likely that the book you have in mind is among the millions of books Google has stored in its digital database.
To find the book in the digital library, you just have to get your description right. For instance, if Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander is the book you are trying to find, a description like “historical romance novel about time travel set during the second world war” would lead you right to the book if you can’t recall the title of the book, the author, and even names of the major characters therein.
To search with filters, click Advanced after you type in your description of the book. Then click any title you think might be the book you are looking for to read or preview. You can also search within a book to confirm it’s what you are looking for; just click the title and under it, click Search inside.
3. Search for The Book on Goodreads
It would be hard to find the book on the social cataloging website as you can only search for books on the platform by title, author, or ISBN. Because of this, searching for Outlander with the description used above on Goodreads wouldn’t return any result. However, there is a way around it. To find a romance novel by description on the site, ask readers.
But then, you should know that Goodreads has guidelines for asking questions on the platform. All questions asked must be relevant to a book or its author. Here’s what to do: find any other romance novel close to the one you have in mind, ask a meaningful question about it and implore readers to recommend other “historical romance novel set during the second world war.”
4. Ask Other Readers On Popular Book Sites and Social Media Pages
Other readers can help you find a romance novel by description on popular book sites and social media pages. There are thousands of sites and social media groups/forums dedicated to books, and they would be glad to help you. Interestingly, many people have been assisted on sites like The Millions and social media pages like this subreddit.
5. Ask Book Discussion Club Members and Librarians
If all of the above didn’t help you find the book you are looking for, something might be amiss with your description of the book. But you can still take your search to book clubs around you. You don’t have to be a club member to ask them, just be a good human and ask nicely, and they’d be glad to help. You can as well visit libraries around you and ask the librarians. The more you talk to people who are enthused about such books, the better you stand a chance of finding the book you are looking for. Goodluck.
