I always hated how most of the romance novels I read ended with the woman toning herself down for love. It always went like this:

‘Cindy was a very stubborn woman, she didn’t take nonsense from any man. She always called them out when they did something wrong. None of the men wanted to mess with her. 

Until she met Jason, and suddenly, she became less problematic. He tamed her. He was an alpha male and she had met her match.’ 

I’ve read so many versions of this kind of romance novel. The woman was always less ‘angry’ when she met the love of her life. This supposed anger was her standing up for herself, not seeing men as superior or deserving of better treatment than women, seeing injustice or refusing to be disrespected.

It always broke my heart to see these fierce women reduced by love and become less assertive. But more than the heartbreak was fear.

I was scared because I wondered what love would do to me. Would I also be less fierce? Would I be less opinionated because of love?