Feel the love, Gators.
Gainesville placed ninth on Amazon.com’s 2011 list of the top 20 most romantic U.S. cities.
The city bested 10th-place Tallahassee but came in behind the other Florida cities on the list: third-place Orlando and fourth-place Miami.
This isn’t the first time Gainesville has placed in the top 20; it earned sixth place on the list in 2010.
Amazon.com determined the top cities based on online sales of relationship and romance books, sexual wellness products, romantic comedies and Barry White albums.
The company based its sales data on items bought since Jan. 1 on a per capita basis. Only cities with more than 100,000 residents were considered.
Romance is the second most popular genre of fiction at the Alachua County Library District, just behind mystery novels.
Gail Moss, librarian supervisor and fiction selector for the district, said this popularity might be due to the various subgenres for romance novels. Urban fantasy and paranormal romances are among the most popular choices.
“When I worked at the circulation desk years ago, we’d have women come in and return literally bags full of mass-market romances and check out the same number,” Moss said. “A lot of people are longtime lovers of romance reading.”
While mysteries dominate the print arena, romances take the top spot for downloadable e-books and audiobooks.
Since the beginning of the fiscal year on Oct. 1, 2010, people have downloaded 10,000 romance e-books and audio books but only 3,200 mysteries, she said.
