27. Romance Novels

Danielle Flores, a high school math teacher, once mocked her college roommates for reading romance novels but became hooked after trying one. She now reads about 250 per year, tracking them on a spreadsheet. Romance books generate $1.4 billion annually, with physical sales up over 50% in the past year amid a slumping publishing market.

Origins and the Romance Wars

Romance novels trace to Samuel Richardson's 1740 Pamela, about a maidservant's courtship with her employer. Mass-market success came in the 1950s via Harlequin, which licensed UK romances from Mills & Boon. These overtook other genres like mysteries and westerns. By the 1970s, "bodice rippers"—historical romances with erotic, sometimes non-consensual scenes—sold 70 million copies yearly through supermarkets and drugstores.

Competition ignited the "Romance Wars." Publishers launched lines, boosting options for writers and readers. Harlequin, with deeper pockets, acquired rival Silhouette in 1984. Now under HarperCollins, it releases 800 category romances annually—short, formulaic books in subgenres tailored to tastes, from Regency dukes to paranormal aliens or monster-human pairings.