Welcome back to another installment of Genre Journeys! This week, we’re looking at a genre that is beloved by many. The stories you’ll find here will warm your heart and give butterflies in your stomach. I’m speaking of course, about Romance!
What is Romance and Why Do We Love It?
Romance is a genre all about love! These books feature strong interpersonal stories that have a developing romantic relationship as their central theme. Readers who are looking to live vicariously through the characters will enjoy the building tension between two people as we wait for the inevitable kiss. And best of all, romance is one of the few genres that you can pick up and know that the ending is happy. According to the Romance Writers of America, a romance must have an “emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending.” If your romance novel doesn’t have a “happily ever after,” (HEA) then it’s not technically a romance novel, but a novel with romance in it. So, readers who want the assurance that the central couple ends up together will definitely enjoy this genre.
These books are emotional, with well-written characters that you can get invested in. Oftentimes, characters will have to confront their own personal issues and learn to grow as individuals before they are able to achieve their HEA. This leaves readers feeling hopeful, because it means that even with our own issues, flaws, and setbacks, it’s very possible that we have a special someone waiting to sweep us off our feet as well. If you like stories that allow you to become deeply connected with the characters, then you’ll probably love romance.
Mild or Spicy?
Let’s not forget that a big part of the romance genre is…well, romance. And sometimes, that means getting physical. When you’re exploring the romance genre, you’ll often hear other readers talk about spice levels. This is a way to talk about the level of physical content you see in your books. While there isn’t standard terminology, per se, generally terms like “mild” and “chaste” refer to romances that focus more on emotions and have little to no kissing or sex. And on the flipside, “spicy” implies that there’s going to be a lot more going on. Sometimes, books can feature actual, detailed bedroom scenes. Since there’s something for every reader, you just need to figure out what level of spice works for you.
More to Love
Romance comes in every flavor imaginable, but here are some of the most beloved subgenres and tropes:
- Enemies to Lovers: They couldn’t stand each other, but now they can’t stay away
- Fake Dating: Circumstances require two characters to pretend to date, but the feelings soon become real
- Marriage of Convenience: True love blossoms from an arranged marriage
- Paranormal Romance: One of them is human, one is…something more
Related Genres
Unlike mysteries, which are part of the crime genres or horror, which is speculative fiction, romance is considered “realistic fiction” by some, while other readers consider it to be its own thing. Regardless of how you term it, there are lots of other genres that have romantic elements to them, so let’s take a look at those!
- Romantic Suspense: All the best parts of a romance novel and a thriller!
- Gothic: It’s mostly horror, very atmospheric, but also somewhat romantic
- Historical Fiction: While these stories are focused mostly on setting, they often have romantic elements as a subplot
- Romantasy: This is a fantasy novel where the romance plays a central role
Reading Recommendations
Meet Me in the Margins (Melissa Ferguson) Savannah Cade’s dreams are coming true. The Claire Donovan, editor-in-chief of the most successful romance publishing company in the country, has requested to see the manuscript Savannah’s been secretly writing. The only problem: she’s an editor for a different company, and their philosophy is only highbrow works are worth printing and romance should be reserved for the lowest level of Dante’s inferno. But when Savannah drops her manuscript during a staff meeting and nearly exposes herself to the whole company–including William Pennington, the new boss and son of the romance-despising CEO herself–she has no choice but to hide the manuscript in a hidden room. When she returns, she’s dismayed to discover that someone has not only been in her hidden nook but has written notes in the margins–quite critical ones. But when Claire’s own reaction turns out to be nearly identical to the scribbled remarks, and worse, Claire announces that Savannah has six weeks to resubmit before she retires, Savannah finds herself forced to seek the help of the shadowy editor after all. As their notes back and forth start to fill up the pages, however, Savannah finds him not just becoming pivotal to her work but her life. There’s no doubt about it: she’s falling for her mystery editor. If she only knew who he was.
Authentically, Izzy (Pepper Basham) Dear Reader, My name is Isabelle Louisa Edgewood–Izzy, for short. I live by blue-tinted mountains, where I find contentment in fresh air and books. Oh, and coffee and tea, of course. And occasionally in being accosted by the love of my family. (You’ll understand my verb choice in the phrase later.) I dream of opening my own bookstore, but my life, particularly my romantic history, has not been the stuff of fairy tales. Which is probably why my pregnant, misled, matchmaking cousin–who, really, is more like my sister–signed me up for an online dating community. The trouble is . . . it worked. I’ve met my book-quoting Mr. Right, and our correspondence has been almost too good to be true. But Brodie lives across an ocean. And just the other day, a perfectly nice author and professor named Eli came into the library where I work and asked me out for a coffee. I feel a rom-com movie with a foreboding disaster nipping at my heels. But I’ve played it safe for a long time. Maybe it’s time for me to be as brave as my favorite literary heroines. Maybe it’s time to take the adventures from the page to real life. Wish me luck.
The Kiss Quotient (Helen Hoang) Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases–a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old. It doesn’t help that Stella has Asperger’s and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice–with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can’t afford to turn down Stella’s offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan–from foreplay to more-than-missionary position… Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but crave all of the other things he’s making her feel. Their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic…
Funny Story (Emily Henry) Daphne always loved the way her fiancé Peter told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it…right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra. Which is how Daphne begins her new story: Stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak. Scruffy and chaotic–with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads–Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them? But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex…right?
Just One Taste (Lizzy Dent) When Olive Stone and her Italian pseudo-celebrity chef father fell out fourteen years ago, annoyingly handsome Leo Ricci slipped right in as his surrogate son and sous-chef. No one is more surprised than Olive when her father wills her his beloved (and now failing) restaurant. Or that his dying wish was for Olive and Leo to complete his cookbook…together. She’s determined to sell the restaurant. Leo is determined to convince her not to. As they embark on four weeks in Italy, traveling from Sicily to Tuscany to Liguria, they’ll test each other as often as they test recipes. But the more time Olive and Leo spend together, the more undeniable their attraction grows. Olive finds herself wondering whether selling the restaurant might be running away, and what it might be like to try just one taste of Leo Ricci. Because he isn’t who she expected, and this trip might reveal more about who Olive is than she’s ready for.
