Happily-Ever-After is Still Hopping

Answer: Hearts, flowers, sunsets, and love

Question: Can you list at least three main characteristics of the most popular book genre sold today?

Yep, you guessed it – romance takes the prize for the most popular genre published today. Surprised? When Michelle Duclos, Wickson Library Director, mentioned this to me, I admit I was a bit surprised. Perhaps that is because when I think of a romance novel, I picture the books that my mom used to read in the 1970’s and 80’s with images of Fabio on the cover, his long, blonde hair blowing in the breeze, perhaps with his muscular arm wrapped around a scantily-clad woman with equally long hair. Romance books, however, are more than meets the eye.

Just a quick search in Libby shows that the White Pine Library Cooperative has over 3,500 books available in the romance category! What is a romance novel, though? While the genre can be traced to ancient Greece, they began to gain popularity in the 1800’s with Jane Austen’s works, then grew more popular in the 1930’s – 1950’s. “Today, romance novels span many different subgenres and are distributed widely across the globe. According to the Romance Writers of America, women count for 82% percent of the genre’s readership” (https://www.masterclass.com/articles/writing-101-what-is-a-romance-novel-learn-about-the-history-and-characteristics-of-romance-novels). Romances are fictional stories that focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, they espouse the belief that good behavior leads to true love, and they typically have a classic happy ending. What’s not to love?

There are, as you may know, many sub-genres of romance, the most popular of which in recent years is romantasy, which blends romance and fantasy. There is romance and love, but the relationships take place in another world and include magical or supernatural elements. I have read a handful of these, including two of the three Rebecca Yarros Empyrean Series books, Fourth Wing and Iron Flame. I have not read any of Sarah J. Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses series, but they have been extremely popular, and I will likely check them out.

Some additional sub-genres of romance include historical (pre-WW II) and contemporary (post-WW II), young adult, comedy, erotic, and suspense, so even if you might not consider yourself a fan of romance novels, you might find that you enjoy a historical romance like The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullogh or the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. If you enjoy suspense books, you may like many books by Nora Roberts (a.k.a. J.D. Robb) or Sandra Brown.

In recent years, the most popular (read: best-selling) books in the romance category have come from Emily Henry and Abby Jimenez. I can attest that I quite enjoyed Jimenez’s Just for the Summer, and I have a few of Henry’s books on hold. I personally enjoy romances for light, uplifting reading between sometimes heavier reads or after reading one too many suspense thrillers.

So, if you are already a lover of romance novels, or you want to try something new, search Wickson’s catalogue for “romance” and find your next love-filled read!