What are the Romance Sub-Genres?

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Are you ready to dive into the nitty gritty?  Romance sub-genres are abundant!  It’s actually kind of funny to me because I wanted to see what others were saying about the sub-genres on the web and they only had six or seven sub categories, but the more I think on the more I come up with. As I mentioned last week a sub-genre is breaking down the genre in smaller categories, there is truly know way, in my opinion that you can only have a handful of sub genres in romance.

 When you finish the list I want to know what your go to romance sub-genre is!Let’s start with three sub-genres that are bigger umbrellas and what the tell us:

Young Adult (YA):  The characters in these stories are around high school, sometimes first year of college

New Adult (NA): These characters are in or fresh out of college, these characters are transitioning into adulthood

Adult: These characters are fully functioning adults, age wise at least, they are considered an adult

*Note: These categories relate to CHARACTERS age, not the READERS age. Please read any YA a novel romance or otherwise prior to gifting to a teen.

Are you not sure what a romance sub-genre is? Or what exactly each sub-genre entails? This post will guide you through all the sub-genres of romance.

Now that we have covered that there are tons of subs that can fall under all three of these umbrellas. (This list is no particular order)

Historical Romance – these take place at any point in the past (I haven’t read many of these, but my favorite is the Beckett Files by Laura Beers)

Regency Romance – take place in the period of the British Regency, the early 19th century (Rec from Angie’s Dreamy’s Reads: Secrets of a Summer Night by Lisa Kleypas)

Romantic Suspense – is driven by the threat of danger and romance (this is one of my favorites!)

Western Romance – think hot cowboys, the setting can be contemporary or historical (Try the Cowboys & Angels series by Kelly Elliott)

Romantic Comedy – another one of my favorites, these stories will make you laugh and are witty and humorous 

Paranormal Romance – think vampires, shapeshifters, ghosts… I’ve only read a few but really enjoyed Must Love Lions by Alma Black

Mystery Romance – These are similar to romantic suspense, but they are also solving a mystery, my favorite is the Rose Gardner Series by Denise Grover Swank

Contemporary Romance – These novels are set in the current day and time, all of these books I wanted to read last year are contemporary romance

Fantasy Romance – a character finds out that they posses magic or psychic abilities (The Hundredth Queen Series by Emily R. King looks amazing!)

Time Travel Romance –  This could probably considered a sub-genre of paranormal romance, one or both of the characters can transport to a different time or place.  I haven’t read this book, but I loved the movie! The Time Travelers Wife

Sports Romance – if you didn’t guess this story is based around sports! My favorites are the Pucked Series by Helena Hunting and The Player Duet by K. Bromberg 

Erotic Romance – this is what a lot people think of when they hear romance, but it is driven by sex, like all kinds of crazy, some times kinky sex (I don’t have a go-to erotic, so here is a link to the Top 100 on Amazon)

Inspirational Romance – has an element of religion to the story (once again not something I read often, so check out Amazon.)

MM Romancealso covered in romance terms is a love story of two men falling in love I haven’t read any, but from what I hear Brook Blaine kills it!

Clean Romance – These have fade to black sex scenes and are more PG/PG-13 stories, think the Hallmark Channel (I recommend Love You Through It by Fabiola Francisco)

Interracial Romance – this is pretty self explanatory, but the couple is two different races (shocking!) Check out Grip by Kennedy Ryan!

Science Fiction/Futuristic Romance – is speculative fiction with imagined concepts and advanced technology, if this sounds like your thing, I found these on Amazon.

Mafia – Typically the hero in mafia romance is in a Family and is a bad boy who lives a rougher, darker lifestyle

Military – One of the main characters if or was in the military.

Motorcycle Club (MC) – These are usually a series and tend to be more of a grittier read and the characters are a bit rough around the edges and alpha

What is your favorite romance sub-genre???

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