Romance novel: History and Key Facts

A romance, or romantic novel, is a genre of fiction in which the main narrative focuses on the development of a romantic relationship between two or more characters within a story, often concluding in an emotionally satisfying ending.

Romance novels encompass numerous subgenres. 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 retroactively referred to as "romance novels" existed as far back as Greece in the Roman era. 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 Publisher, Mills & Boon, shifted focus towards romance fiction during the 1930s. Beginning in 1957, its novels were distributed in North America by Harlequin Enterprises, which expanded reader access through their direct marketing and mass market retail distribution.

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