Romance novel
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A romance or romantic novel is a genre fiction work focused on the relationship and romantic love between two people, often concluding with an emotionally satisfying or optimistic ending. Authors who have significantly contributed to the development of this genre include Samuel Richardson, Frances Burney, Maria Edgeworth, Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, and Anne Brontë.
Romance novels can encompass various subgenres, such as bodice ripper, fantasy, contemporary, historical romance, paranormal fiction, sapphic, and science fiction. They may also contain tropes such as enemies to lovers, second chance, and forced proximity. While women have traditionally been considered the primary readers of romance novels, a 2017 study commissioned by the Romance Writers of America found that men accounted for 18% of romance book buyers.
The genre of works conventionally referred to as "romance novels" existed in ancient Greece. Precursors can also be found in the literary fiction of the 18th and 19th centuries, including Samuel Richardson's sentimental novel Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded (1740) and the novels of Jane Austen. Austen inspired Georgette Heyer, the British author of historical romance set around Austen's lifetime, as well as detective fiction. Heyer's first romance novel, The Black Moth (1921), was set in 1751.
The British company Mills & Boon began releasing romance novels for women in the 1930s. Their books were sold in North America by Harlequin Enterprises Ltd, which began direct marketing to readers and allowing mass-market merchandisers to carry the books.
An early American example of a mass-market romance was Kathleen E. Woodiwiss' The Flame and the Flower (1972), published by Avon Books. This was the first single-title romance novel to be published as an original paperback in the US. In the UK, the romance genre was long established through the works of prolific author, Georgette Heyer, which contain many tropes and stereotypes, some of which have recently been edited out of some of her novels.
Strong sales of popular romance novels have contributed to the genre becoming one of the largest segments of the global book market. The genre expanded significantly in the 1980s, with the addition of more subcategories and an increased number of single-title romances, but authors started pushing the boundaries of genre and plot, as well as creating more contemporary characters.