The Romance Genre is often one of the most popular ones in libraries today. The formula of a romance novel is dependable and is focused on the relationship between the hero and heroine. One of the reasons romances are so popular today is the wide range of popular titles and sub genres that exist within the main genre itself. In the book The Romance Readers' Advisory: The Librarian's Guide to Love in the Stacks by Anne Bouricius, she estimates that 53% of the mass market adult popular fiction paperbacks is the romance genre (Bouricius, 1). The Romance genre is categorized by lush descriptive text and the relationship between the hero and heroine.
Genre Formula
_The formula for the romance genre is often quite comforting to readers
because they know that there will always be a happy ever after ending.
The formula of the romance novel is very simple and easy to remember and
usually involves the heroine meeting the hero, realizing she likes him,
losing him, regaining him and living the fairytale romance (Bouricius,
7). The formula is very flexible and can allow for multiple characters
to be included into the plot to add depth and conflict as needed. This formula is often changed up for Chick lit books and easily tweaked to reflect work as the main focus instead of the hero. Unlike the Horror Genre the Romance Genre ends on a happy note with personal growth and the couple coming together as partners. Romance novels show monogamous relationships and commitment as the main focus of the book.
Genre Appeal
_The appeal of the genre is the sheer variety of titles and types of
sub-genres want to go to far off places? There are titles set in far off
places. Want a title that is a little more sedate as far as sexual
content? There are titles where the only thing that transpires is true
loves kiss. Different publishers have different levels of sensuality for their books but no matter how tame or explicit the genre is the relationship is key. For every taste there is a romance genre. From the
smoldering blaze to the inspirational romance and personal connection
there is something for everyone and every age bracket. This site will
hopefully provide information on a genre that is often interesting and
fraught with controversy.