80-551: Regency romances are a subgenre of romance novels set during the period of the British Regency (1811–1820) or early 19th century. Rather than simply being versions of contemporary romance stories transported to a historical setting, Regency romances are a distinct genre with their own plot and stylistic conventions. These derive not so much from the 19th-century contemporary works of Jane Austen , but rather from Georgette Heyer , who wrote over two dozen novels set in
160-408: A "decency code", and rejected more sexually explicit material that Mills and Boon submitted for reprinting. Realizing that the genre was popular, Richard Bonneycastle finally decided to read a romance novel. He chose one of the more explicit novels and enjoyed it. On his orders, the company conducted a market test with the novel he had read and discovered that it outsold a similar, tamer novel. Overall,
240-464: A 90–100% sellout rate each month. A 1982 survey of romance readers confirmed that the new styles of writing were attracting new readers to the genre. 35% of the readers surveyed had begun reading romances after 1977. An additional 31% of those surveyed had been readers for between 6 and 10 years, meaning they had become interested in the genre after 1972, when Woodiwiss' revolutionary novel was published. This means that two-thirds of those surveyed joined
320-410: A book of letter templates. Richardson accepted the request, but only if the letters had a moral purpose. As Richardson was writing the series of letters turned into a story. Writing in a new form, the novel, Richardson attempted to both instruct and entertain. Richardson wrote Pamela as a conduct book , a sort of manual which codified social and domestic behavior of men, women, and servants, as well as
400-414: A changing reader base. While some long-time readers balked, publishers viewed the inclusion of sex scenes as a means of keeping the subgenre afloat. The goal was to appeal to a new generation of readers while still delivering the witty and clever plotlines loyal readers love. Regency romance authors such as Sandra Heath, Anita Mills, and Mary Balogh were the first to write about sexual relationships between
480-424: A couple who fights for and believes in their relationship will likely be rewarded with unconditional love. Bestselling author Nora Roberts sums up the genre, saying: "The books are about the celebration of falling in love and emotion and commitment, and all of those things we really want." Women's fiction (including " chick lit ") is not directly a subcategory of the romance novel genre, because in women's fiction
560-566: A love story between a beautiful and talented maiden and a handsome young scholar. Some examples of these novels include Ping Shan Leng Yan , Haoqiu zhuan , Iu-Kiao-Li , Huatu yuan , Qiao Lian Zhu , Wu Mei Yuan , Bai Gui Zhi , Jin Yun Qiao , Ting Yue Lou , Wu Jiang Xue , Lin er bao , Ying Yun meng , Tiehua xianshi , Shuishi yuan , Jinxiang ting , Erdu mei quanzhuan , Dingqing ren , Qingmeng tuo and Zhuchun yuan . They feature themes influenced by
640-474: A marriage and/or a sensual connection precedes recognition of love. Balogh began her writing career in 1983, when she wrote her first novel A Masked Deception in the evenings at the kitchen table while home and family functioned around her. A Masked Deception was accepted by Signet and published in 1985. Mary Balogh won the Romantic Times Award for best new Regency writer in that year. She
720-480: A more sensitive man. Despite the broadening of some aspects of the plot, other taboos remained, and publishers discouraged authors from writing about controversial subjects such as terrorism, warfare, and masculine sports. Romance novels began to contain more humor beginning in the 1990s, as Julie Garwood began introducing a great deal of humor into her historical romances. The romance novel began to expand in other ways as well. In 1989, author Jude Deveraux became
800-497: A narrative in order to provide a more morally concerned literature option for young audiences. This conduct book genre has a long history. The Romance novelist, Maria Edgeworth , influenced Victorian era motifs and authors with many of her works including Belinda (1801) and Helen (1834). An admirer of Edgeworth, Jane Austen, further influenced the Romance genre and Victorian era with her novel Pride and Prejudice (1813), which
880-545: A new style of writing romance, concentrating primarily on historical fiction tracking the monogamous relationship between a helpless heroine and the hero who rescued her, even if he had been the one to place her in danger. The covers of these novels tended to feature scantily clad women being grabbed by the hero, and caused the novels to be referred to as " bodice rippers". Cover arts of this style are referred to as clinch covers . A Wall Street Journal article in 1980 referred to these bodice rippers as "publishing's answer to
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#1732794243338960-543: A number of years, and rose to the level of school principal. She has three children and five grandchildren. As an adult, Balogh discovered the world of the Regency romance as written by Georgette Heyer . The vast majority of Balogh's novels have been set in Regency or Georgian England or Wales. Although she writes historical romances, Mary Balogh's heroines are often not "ladies". Some are courtesans , illegitimate, "fallen" or "ruined" women. All enjoy passion, and often
1040-410: A single U.S. print run, remaining on a bookseller's shelves until they are sold out or until the next month's titles are released and take their place. Writers for the largest publisher of category romance, Harlequin/Mills & Boon , can find their novels translated into 26 languages and sold in over 100 international markets. Mary Balogh Mary Balogh (born Mary Jenkins on 24 March 1944)
1120-520: Is a Welsh-Canadian novelist writing historical romance , born and raised in Swansea . In 1967, she moved to Canada to start a teaching career, married a local coroner and settled in Kipling, Saskatchewan , where she eventually became a school principal . Her debut novel appeared in 1985. Her historical fiction is set in the Regency era (1811–1820) or the wider Georgian era (1714–1830). Mary Jenkins
1200-592: Is in Regency England , but the plot, characterization, or prose style of the work extends beyond the genre formula of the Regency romances published by Heyer and her successors. Characters may behave according to modern values, rather than Regency values. The sensual Regency historical romance has been made popular in recent years by Mary Balogh, Jo Beverley, Loretta Chase, as well as Lisa Kleypas , and Stephanie Laurens . These novels are much more explicit than
1280-599: Is not Romance Fiction. However, both scholarly analysis and the conversations between Gabaldon and her publisher about whether to market the books as romances, reveal that the discourse about genre labels is more nuanced. In 2022, it was announced that the best-selling "cult" Winston Brother series by self-published "smart-romance" author, Penny Reid , has been optioned for a television adaptation by Tomorrow Studios. Romance novels are divided into two sub-sets, category romances, also known as series romances, and single title romances. Many authors write only within one of
1360-440: Is the author of more than 60 published novels and over 30 novellas, and has met with critical success. Balogh has received numerous awards, including a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for Regency Short Stories in 1993 and has appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list . In order of publication. *Reprinted in the 2003 anthology Under The Mistletoe with one new Mary Balogh novella A Family Christmas **Reprinted in
1440-470: The Big Mac : They are juicy, cheap, predictable, and devoured in stupefying quantities by legions of loyal fans." The term bodice ripper is now considered offensive to many in the romance industry. In this new style of historical romance, heroines were independent and strong-willed and were often paired with heroes who evolved into caring and compassionate men who truly admired the women they loved. This
1520-468: The Romance Writers of America , the main plot of a mass-market romance novel must revolve about the two people as they develop romantic love for each other and work to build a relationship. Both the conflict and the climax of the novel should be directly related to that core theme of developing a romantic relationship, although the novel can also contain subplots that do not specifically relate to
1600-485: The "Traditional Regency" works and include many more love scenes. Many Regency romance novels include the following: Like other fiction genres and subgenres, Regencies experience cyclic popularity swings. The readership waned during the 1990s with the rise of historical romances (and the switch of many Regency writers to the historical genre). In the early 2000s, both Regencies and other historical romances lost popularity in favor of contemporary settings. The market in
1680-627: The 1950s, the company began offering the books for sale through newsagents across the United Kingdom. A Canadian company, Harlequin Enterprises , began distributing in North America in 1957 the category romances published by Mills & Boon. Mary Bonneycastle, wife of Harlequin founder Richard Bonneycastle, and her daughter, Judy Burgess, exercised editorial control over which Mills & Boon novels Harlequin reprinted. They had
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#17327942433381760-590: The 1974 publication of Woodiwiss' second novel, The Wolf and the Dove and two more sexually graphic novels by newcomer Rosemary Rogers , Sweet Savage Love and Dark Fires . The latter sold two million copies in its first three months of release. By 1975, Publishers Weekly had reported that the "Avon originals" had sold a combined 8 million copies . The following year over 150 historical romance novels, many of them paperback originals, were published, selling over 40 million copies . The success of these novels prompted
1840-432: The 1980s, many plot lines that were once thought to be taboo by the romance publishing industry have become much more accepted into the mainstream of romance fiction. For example, in the 20th century it was rare to find a book with a hero who was in the military or professional sports. In the 21st century, however, such characters are relatively common and even have their own sub-genres within the romance category. By 2000,
1920-537: The Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez received critical praise for his romance novel Love in the Time of Cholera . Arthur Schopenhauer held that, if poets and novelists across continents have not stopped producing romance novels since millennia, it is because no other topic is more relevant and so the theme never gets old. According to Schopenhauer, romance/love is more important than other topics because it affects
2000-617: The Regency starting in 1935 until her death in 1974, and from the fiction genre known as the novel of manners . In particular, the more traditional Regencies feature a great deal of intelligent, fast-paced dialogue between the protagonists and very little explicit sex or discussion of sex. Many readers and writers of Regency romance make a distinction between "Traditional Regency Romance" and "Regency Historical". Many authors have started by writing Traditionals and subsequently written Historicals, including Mary Balogh , Jo Beverley , Loretta Chase , and Mary Jo Putney . The distinction rests on
2080-809: The United States in the 1960s, many publishers began publishing other Regency-set books by new authors, including Clare Darcy and Elizabeth Mansfield . Signet, Dell, and Fawcett were among those publishing Traditional Regencies in paperback; the latter eventually began a special imprint, Fawcett Coventry , which published Regencies and romances from other historical periods. The Regency-set books written by authors such as Christina Dodd , Eloisa James , and Amanda Quick are generally considered to be Regency Historical works. Regency romances which may include more social realism, or, conversely, anachronistically modern characterization, might be classed by some as "Regency Historical", signifying that their general setting
2160-412: The United States was hurt by changes in distributing and retailing romances. The last two major U.S. publishers to produce the shorter "traditional" Regencies regularly were Zebra and Signet . This ended in 2005, when Zebra stopped their traditional Regency line, and early 2006, when Signet ended its Regencies. There are some new "traditional" Regencies still published in the United States; some of
2240-727: The book industry characterize books dealing with same-sex relationships as F/F, and M/M. Many famous literary fiction romance novels end tragically. Examples include: Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë , Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy , The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough , Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami , Atonement by Ian McEwan , and The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller . The genre of works of extended prose fiction dealing with romantic love existed in classical Greece. The titles of over twenty such ancient Greek romance novels are known, but most of them have only survived in an incomplete, fragmentary form. Only five ancient Greek romance novels have survived to
2320-550: 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. Nancy Coffey was the senior editor who negotiated a multi-book deal with Woodiwiss. In the UK, the romance genre was long established through
2400-524: The books. The romance genre has sometimes generated criticism. Some critics point to a lack of suspense, as it may seem obvious that the hero and heroine will eventually resolve their issues, and wonder whether it is beneficial "for women to be whiling away so many hours reading impossibly glamorized love stories." According to fiction author Melissa Pritchard , a romance novel "perpetuates something slightly dangerous, that there's this notion, that there's this perfect love out there, and it can distract you from
2480-488: The company almost 10% of the market for paperback books. That year the company began distributing its own books in the United States instead of through Simon & Schuster 's Pocket Books . In 1980 Simon & Schuster formed Silhouette Books to publish its own romance novels, beginning what The New York Times called "perhaps the most bitter war in American book publishing history." The company sought to take advantage of
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2560-498: The context of rape. In this novel and those that followed, the rape was depicted as more of a fantasy; the heroine is rarely if ever shown experiencing terror, stress, or trauma as a result. The popular, mass market version of the historical romance, which Walter Scott developed in the early 19th century, is seen as beginning in 1921, when Georgette Heyer published The Black Moth . This is set in 1751, but many of Heyer's novels were inspired by Jane Austen's novels and are set around
2640-536: The covers had begun to evolve from featuring a scantily clad couple to showing a view of the landscape featured in the novel. In the earliest Harlequin romance novels, heroines were typically nurses and secretaries, but as time has passed and women have entered the workforce in larger numbers, romance heroines have spanned the career spectrum. Modern romance novels now feature more balanced relationships between men and women. Some important literary figures received critical acclaim for their romance novels. For instance,
2720-598: The early 2000s, though, more books in the romance genre featured heroes and heroines with physical and mental impairments. Mary Balogh 's Simply Love , published in 2006, features a hero with facial scarring and nerve damage who overcomes fears of rejection due to his physical appearance to enter a romantic relationship and family unit by the end of the novel. This was a substantial shift from past narratives where disabled characters were "de-eroticized" and not given storylines that included sex or romantic love. Additionally, autistic characters have gained more representation in
2800-480: The elements that modern women could relate to, and soon began to touch on themes such as single parenthood, adoption, and abuse. The 21st century brought additional changes to the genre that included diversifying main characters and plots to incorporate identities that had not previously been represented. Scholars of romance novel history have observed that characters with disabilities have been largely underrepresented in mainstream media, including romance novels. By
2880-427: The few publishers that still do so are Avalon Books , Five Star Books , and Cerridwen Press (Cotillion). Previously published Regencies are also available through the second-hand book market, via Belgrave House (which publishes out-of-print books), and as e-book reprints. The Regency subgenre changed somewhat during the 1990s and 2000s, when authors began incorporating more sex into their novels, under pressure from
2960-516: The financial and critical success of the adaptations of two successful series of novels: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon , and Bridgerton by Julia Quinn , by paid television network, STARZ and streaming service, Netflix . Debates about whether these novels fall inside or outside the contemporary romance genre, and the extent to which they transcend the genre to be multi-genre, has received mainstream media attention in part due to Gabaldon's frequent and prominent assertions that her Outlander series
3040-440: The firm requirement for a happy ending; some readers admit stories without a happy ending, if the focus of the story is on the romantic love between the two main characters (e.g., Romeo and Juliet ). While the majority of romance novels meet the stricter criteria, there are also many books widely considered to be romance novels that deviate from these rules. The Romance Writers of America's definition of romance novels includes only
3120-553: The first futuristic romance, combining elements of traditional romance novels and science fiction. The relationships had also modernized: by the 1990s, it was rare to see a book that featured a man raping his future wife. In the mid-to-late 1980s, contemporary romances began to feature women in more male-dominated jobs, such as offshore oil rigs and the space program. The age range of heroines also began to expand, so that books began to feature women who had already reached 30 and even 40. Heroes also changed, with some authors veering towards
3200-476: The first romance author to transition from writing original mass market paperbacks to being published in hardcover. Her novel, A Knight in Shining Armor , "became a natural bestseller." Several authors found success writing single-title romances set in contemporary times, and publishing houses began to encourage the growth in the genre. Because the novels were set in modern times, they could include more of
3280-500: The focus on a developing romantic relationship and an optimistic ending. Escapism is important; an Avon executive observed that "The phone never rings, the baby never cries and the rent's never overdue in romances." There are many publishers, libraries, bookstores, and literary critics who continue to go by the traditional definition of romance to categorize books. A romance novel can be set in any time period and in any location. In recent years, romance novels have even expanded into
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3360-455: The formats, but others, including Jennifer Crusie and Jayne Ann Krentz , have achieved success in both formats. Category romances are short, usually no more than 200 pages, or about 55,000 words. The books are published in clearly delineated lines, with a certain number of books published in each line every month. In many cases, the books are numbered sequentially within the line. These novels have widespread distribution—often worldwide—and
3440-458: The galaxy. There are no specific restrictions on what can or cannot be included in a romance novel. Even controversial subjects are addressed in romance novels, including topics such as date rape , domestic violence , addiction , and disability. The combination of time frame, location, and plot elements does, however, help a novel to fit into one of several romance subgenres. Despite the numerous possibilities this framework allows, many people in
3520-440: The genre after it had begun to change. The number of category romance lines increased at a rapid pace, and by 1985 there were 16 separate lines producing a total of 80 novels per month. The sudden increase in category romance lines meant an equally sudden increase in demand for writers of the new style of romance novel. This tight market caused a proportionate decrease in the quality of the novels that were being released. By 1984,
3600-445: The genre definition of Regency Romance: works in the tradition of Georgette Heyer, with an emphasis on the primary romance plot, are considered traditional. Traditional Regency Romance writers usually pay close attention to historical detail, as their readers are notorious for noting errors, and the writers often do extensive research so they can clearly understand and replicate the voice of the genre. After Heyer's novels became popular in
3680-573: The gothic novel and Elizabethan drama , and "demonstrate[s] the flexibility of the romance novel form." While the literary fiction romance continued to develop in the 20th century, the new subgenre of genre fiction, which first developed in the 19th century, started to become more popular after the First World War . In 1919, E. M. Hull 's novel The Sheik was published in the United Kingdom . The novel, which became hugely popular,
3760-450: The hero and heroine (or more rarely, between the hero and his mistress). Not all Regency romance novels are frothy period pieces. Such authors as Balogh, Carla Kelly , Sheila Bishop , Anna Harrington, and Mary Jo Putney all depict the underbelly of Regency society, exploring a variety of social ills in their novels. Some authors feature seriously troubled heroes and heroines, who suffer from post-battle trauma, alcoholism, depression, and
3840-406: The heroine typically wins, sometimes overcoming great odds so that she is no longer a victim. Peer-reviewed academic scholarship examining romance novels has increased enormously in the last few decades. Scholars are analysing the significance and impact of the genre, increasingly from a feminist , gender and equity studies perspective. The profile of the romance genre has also been raised by
3920-486: The heroine's relationship with her family or friends may be as important as her relationship with the hero. There is a lot of controversy among romance authors about what should and should not be included in plots of romance novels. Some romance novel authors and readers believe the genre has additional restrictions, from plot considerations (such as the protagonists ' meeting early on in the story), to avoiding themes (such as adultery ). Other disagreements have centered on
4000-402: The largest segment of the global book market. The genre boomed in the 1980s, with the addition of many different categories of romance and an increased number of single-title romances, but popular authors started pushing the boundaries of both the genre and plot, as well as creating more contemporary characters. Women will pick up a romance novel knowing what to expect, and this foreknowledge of
4080-574: The like. Romance novel A romance novel or romantic novel is a genre fiction novel that primary focuses on the relationship and romantic love between two people, typically with an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending. Authors who have contributed to the development of this genre include Maria Edgeworth , Samuel Richardson , Jane Austen , and Charlotte Brontë . Romance novels encompass various subgenres, such as fantasy , contemporary , historical romance , paranormal fiction , and science fiction . Women have traditionally been
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#17327942433384160-451: The main characters' romantic love. Furthermore, a romance novel must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Others, including Leslie Gelbman, a president of Berkley Books , define the genre more simply, stating only that a romance must make the "romantic relationship between the hero and the heroine ... the core of the book." In general, romance novels reward characters who are good people and penalize those who are evil, and
4240-500: The mainstream press claim that "all [romance novels] seem to read alike." Stereotypes of the romance genre abound. For instance, some believe that all romance novels are similar to those of Danielle Steel , featuring rich, glamorous people traveling to exotic locations. Many romance readers disagree that Steel writes romance at all, considering her novels more mainstream fiction. Mass-market or formulaic romance novels are sometimes referred to as "smut" or female pornography , and are
4320-448: The market was saturated with category lines and readers had begun to complain of redundancy in plots. The following year, the "dampening effect of the high level of redundancy associated with series romances was evident in the decreased number of titles being read per month." Harlequin's return rate, which had been less than 25% in 1978, when it was the primary provider of category romance, swelled to 60%. The genre continued to expand in
4400-432: The men were not, and both members of the couple were described as beautiful. Category romance lines were slower to react to some of the changes that had swept the historical romance subgenre. Despite the fact that the former Mills & Boon lines were now owned by a North American company, the lines did not have any American writers until 1975, when Harlequin purchased a novel by Janet Dailey . Dailey's novels provided
4480-440: The mid-to-late 1980s, as publishers realized that the more popular authors were often those who stretched the boundaries of the genre. A 1984 novel by LaVyrle Spencer featured an overweight, middle-aged hero who had to make drastic changes to his lifestyle to win the heroine, while a 1987 Dailey novel involved an ugly hero and a heroine who was searching for her birth mother. Jayne Ann Krentz 's 1986 novel Sweet Starfire became
4560-536: The most popular form of modern erotica for women. While some romance novels do contain more erotic acts, in other romance novels the characters do no more than kiss chastely. The romance genre runs the spectrum between these two extremes. Because women buy 90% of all romance novels, most romance novels are told from a woman's viewpoint, in either first or third person . Although most romance novels are about heterosexual pairings, there are romance novels that deal with same-sex relationships , and some participants in
4640-690: The novels of Jane Austen . Austen inspired Georgette Heyer , the British author of historical romance set around the time Austen lived, 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
4720-508: The novels point out the heroine's eccentricities, such as wanting to marry for love. Heyer was a prolific author, and wrote one to two historical romance novels per year until her death in 1974. During the Ming and Qing dynasties in China, there was a mass circulation and flourishment of a type of printed romantic novels called caizi jiaren ("scholar and beauty"), which typically involves
4800-737: The novels were short and formulaic, featuring heroines who were sweet, compassionate, pure and innocent. The few heroines who worked did so in traditional female jobs, including as nurses , governesses and secretaries . Intimacy in the novels never extended beyond a chaste kiss between the protagonists. On October 1, 1971, Harlequin purchased Mills & Boon. By this point, the romance novel genre "had been popularized and distributed widely to an enthusiastic audience" in Great Britain . In an attempt to duplicate Mills & Boon's success in North America, Harlequin improved their distribution and marketing system. By choosing to sell their books "where
4880-415: The perspective of the heroine. Unlike many of the novels of the time, Pamela had a happy ending, when after Mr. B attempts unsuccessfully to seduce and rape Pamela multiple times, he eventually rewards her virtue by sincerely proposing an equitable marriage to her. The book was one of the first bestsellers, with five editions printed in the first eleven months of release. Richardson began writing Pamela as
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#17327942433384960-421: The present day in a state of near-completion: Chareas and Callirhoe , Leucippe and Clitophon , Daphnis and Chloe , The Ephesian Tale , and The Ethiopian Tale . Precursors of the modern popular love-romance can also be found in the sentimental novel Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded , by Samuel Richardson , published in 1740. Pamela was the first popular novel to be based on a courtship as told from
5040-404: The primary readers of romance novels, but according to the Romance Writers of America , 16% of men read romance novels. A thriving genre of works conventionally referred to as "romance novels" existed in ancient Greece. Other precursors can be found in the literary fiction of the 18th and 19th centuries, including Samuel Richardson's sentimental novel Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded (1740) and
5120-440: The reader is very important. When the hero and heroine meet and fall in love, maybe they don't know they're in love but the reader does. Then a conflict will draw them apart, but you know in the end they'll be back together, and preferably married or planning to be by page 192. One definition of the word "romance" is: "the feelings and behavior of two people who are in a loving and sexual relationship with each other." According to
5200-547: The romance genre since the turn of the century. The year 2010 saw Christine Feehan 's novel, Water Bound , featuring a heroine with autism as a significant plot point including a detailed and compassionate portrayal of living and coping with autism. Helen Hoang 's 2018 novel The Kiss Quotient , for example, focuses on the heroine's Asperger's syndrome . However, it is still rare to find romance novels in which there are characters with cognitive disabilities, and they are most likely to be included as secondary characters. Since
5280-652: The romance genre's "first look at heroines, heroes and courtships that take place in America, with American sensibilities, assumptions, history, and most of all, settings." Harlequin was unsure how the market would react to this new type of romance, and was unwilling to fully embrace it. In the late 1970s, a Harlequin editor rejected a manuscript by Nora Roberts , who has since become the top-selling romance author, because "they already had their American writer." Harlequin sold almost $ 70 million of its paperback romances in 1979 through 100,000 supermarkets and other stores, giving
5360-483: The romantic Tang dynasty chuanqi fictions such as Yingying's Biography , The Tale of Li Wa and Huo Xiaoyu zhuan , as well as the popular works of Song and Yuan playwrights such as Bai Renfu , Zheng Guangzu and Wang Shifu . These novels reached their peak of popularity in the late Ming and early Qing periods, during the 17th century, when a myriad of novels of this type were sold and distributed. The overwhelming prevalence of this type of romance novels
5440-643: The signs that readers appreciated novels with more explicit sex scenes, and in 1980, several publishers entered the category romance market to fill that gap. That year, Dell launched their Candlelight Ecstasy line with Amii Lorin's The Tawny Gold Man , becoming the first line to waive the requirement that heroines be virgins. By the end of 1983 sales for the Candlelight Ecstasy line totaled $ 30 million. Silhoeutte also launched similar lines, Desire (sexually explicit) and Special Edition (sexually explicit and longer stories, up to 250 pages), each of which had
5520-420: The species (not only the individual), in the sense that romance and partner choice is generally a prerequisite to have offspring and continue maintaining the human species in future generations of humankind. Despite recent rehabilitation and merging of the genre with other genres, there is sometimes a negative stigma with the romance novel. Some dedicated readers are embarrassed to admit to buying or even reading
5600-419: The time Austen lived, in the later Regency period . Because Heyer's romances are set more than 100 years earlier, she includes carefully researched historical detail to help her readers understand the period. Unlike other popular love-romance novels of the time, Heyer's novels used the setting as a major plot device. Her characters often exhibit twentieth-century sensibilities, and more conventional characters in
5680-518: The untapped talent of the American writers. They published several lines of category romance, and encouraged their writers to create stronger heroines and less dominant heroes. Authors were also expected to address contemporary issues where appropriate. Silhouette soon saw their market share expand, and in 1984, Harlequin acquired them. Despite the acquisition, Silhouette continued to retain editorial control and to publish various lines under their own imprint. Harlequin had also failed to adapt quickly to
5760-411: The women are," they allowed many mass-market merchandisers and even supermarkets to sell the books, all of which were exactly 192 pages. Harlequin then began a reader service, selling directly to readers who agreed to purchase a certain number of books each month. In the US, modern romance genre fiction was born in 1972, with Avon's publication of Kathleen Woodiwiss' The Flame and the Flower , which
5840-431: The work of loving yourself." Romance novelists attribute the stigma to the fact that romance is, according to some, a genre "written almost exclusively by women for women." Romance novelist Jennifer Crusie counters that in the modern romance novel "a woman is rewarded with unconditional love [only] if she remains true to herself," while novelist Susan Elizabeth Phillips believes that romance novels are popular because
5920-470: 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. In the 1950s emerging bestselling British romance writers included Catherine Cookson , followed in the 1980s, by Marion Chesney (pen name M.C. Beaton), who was known more widely for her detective series featuring Hamish MacBeth and Agatha Raisin . Strong sales of popular romance novels make this
6000-566: Was adapted into a movie (1921), which established star Rudolph Valentino as the top male actor of the time. The hero of this book was an iconic alpha male who kidnapped the heroine and won her admiration through his forceful actions. The novel was one of the first modern works to introduce the rape fantasy , a theme explored in Samuel Richardson's Pamela (1740). Although women were gaining more independence in life, publishers believed that readers would only accept premarital sex in
6080-413: Was born and raised in Swansea , Wales, daughter of Mildred Double, a homemaker , and Arthur Jenkins, a signwriter and painter. She moved to Canada on a two-year teaching contract in 1967 after leaving university. There, she met and married her Canadian husband Robert Balogh, a coroner and ambulance driver, and settled in the small prairie town of Kipling, Saskatchewan . She taught high-school English for
6160-687: Was called "the best romance novel ever written." In the early part of the Victorian era , the Brontë sisters , like Edgeworth and Austen, wrote literary fiction that influenced later popular fiction. While Maria Edgeworth introduced the orphaned heroine archetype in her Romantic works Belinda (1801) and Helen (1834), Charlotte Brontë later adapted the archetype for the Victorian audience in Jane Eyre (1847). Brontë's romance incorporates elements of both
6240-667: Was famously mocked in Cao Xueqin 's The Dream of the Red Chamber , where it ridicules: "There are thousands of such "caizi jiaren" ["scholar and beauty"] books, and yet they are all alike!". Moreover, these Chinese romance novels would also go on to have an enduring influence on both Eastern and Western literatures. In the 1930s, the British publishers Mills & Boon began releasing hardback romance novels. The books were sold through weekly two-penny libraries and were known as "the books in brown" for their brown binding. In
6320-430: Was in contrast to the contemporary romances published during this time, which were often characterized by weak females who fell in love with overbearing alpha males . Although these heroines had active roles in the plot, they were "passive in relationships with the heroes." Across the genre, heroines during this time were usually aged 16–21, with the heroes slightly older, usually around 30. The women were virgins , while
6400-503: Was the first of the modern " bodice ripper " romance novels to follow "the principals into the bedroom." Aside from its content, the book was revolutionary in that it was one of the first single-title romance novels to be published as an original paperback , rather than being first published in hardcover , and, like the category romances, was distributed in drug stores and other mass-market merchandising outlets. The novel went on to sell 2.35 million copies. Avon followed its release with
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