INFORMATION ABOUT ROMANCE AND THE WIDE RANGE OF GENRES
FOUND UNDER THE ‘ROMANCE' UMBRELLA'
Most novels, whatever the genre, have some sort of romantic encounter/relationship in them somewhere, as do most films. Pair bonding is such an integral part of human life and without it, the human race would become extinct. Perhaps that's why over half the mass market paperback sold are romances of one sort or another.
The following explanations may help in understanding the genre.
1. "A romantic fantasy between a man and a woman with a happy ending"
(Senior Editor, M & B)
2. A process novel, like whodunits - the ending is fairly certain, how one gets there provides the interest.
3. An emotional coming-of-age story.
4. A genre where women do things and succeed and play the heroic role.
5. A type of book no different to any other genre - in that there are excellent, good and bad novels produced.
COMMON TERMS
Category romance - book such as Harlequin Mills & Boon publish, where there are various ‘lines' regularly published ie books in each line have specific types of romance stories, usually recognised in stores by their different designs and colours of covers as Medicals or Intrigues, for example. These can be seen in most big superstores.
Mainstream/single titles - individual romantic books - these are published by most publishers
Romance vs romantic
The boundaries here are very fuzzy but basically . . .
A romance is a book where the romance itself is the main plot
A romantic novel would have a romance as an integral part of the plot but other areas of focus as well
Sweet vs Sexy
A sweet romance doesn't usually contain explicit sex scens
A sexy romance contains more explicit sex scenes
ROMANCE SUB-GENRES
There are many types of romances. Sub-genres include the following, but new types are evolving all the time, and some books combine two or more sub-genres. These are in alphabetical order
Erotica
Fantasy and futuristic (SF/F)
Historical
Inspirational/Christian
Intrigue (danger, heroines in jeopardy)
Medical
Modern
Paranormal (vampires, shapeshifters and werewolves)
Romantic comedy
Romantic suspense
Sexy
Sweet
Time travel (known as time slips in the UK)
Young adult
ROMANTIC GENRES/STYLES
These overlap the romance sub-genres, which is why defining romances is so difficult. They are generally longer books, with romance as one (fairly main) element of the plot, but other major elements too, and are produced by a variety of publishers not just Harlequin Mills & Boon. Some are recognisable types:
Chick Lit
Historical
Medical thrillers
Modern novels
Novels with older protagonists
Relationships novels (families, groups of friends, etc)
Romantic comedies
Sagas
Time travel
Women's SF/Fantasy Young adult
. . . and many others
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FOUND UNDER THE ‘ROMANCE' UMBRELLA'
WHAT IS A ROMANCE?
Most novels, whatever the genre, have some sort of romantic encounter/relationship in them somewhere, as do most films. Pair bonding is such an integral part of human life and without it, the human race would become extinct. Perhaps that's why over half the mass market paperback sold are romances of one sort or another.
The following explanations may help in understanding the genre.
1. "A romantic fantasy between a man and a woman with a happy ending"
(Senior Editor, M & B)
2. A process novel, like whodunits - the ending is fairly certain, how one gets there provides the interest.
3. An emotional coming-of-age story.
4. A genre where women do things and succeed and play the heroic role.
5. A type of book no different to any other genre - in that there are excellent, good and bad novels produced.
COMMON TERMS
Category romance - book such as Harlequin Mills & Boon publish, where there are various ‘lines' regularly published ie books in each line have specific types of romance stories, usually recognised in stores by their different designs and colours of covers as Medicals or Intrigues, for example. These can be seen in most big superstores.
Mainstream/single titles - individual romantic books - these are published by most publishers
Romance vs romantic
The boundaries here are very fuzzy but basically . . .
A romance is a book where the romance itself is the main plot
A romantic novel would have a romance as an integral part of the plot but other areas of focus as well
Sweet vs Sexy
A sweet romance doesn't usually contain explicit sex scens
A sexy romance contains more explicit sex scenes
ROMANCE SUB-GENRES
There are many types of romances. Sub-genres include the following, but new types are evolving all the time, and some books combine two or more sub-genres. These are in alphabetical order
Erotica
Fantasy and futuristic (SF/F)
Historical
Inspirational/Christian
Intrigue (danger, heroines in jeopardy)
Medical
Modern
Paranormal (vampires, shapeshifters and werewolves)
Romantic comedy
Romantic suspense
Sexy
Sweet
Time travel (known as time slips in the UK)
Young adult
ROMANTIC GENRES/STYLES
These overlap the romance sub-genres, which is why defining romances is so difficult. They are generally longer books, with romance as one (fairly main) element of the plot, but other major elements too, and are produced by a variety of publishers not just Harlequin Mills & Boon. Some are recognisable types:
Chick Lit
Historical
Medical thrillers
Modern novels
Novels with older protagonists
Relationships novels (families, groups of friends, etc)
Romantic comedies
Sagas
Time travel
Women's SF/Fantasy Young adult
. . . and many others
Click here to return to the top of the page