Romance Fiction Genre
Websites | Readers' Advisory Books | Definition | Keywords for Searching
Websites
All About Romance - Includes nearly 6,000 reviews and At the Back Fence, a must-read column for everyone who reads and writes romance.
-- Review from http://www.likesbooks.com/home.html
ARRT Romance Genre Study - The Adult Reading Round Table studied the Romance genre 1994 - 1995. -- http://www.arrtreads.org/
Romance Reader - Hundreds of reviews of current romantic fiction, divided into categories: historical, contemporary, time travel, fantasy and others. Includes author homepages. romance publishers, bookstores, romance sites, and romance writer sites. -- Review form http://www.theromancereader.com
Romance Writers of America - Romance Writers of America is the national non-profit writers association for the women and men who write romance fiction.
-- Review from https://www.rwanational.org
Readers' Advisory Books
Romance Readers' Advisory
Bouricius, Ann. (2000). The romance readers' advisory: The librarian's guide to love in the stacks. Chicago: American Library Association.
Provides up-to-date information about the highly popular romance genre and its diverse subgenres; addresses key issues regarding the establishment of a romance collection; and, in a series of reading lists, recommends outstanding romances of all flavors for avid fans and new converts. -- Review from http://www.amazon.com
Romance Today
Charles, John, Mosley, Shelley, Hamilton-Selway, Joanne, & Van Winkle, Sandra. (2006). Romance today: an A-to-Z guide to contemporary American romance writers. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.
This book surveys contemporary American romance literature. Included are alphabetically arranged entries on more than 100 contemporary American romance writers. Each entry provides biographical information, a critical discussion of major works, and a bibliography of fiction and nonfiction by the writer. A list of print and electronic resources concludes the volume. -- Review from http://www.amazon.com
Romance Fiction
Ramsdell, Kristin. (1999). Romance fiction: A guide to the genre. Englewood, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited.
The introductory chapters define the genre, offer a brief history, and discuss reader's advisory and collection development. Subsequent chapters discuss subgenres such as romantic mysteries, historical romances, sagas, and gay and lesbian romance, with annotated examples of each. There are also chapters on research aids including periodicals, online sources, organizations, and listservs. An appendix includes a selected bibliography of young adult titles and series. -- Review from http://www.amazon.com
Definition
Romance is currently the largest and best-selling fiction genre in North America. It has produced a wide array of subgenres, the majority of which feature the mutual attraction and love of a man and a woman as the main plot, and have a happy ending. -- From http://en.wikipedia.org
Keywords for Searching
Contemporary romance - romances set after the World Wars.
Historical romance - romances set before the World Wars.
Inspirational romance - romances containing spiritual themes.
Paranormal romance - romances containing "other-worldly" elements such as magic, mystic characters or fantasy and science fiction elements.
Regency romance - romances set in England in the early 1800s.
Romantic suspense - romances containing mystery and intrigue.
Time-travel romance - romances set in two different time periods, with characters "time-traveling" between both.
-- From https://www.rwanational.org