Romance fiction can cover nearly any setting or genre. There are romance novels with contemporary dialog, historical settings, mystery plots, paranormal elements, and any number of other themes.
Two basic elements are in every romance novel:
A central love story: The main plot centers around individuals falling in love and struggling to make the relationship work. A writer can include as many subplots as he/she wants as long as the love story is the main focus of the novel.
An emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending: In a romance, the lovers who risk and struggle for each other and their relationship are rewarded with emotional justice and unconditional love.
A book that lacks either of these elements may still contain a romance story, but it is not a romance novel -- a distinction that can prove confusing to those unfamiliar with the genre. The authors Nicholas Sparks and Danielle Steel, for instance, are often referred to as writing romances, but their work does not meet the generic requirements for romance novels.
The Boston Public Library subscribes to a resource called Novelist Plus which can help you search for new books to read in a variety of ways. You can search for your favorite book or author and find readalikes, or you can combine a variety of different "appeal factors" such as pace, tone, and writing style to find a book that's just right for you. One other helpful approach that you can take in Novelist is going into the Advanced Search tab and searching by genre-specific "themes" or tropes. You can see a list of themes that the Novelist staff uses to categorize romance novels below.
Would you like the BPL's romance suggestions emailed directly to your inbox, every other month? Sign up for our bimonthly Now Read This! newsletter for Romance. In each issue, you will find a featured book of the month, a special event worth checking out, a curated selection of newly-acquired and upcoming romance titles, and booklists for further reading. Whether you prefer unconventional love stories or traditional bodice-rippers, your friendly BPL Reader Services Librarians have recommendations for every reader.