Online Encyclopedia
Romance novel
A romance novel is a novel from the genre currently known as romance. The genre has two strict criteria:
- the story must focus on the relationship and romantic love between a man and a woman;
- the end of the story must be positive, leaving the reader believing that the protagonists' love and relationship will endure for the rest of their lives.
If a novel does not fulfil those conditions, fans of the genre are likely to claim that it belongs to a related genre, such as women's fiction or chick lit, or that it is just a mainstream fiction novel.
Some romance novel readers would claim that the genre has additional restrictions, from plot considerations such as the hero and heroine meeting early on in the story, to avoiding possible themes, such as neither hero nor heroine committing adultery in the course of their relationship developing. However, these are not hard-and-fast rules, and some writers deliberately write stories that may put off some readers in order to push the genre's boundaries.
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Category and single title novels
Romance novels are divided into two sub-sets, category romances (also called series romances) and single title romances.
Category romances
The term 'category romances' derives from the fact that the books are published in clearly delineated categories, with a certain number of books being published in each category every month. Their alternative name, series romances, comes from the sequential numbers that each book is given. (The category name and the series number is printed on the books' spines.) Category romances are short (usually no more than 200 pages), and have a low purchase price compared to other fiction books.
Each category has a distinct identity, which is based around the level of sexuality, the degree to which the story is realistic, and which sometimes includes the kinds of characters and settings. Publishers of category romances issue guidelines to authors for each category. The following are examples from Harlequin's category guidelines:
'Blaze' category: "Blaze will feature sensuous, highly romantic, innovative plots that are sexy in premise and execution. The tone of the books can run from fun and flirtatious to dark and sensual. [Stories] should have a very contemporary feel of what it's like to be young and single in the new millennium. We are looking for heroes and heroines in their early 20s and up. There should be an emphasis on the physical relationship developing between the couple: fully described love scenes along with a high level of fantasy and playfulness. The hero and heroine should make a commitment at the end."
'Superromance' category: "Authors should strive to break free of stereotypes, clichés and worn plot devices to create strong believable stories with depth and emotional intensity. Superromance novels are intended to appeal to a wide range of romance readers. A general familiarity with current Superromance books is advisable to keep abreast of ever-changing trends and overall scope. But we don't want imitations and we are open to innovation. We look for sincere, heartfelt writing based on true-to-life experiences and fantasies the reader can identify with."
'Modern Romance' category: "Although grounded in reality, these stories offer compelling modern fantasies to readers all around the world, and there is scope within this line to develop relevant, contemporary issues which touch the lives of today's women. Each novel is written in the third person and features spirited, independent heroines who aren't afraid to take the initiative, and breathtakingly attractive, larger-than-life heroes. The conflict between these characters should be lively and evenly matched, but always balanced by a developing romance that may include explicit lovemaking. "
'Tender romance' category: "[E]ach book should focus almost exclusively on the developing relationship between the main protagonists. The emphasis should be on warm and tender emotions, with no sexual explicitness; lovemaking should only take place when the emotional commitment between the characters justifies it. These heartwarming stories must be written with freshness and sincerity, featuring spirited, engaging heroines portrayed with depth and affection as well as heroes who are charismatic enough to fulfil every woman's dreams!"
Category romances are widely regarded as cliched, unrealistic, poorly written, disposable pulp fiction-style stories that set out only to titillate readers and fulfill their fantasies. This perception is mainly due to the need for publishers to maintain category identity (which can, it is argued, lead to cliched stories), the large number of category romances published and the fast turn-over (sellers only stock the books released that month), which leads to the idea that low-quality writing is accepted in order to publish enough books every month. However, there is nothing intrinsically inferior about category romances.
'In Defense of the Series Romance http://www.allaboutromance.com/186.html ' explores the issues around the quality of category romances.
Most category romances are published by Harlequin (known as Mills and Boon in the United Kingdom); Zebra and Signet publish three or four category romances in the Regency subgenre every month.
Single title romances
Single title novels are books released on the strength of their title rather than the category's format and identity - in this sense, 'title' refers not only to the book's actual title, but also the author's reputation and the individual book's plot. They are longer than category romances, with novels averaging around 350 pages.
'Single title' is a misleading name, as authors frequently write sequences of interconnected books - a good example are Mary Balogh's books Slightly Married, Slightly Wicked, Slightly Scandalous, Slightly Tempted, and Slightly Dangerous, in which one of the protagonists is always one of the five Bedwyn siblings. Such sets of books often have similar titles, and it is not uncommon for them to be released over a shorter space of time: the five books of the Slightly sequence were released between April 2003 and June 2004; it is unusual for a single title author to release more than two books a year.
Such sequences are a double-edged sword. On one hand, they can satisfy an author's fans, who are clamouring for the next book and who often request sequels featuring a previous secondary character as the hero or heroine. On the other, the author is often said to suffer from 'sequelitis', and is accused of introducing secondary characters not for plot purposes, but only so that the sequel is set up; some see sequences of books as a cynical marketing ploy that exploits readers who feel they have to read and collect every book in a series, even if the quality of successive books declines.
It is not uncommon for authors of category romances to 'graduate' to writing single title romances; some single title authors - particularly those writing in the romantic suspense sub-genre - move on to being published as general fiction.
The following are the largest publishers of single title romance novels, in term of the number of titles published in 2002:
- Kensington - under its Brava and Strapless imprints
- Penguin-Putnam - under its Berkley, NAL, Jove, Onyx and Topaz imprints
- Dorchester - under its Leisure and Love Spell imprints
- Random House - under its Ballantine, Bantam, Dell, Del Rey and Ivy imprints
- HarperCollins - under its Avon imprint
Harlequin also publishes some single title romances under its HQN imprint.
Romantic genres
There are a number of sub-genres of romance novel:
- Contemporary
- Historical
- Futuristic
- Fantasy
- Inspirational
- Paranormal
- Regency
- Romantic suspense
- Time travel
- Western
Sub-genres of romance frequently draw on other genres - romantic suspense draws on mysteries, crime fiction and thrillers, and futuristics are romances in a science fiction mode.
Romantica (a blend of romance and Censored page) is often labelled as a sub-genre. The term can be applied to any of the other romance sub-genres, but is usually used when sexual aspects of the story take precedence over the others.
See also List of romantic novelists
- Romance 101 http://curvynovels.com/Romance101.htm
Popularity of romance novels
Romance novels are most popular in the United States and Canada, where it is the best-selling genre. In North America in 2002, sales of romance novels generated US$1.63 billion and comprised 34.6% of all popular fiction sold - by comparison, general fiction comprised 24.1% and mystery, detective and suspense fiction comprised 23.1%. Over 2000 romance novels were published, and there were 51.1 million romance novel readers.
Genre slang
Like many other fan groups, romance novel readers have developed terminology to allow them to talk about the specifics of romance novels quickly and easily. Some common terms include:
- duke of slut - any promiscuous aristocrat.
- fake rake - a man whom everybody presumes to be promiscuous (a rake), but who is not.
- HEA - an abbreviation of "[and they lived] happily ever after", the phrase which traditionally ends fairy tales; it refers to the happy ending that romance novels must have.
- TSTL - an abbreviation of "too stupid to live"; this usually refers to a heroine whose behaviour is so dumb that the reader finds it difficult to believe that she has survived so long, or that she will get herself killed soon.
External links
- All About Romance http://www.allaboutromance.com - This site features articles and columns, reviews, message boards, and title listings by subject and style.
- Harlequin's official site http://www.eharlequin.com/cms/index.jhtml
- Romance Writers of America http://www.rwanational.org/