Romantic fantasy can be considered a sub-genre of fantasy or of romance. Some critics have described romantic fantasy as the intersection between fantasy and romance. In a work of romantic fantasy, the plot deals with the development of a romantic relationship between the protagonists, and the plot or setting involves an element of the fantastic. Ideally, the fantastic element should be integral to the plot of the work -- that is, there would be no story left if the fantastic element were removed.

Romantic fantasy has been published by both fantasy lines and romance lines. Typically, fantasy publishers prefer a stronger emphasis on the fantastic elements of the storyline, while romance lines prefer a stronger emphasis on the development of the romantic relationship between the protagonists. However, there is some movement of authors between fantasy publishers and romance publishers, although this movement may be obscured by the use of pseudonyms and the policy of some publishers of considering a pseudonym to belong to the publishing house rather than the author.