With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, Amazon has released a timely list of the 20 most romantic cities in the country. Two Texas towns have been deemed hotbeds of passion: San Antonio (at No. 1, no less) and Round Rock (yep, you read that right).
Amazon determined which cities — population 100,000 or more — have the most Lotharios and sirens by compiling data on romantic product purchases, including literature (romance novels and relationship books), movies (rom-coms), music (Barry White, Luther Vandross and the like) and sexual wellness products.
Okay, now this list is starting to make more sense.
San Antonio topped a similar list put out by OpenTable last year, due to the number of romantic restaurants in the River City. But this time San Antonio can be proud of the sheer volume of residents purchasing Nicholas Sparks novels.
Unassuming Round Rock landed at No. 14, to the surprise of its neighbor to the south, Austin, which ranked No. 2 on OpenTable’s list. But apparently Round Rock’s citizens are more expertly trained in the art of the “forbidden dance.”
Also noteworthy: Four cities in Washington state showed up on Amazon’s romance roundup, which probably says more about residents’ attempts to combat boredom than their romantic prowess. Then again, what do we know about romance? Not much, apparently, because Dallas ain’t on the list.
Behold the 20 most romantic cities in America:
1. San Antonio, Texas
2. Seattle, Washington
3. Knoxville, Tennessee
4. Miami, Florida
5. Alexandria, Virginia
6. Orlando, Florida
7. Vancouver, Washington
8. Cincinnati, Ohio
9. Spokane, Washington
10. Dayton, Ohio
11. Columbia, South Carolina
12. San Jose, California
13. Murfreesboro, Tennessee
14. Round Rock, Texas
15. Sioux Falls, South Dakota
16. Las Vegas, Nevada
17. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
18. Everett, Washington
19. Erie, Pennsylvania
20. Clearwater, Florida
San Antonio tops another list of the nation's most romantic cities. Huh.
David and Melissa Loder's Elf Town is on Penbrook Court in the Deerfield subdivision of Plano. Photo courtesy of David and Melissa Loder