Via USA Today’s Pop Candy blog, Amazon.com has put out a list of what they’re calling the country’s “Most Romantic Cities” (just in time for Valentine’s Day promotional product tie-ins!) — except by “most romantic” they actually appear to mean “most in need of more romance”. The list corresponds to the web site’s top locations for sales of romance novels, relationship and sex books. Two Northern Virginia cities in the metro area made the top ten, with Alexandria coming out tops in the nation for potentially embarrassing reading habits.

1. Alexandria, Va.
2. Cambridge, Mass.
3. Miami
4. Irvine, Calif.
5. Ann Arbor, Mich.
6. Orlando, Fla.
7. Berkeley, Calif.
8. Scottsdale, Ariz.
9. Arlington, Va.
10. Atlanta

In fairness, Washington, D.C. itself is actually listed at #11, so we’re pretty pathetic ourselves. Perhaps these figures can help explain why the D.C. metro area is also usually listed as a good city for singles: there are just so many single folks living in and around D.C., even if many of us are apparently a little starved for acción. Also interesting: Heavily Mormon-populated Salt Lake City, Utah is the city least interested in romance-themed literature. Maybe there’s something to be said for getting married while you’re still in college?

Why do you think Alexandria, Arlington and D.C. residents have such a strong penchant for romance novels?