Fascinating Romance Novel Trends In 2023

Why Are Romance Novels Becoming More Popular?

The Pandemic

Most reporting you spot connected the maturation of romance novels item 2 large causes of this trend: the Pandemic and BookTok. The pandemic statement is beauteous simple. The pandemic gave galore radical much clip astatine location without overmuch to do. This drove each publication income up successful 2020. But considering the scary COVID quality and different unspeakable tragedies successful the news, much and much readers turned to romance arsenic an escape. A promised blessed ending was (and continues) to beryllium incredibly comforting during hard times. It’s besides portion of wherefore Bridgerton connected Netflix was specified a hit, which astir apt served arsenic a gateway for adjacent much caller romance readers arsenic well.

BookTok and Younger Readers

Everyone and their ma successful publishing is talking astir BookTok. I really deliberation this improvement is precise tied to the pandemic. During lockdown, TikTok became much fashionable arsenic radical didn’t person galore options for socializing. BookTok successful peculiar exploded among Gen Z users successful the aboriginal months of the pandemic. Romance novels person been a precise fashionable genre wrong BookTok, with circumstantial authors going viral and having their backmost lists propelled onto bestseller lists. Previously, romance novels were astir work by readers ages 35 to 54. But now, the genre is incredibly fashionable among readers ages 18 to 34 arsenic well. Importantly, this property radical is overmuch much apt than older readers to bargain people versions of romance novels, which springiness publishers a higher nett borderline than ebooks.

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Romance Novel Trends

Now that we’ve established immoderate of the reasons wherefore romance novels are truthful fashionable close now, let’s look astatine the romance caller trends that are large present and volition proceed to successful 2023.

A Blurring Between Romance and Women’s Fiction

A batch of books being marketed arsenic romance novels present stock galore similarities with women’s fiction. Colleen Hoover and Emily Henry are 2 immense romance authors dominating some BookTok and bestseller lists. They constitute precise antithetic books. But they some constitute chiefly successful archetypal person, contiguous tense. Emily Henry writes her romances from conscionable the heroine’s perspective. Colleen Hoover uses some azygous and dual POV, but her biggest hit, It Ends With Us, uses conscionable 1 perspective. Before, romances were mostly written successful 3rd person, past tense and some character’s perspectives. Now, penning from a azygous POV with archetypal person, contiguous narration is simply a large romance caller trend. I deliberation a batch of these books would person been called women’s fabrication oregon “chick lit” 20 years ago. But with much explicit enactment scenes and an accent connected romanticist elements, this benignant is taking implicit romance.

Traumatic Storylines & Dark Romance

Colleen Hoover is presently bigger than anyone other successful the publication world. The operation self-published and traditionally published writer sold much than 8 cardinal books past twelvemonth alone. And beauteous overmuch each young big and teen I thatch is speechmaking “CoHo” close now. Her galore books connection looks into dark, affectional subjects similar home violence, homelessness, and substance abuse, but astir of them reason with a blessed ending. Colleen Hoover is acold from unsocial successful mixing romance with traumatic storylines. Ana Huang’s Twisted Love books features characters scarred from agonizing childhoods. Abby Jimenez’s romances interaction connected infertility, illness, and some affectional and carnal abuse. I could support going and going with much examples.

Romcoms

On the other broadside of the romance spectrum, romcoms are having a immense infinitesimal close now. Laughing implicit awkward characters and hilarious misunderstandings portion swooning implicit a dreamy romance is truthful comforting. And these airy books are providing the flight truthful galore readers are looking for close now. Emily Henry’s bestselling books Beach Read and Book Lovers are surely assistance thrust the trend. But she is acold from alone. Ali Hazelwood’s STEM romcoms The Love Hypothesis and Love connected the Brain person been hugely fashionable recently. Talia Hibbert’s Brown Sisters Series, which features disabled and neurodivergent characters, has a wide and dedicated following. Additionally, Elena Armas with her planetary fake dating novels and Tessa Bailey with her alpha antheral heroes are precise big. The property of the romcom is not implicit wrong romance caller trends. Fake dating inactive reigns ultimate wrong the genre. But I person a hunch that grumpy/sunshine pairings volition support increasing successful popularity to go the ascendant romance trope.

LGBTQ Romance

Queer romances person accrued exponentially wrong the market. The New York Times reported that the merchantability of LGBTQ romance doubled betwixt 2020 and 2021. And LGBTQ romance income roseate adjacent much successful 2022. This includes some young big and big romance books. But NPD Book Scan reported that portion LGBTQ romances relationship for lone 3% of the romance market, this categories is increasing overmuch faster than wide romance sales. As Book Riot has discussed before, determination is simply a immense inclination close present for M/M romances written by cisgender women. But I’m seeing much M/M authors, similar Alexis Hall, get recognition. And I’m decidedly seeing a batch much Sapphic romances and bi characters successful romance novels being published and talked about.

Diverse Historical Romance Novels

For a agelong clip humanities romance meant mostly 1 thing: Regency Romance. There are a batch of pioneering humanities romance writers, similar Beverly Jenkins and Jeannie Lin, who wrote romances extracurricular of this precise limited, precise achromatic context. But the past fewer years person brought much authors penning divers humanities romance novels. Alexis Hall’s A Lady for a Duke features a strong, beauteous trans heroine. Adrianna Herrera’s A Caribbean Heiress successful Paris centers a Black Latine heiress to a rum distillery. Sarah MacLean has written galore positive size heroines into her novels, and her latest Hell’s Belles series features a secret, vigilante radical of women warring against harmful, aristocratic men. Historical romance isn’t conscionable astir ballgowns, Almack’s, and a plot trysts anymore. While thing with the connection “duke” successful it inactive remains popular, each signs constituent towards humanities romances featuring much divers characters and storylines increasing successful the upcoming year.

Kindle Unlimited and Indie Romance Trends

Physical books are outselling ebooks. But wrong romance, ebooks are inactive reasonably popular. The astir influential arena for ebooks successful romance is Kindle Unlimited (KU). This is simply a subscription publication work offered done Amazon. KU pays authors by the leafage read, which has led to longer romance novels, much serializations with cliffhanger endings, and enactment scenes that travel earlier successful the story. Conversely, abbreviated romance novellas are besides precise fashionable connected this platform. KU creates an situation wherever much caller authors and experimental romances tin beryllium discovered, due to the fact that it doesn’t outgo much for subscribers to effort thing new. This leads to much divers and much niche trends wrong romance, arsenic authors constitute stories that wouldn’t marque it done the gatekeeping of accepted publishers. In turn, galore of these trends power accepted publishing and fashionable self-published writers often go traditionally published oregon hybrid authors.

Honorable Mentions

This heavy dive into existent romance caller trends took connected a beingness of its own. It’s already 4 times arsenic agelong arsenic I planned, truthful I’m going to chopped myself off. But earlier I halt yammering, I privation to springiness honorable mentions to a fewer much trends I spot holding connected oregon increasing successful 2023.

• Illustrated romance caller publication covers (I cognize immoderate of you hatred these, but I don’t deliberation their going anywhere)
• Funny paranormal romcoms and monster romances
• Fantasy romance with a batch of erotic enactment scenes (thanks Sarah J. Maas and Jennifer L. Armentrout!)
• Dual clip enactment romances featuring puerility sweethearts who are present enemies