Romance novel
[5] In the UK, the romance genre was long established through the works of prolific author, Georgette Heyer,[6][7] which contain many tropes and stereotypes, some of which, have recently been edited out of some of her novels.
[1] Bestselling author Nora Roberts sums up the genre, saying: "The books are about the celebration of falling in love and emotion and commitment, and all of those things we really want.
Some romance novel authors and readers believe the genre has additional restrictions, from plot considerations (such as the protagonists' meeting early on in the story), to avoiding themes (such as adultery).
[20][1] Examples include: Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough, Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami, Atonement by Ian McEwan, and The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller.
Richardson wrote Pamela as a conduct book, a sort of manual which codified social and domestic behavior of men, women, and servants, as well as a narrative in order to provide a more morally concerned literature option for young audiences.
[35] The popular, mass market version of the historical romance, which Walter Scott developed in the early 19th century, is seen as beginning in 1921, when Georgette Heyer published The Black Moth.
Because Heyer's romances are set more than 100 years earlier, she includes carefully researched historical detail to help her readers understand the period.
They feature themes influenced by the romantic Tang dynasty chuanqi fictions such as Yingying's Biography, The Tale of Li Wa and Huo Xiaoyu zhuan, as well as the popular works of Song and Yuan playwrights such as Bai Renfu, Zheng Guangzu and Wang Shifu.
The overwhelming prevalence of this type of romance novels was famously mocked in Cao Xueqin's The Dream of the Red Chamber, where it ridicules: "There are thousands of such "caizi jiaren" ["scholar and beauty"] books, and yet they are all alike!".
[54] The success of these novels prompted a new style of writing romance, concentrating primarily on historical fiction tracking the monogamous relationship between a helpless heroine and the hero who rescued her, even if he had been the one to place her in danger.
[55][56] A Wall Street Journal article in 1980 referred to these bodice rippers as "publishing's answer to the Big Mac: They are juicy, cheap, predictable, and devoured in stupefying quantities by legions of loyal fans.
[51] In this new style of historical romance, heroines were independent and strong-willed and were often paired with heroes who evolved into caring and compassionate men who truly admired the women they loved.
[62][63] Dailey's novels provided the romance genre's "first look at heroines, heroes and courtships that take place in America, with American sensibilities, assumptions, history, and most of all, settings.
[49] Harlequin had also failed to adapt quickly to the signs that readers appreciated novels with more explicit sex scenes, and in 1980, several publishers entered the category romance market to fill that gap.
[72] The following year, the "dampening effect of the high level of redundancy associated with series romances was evident in the decreased number of titles being read per month.
Despite the broadening of some aspects of the plot, other taboos remained, and publishers discouraged authors from writing about controversial subjects such as terrorism, warfare, and masculine sports.
"[15] Several authors found success writing single-title romances set in contemporary times, and publishing houses began to encourage the growth in the genre.
[81] Mary Balogh's Simply Love, published in 2006, features a hero with facial scarring and nerve damage who overcomes fears of rejection due to his physical appearance to enter a romantic relationship and family unit by the end of the novel.
[86][87] Arthur Schopenhauer held that, if poets and novelists across continents have not stopped producing romance novels since millennia, it is because no other topic is more relevant and so the theme never gets old.
Some critics point to a lack of suspense, as it may seem obvious that the hero and heroine will eventually resolve their issues, and wonder whether it is beneficial "for women to be whiling away so many hours reading impossibly glamorized love stories.
[96] In 2022, it was announced that the best-selling[97] "cult" Winston Brother series[98] by self-published "smart-romance"[99][100][101] author, Penny Reid, has been optioned for a television adaptation by Tomorrow Studios.
"[105] Nonetheless, category romance lines each have a distinct identity, which may involve similar settings, characters, time periods, levels of sensuality, or types of conflict.
[112] Because the definition of a romance novel does not limit the types of plot devices, time frames, or locations that can be included, the genre has grown to encompass a wide variety of material and spawned multiple subgenres.
[137] However, other Christian publishers continued to produce romance novels, including historical and contemporary, and Harlequin later rejoined the market with the 1998 launch of its Steeple Hill and Love Inspired lines.
Despite the demise of the line, several of the ENCANTO authors have continued writing novels with Latino protagonists, namely Sylvia Mendoza, Tracy Montoya, Caridad Pineiro, Berta Platas, Lara Rios and Lynda Sandoval.
[145] In a vast majority of erotic romance novels, the sexual act progresses the plot or furthers the character development in some way and are critical to the story.
Some of the dominant themes of chick lit are a single woman's journey through career, high-powered work environment, personal life, relationships, motherhood, and parenting.
These tags are primarily to aid library staff in providing reference help for patrons and can be more difficult (but not impossible) to locate for general users.
[159] Some fans have created their own databases or search engines to help readers find the explicit content level and other romance book characteristics they are looking for.
Although Italy is the strongest foreign market for the chick lit sold by single-title imprint Red Dress Ink, in that country romance readers do not care to read books about cowboys, as this type of occupation was not common in their culture.
