What are the Romance Sub-Genres?
This post on romance sub-genres may contain affiliate/referral links. It is a way for this site to earn advertising fees by advertising or linking to certain products and/or services.
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.
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 Romance – also 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???
