I just finished watching Letters to Juliet, the charming Romantic Comedy starring Amanda Seyfried and Vanessa Redgrave. Set in Verona, Italy, the home of Juliet Capulet of Romeo and Juliet fame, the movie begins shortly before Sophie, an aspiring journalist, discovers a fifty-year-old letter to Juliet hidden in an outside wall of Juliet’s home.

The letter was written by then fifteen-year-old Claire Smith, who has decided to run away from a passionate love of Lorenzo Bartolini. After reading the letter, Sophie decides to answer it in the style of Juliet’s secretaries. The letter reaches Claire, who, inspired by Sophie’s passionate arguments, returns to Italy and searches for her true love.

Three romances are presented in the movie. In addition to Claire’s search for Lorenzo, Letters also portrays the failing relationship between Sophie and her fiance Victor, a chef, and the budding romance between Sophie and Claire’s grandson Charlie.

The most touching moment for me, though, was not the resolution of the romances involving Sophie, but between Claire and Lorenzo. They represented the romantic ideals we all aspire to: that true love never dies, that there is such a thing as a Happy Ever After.

And, of course, while watching the movie, the viewer cannot help but compare his or her life and loves to those playing out across the screen.

The truth is that Romance is so popular as a genre, both in book and film, because deep inside each and every one of us, we carry the hope that someday we will be the one to find that perfect ending.

Hope, and its counterpart belief, is such an intrinsic part of human nature, in fact, that we don’t always realize it’s there. We don’t always recognize it when we’re out on the umpteenth blind date in a row, or when our husband (or wife) isn’t as affectionate as he used to be, or when after losing a loved one we’re presented with a second chance at love.

Yet, hope is what drives women and, yes, men to read Romances. It’s what drives them in droves to the theater for movies like Letters. We need to believe, deep down in the darkest regions of our hearts, that we have a chance at a Happy Ever After, whether it’s within an existing relationship or one we haven’t found yet. We need hope in order to go on every day. We need something to believe in.

I suppose this is why I continue my own dating efforts. Somewhere in my heart, I long for a relationship like the one Claire and Lorenzo share. It’s not just the hopeless romantic in me, rooting for the underdog romance; it’s the hopeless romantic who doesn’t want to be so hopeless anymore on the romance front.

That belief in Happy Ever After drives me, much to my chagrin, much more than I care to admit, but it also inspires me to continue writing, and reading, Romances, even when I have other stories begging to be written. I guess underneath this Alien loving SciFi nerd beats a heart in need of giving and receiving a little TLC.

But shh, don’t tell anybody. You wouldn’t want to ruin my reputation as a reclusive individualist, would you?