Romance Genre Expectations
I've had my longer story, Lies or Love, critiqued by a wide range of people in the last few weeks. Some of my critique partners are my target audience, while others are completely outside of it. The question of genre and what's acceptable in a romance novel has come up again and again. So, I thought I'd delve into this topic and research what the tropes and reader expectations are.
The Storyline
Most romance novels are centred around two characters and their relationship. The traditional stories are between a man and a woman, but the couples can also be same or gender-fluid, and there could even be more than two people in the relationship. Readers will expect a happy or optimistic ending, so the main characters will end up together or even married.
Common Tropes
Aside from the couple, there are harmers and helpers in the story. They could be family members, friends, or coworkers. Harmers make it more difficult for the main characters to get together, while helpers aid the formation of the relationship.
There is also generally an outside expectation or goal, which could be something one or both of the main characters would like to achieve. They might need to land a job, secure their future, or succeed in a hobby. This gives the story character and adds interest or tension.
Subgenres
"Romance" is a very big category, and there are loads of subgenres that appeal to specific groups of people. Some common ones include:
Historical romance, particularly regency romance
Contemporary romance
Paranormal romance, for example featuring vampires or werewolves
LGBTQ+ romance
Young adult romance
Religious romance
Readers might either stick to one of these subgenres, or they might enjoy books belonging to several of these.
The Levels of Spice
One way of distinguishing between different romance books is by the "spice scale". This measures how explicit the content is. The scale goes from 0 - completely wholesome - to 5 - describing every detail of intimate encounters.
At the moment, my book is a 0-1, but I might spice it up to a 2, depending on which publishers I would like to send it off to.
Whether readers are invited into the bedroom depends on the spice level.
What kinds of romance books have you read? Did you enjoy them? Are there any tropes you particularly like/dislike in this genre? Let me know in the comments!