[2] As a form of "escapist fiction" (escapism) and "commercial literature", Tagalog romance novels generally follow a "strict romance formula", meaning the narratives have happy endings (a factor influencing the salability of the novel), the protagonists are wealthy, good-looking, smart, and characters that cannot die.
The stereotypical norm had been replaced by the incorporation of storylines with "interesting scenes, characters [who are ready to face challenges or to sacrifice themselves for the benefit of other people], dialogues, and new angles to old plots".
Authors such as Maria Teresa Cruz San Diego, who used the pen names Maia Jose and Tisha Nicole, ventured into the fantasy romance genre, and into topics that are related to politics, ecology, gender issues, prostitution, mail-order bride syndicates, white slavery, non-governmental organizations, and breastfeeding programs.
[4] A regular Tagalog-language romance pocketbook is composed of around 120 pages, with a dimension of 10 by 16 centimetres (3.9 in × 6.3 in), giving the book its characteristic portability, light-weight, and easy to pass on to other readers.
[4] The actual idea of publishing Tagalog romance paperbacks in the Philippines was conceptualized by Benjie Ocampo, the proprietor of Books for Pleasure, Inc., the company that carried the English-language Mills & Boon pocketbooks line in the country.
Later on, after eight months of producing Pinoy Suspense pocketbooks, Anvil Publishing released its own Tagalog-language paperback romance novels that were geared towards Filipino female readers.
[1] Apart from Maria Teresa Cruz San Diego (as Maia Jose or Tisha Nicole), other contemporary Tagalog pocketbook novelists were Camilla (pen name of Armine Rhea Mendoza), Martha Cecilia (Maribeth Dela Cruz in real life) Apple Masallo, and Paul Sevilla.
[7] Among the readers of Tagalog-language paperbacks, apart from the local followers in the Philippines, are overseas Filipino workers, such as the female domestic helpers in Hong Kong.
[10] The books have been particularly popular with younger Filipinos, in part due to the "oral and contemporary" character of the language used in writing the novels.