romance novels
Passionate fictional tales
Romance novels are a fiction genre centered on romantic love, typically between two people whose relationship drives the plot toward an emotionally satisfying ending.
The genre spans historical settings, contemporary life, paranormal worlds, and more.
Romance novels are sometimes dismissed as formulaic or frivolous, but they dominate commercial fiction sales: She reads romance novels on her commute.
The term often implies mass-market paperbacks with passionate cover art, though the genre includes literary fiction exploring love.
- forbidden loveRomance society prohibits
- enemies to loversRomance from mutual hostility
- FabioMononymous male supermodel
- brooding heroAngsty, introspective main character
- happily-ever-afterIdyllic permanent resolution
alpha male · damsel in distress · heroine · meet-cute · forced proximity · Harlequin · bodice ripper · torn bodice · star-crossed lovers · love at first sight · small town · love triangle · secret baby · marriage of convenience · slow burn · second chance · best friend · contemporary fiction
- bookstextbooks, study guides, book, paperback, hardcover
- romancelove story, amor, love, boyfriend, courting
- bookstore sectionsclassics, textbooks, short stories, biography, reference books
- girls fictionheroines, girl power, schoolgirls, princesses, coming-of-age
- light readinghumor, comedy, jokes, page turners, mysteries
- popular fictionbestsellers, genre fiction, page-turners, pulp fiction, mysteries
romance novelsthrillers
Gripping suspense works
mysteries · war novels · hard science fiction · true crime · military fiction
romance novelsliterary fiction
Prose emphasizing craft and depth
classics · experimental fiction · modernist novels · postmodern literature
novel, romantic, romance, novels, romances, romancing, novella, novelists, romanced