A romance novel is a work of extended prose fiction with a theme of
love. According to the Romance Writers of America, a romance novel must
have a central focus on the development of a romantic relationship
between two people. The other criteria for a romance novel is that it
must have an emotional throughline and build to an optimistic
conclusion.To get more news about Read Fantasy Novels Online For Free, you can visit freewebnovel official website.
A Brief History of Romance Novels
Romance novels can be traced all the way back to ancient Greece, with
five surviving stories centered on romantic love from this time. Samuel
Richardson’s 1740 novel Pamela is also a precursor for the modern
romance novel. In the nineteenth century, romance novels rose to
prominence with the popular works of Jane Austen, whose novel Pride and
Prejudice greatly influenced the genre.
The British publisher Mills & Boon began releasing romance novels in
the 1930s through subscription services. Harlequin Enterprises, a
Canada-based publisher, started distributing Mills & Boon titles in
North America in the 1950s. The publishing houses merged in 1971 when
Harlequin bought Mills & Boon, and romance novels were then mass
marketed to women in drug stores and supermarkets. Harlequin/Mills &
Boon continued monthly book services to sell series directly to
readers.
2 Types of Romance Novels
There are two types of romance novels with differing formats.
The category romance, also known as series romance, is issued as part of
a sequential collection. The numbered books are released at regular
intervals, usually monthly. Books in the series may share characters,
similar themes, or settings. Harlequin/Mills & Boon is the largest
distributor of category romance novels. Category romance novels are no
more than 200 pages long. Successful category romance stories are
tightly focused on the central love story, and subplots and minor
characters are part of backstory.
The single-title romance is a novel that not published as part of a
delineated line of books. These run longer, typically between 350 and
400 pages. Single-title romances are not always stand alone works, and
can sometimes be connected to other stories or characters as part of an
author’s own long-running series.
