Many people think having a romantic arc of any shape or size in a book categorizes it as a romance, but this is not the case. All genres can have a romantic arc in their book. Others presume that if you have two character POVs and they are or become romantically involved it is romance. Also, not always the case. So what is a romance then?
According to the Romance Writers of America (RWA), two basic elements comprise every romance novel: a central love story and an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending.
However, a romance’s framework goes far deeper than that. There are “rules” or beats an author must follow, a template of sorts to achieve the status of romance. There are a slew of other conventions and elements readers expect to see in a romance. Often, but not always, the story is formulaic (much like a cozy mystery), and readers know what to expect. There are no surprises.
A layered story in which the plot is driven by the main character’s emotional journey.
An emotionally satisfying ending (Happily Ever After or HEA) is not a guarantee. Chick-lit, book club fiction, and literary fiction can all fall under the Women’s Fiction umbrella.
According to the Romantic Women’s Fiction Writers (a chapter of RWA), “Romantic women’s fiction is a happy marriage of romance and women’s fiction. On the heroine’s journey through life, she meets the hero, adding romance to her other challenges. In the end, many of her life’s issues are resolved and the romance has a hopeful, satisfying conclusion.”
Now that I got all those murky-hybrid-crossover definitions out of the way, what do I think is Romantic Women’s Fiction?
I believe romantic women’s fiction is any story about a protagonist who undergoes huge personal growth, which is deep and layered. The story may or may not have a HEA (in my case, mine do). The story revolves around a protagonist (usually a woman) overcoming both an internal (emotional) and external conflict, resulting in personal growth. The protagonist’s central emotional journey weighs heavier on the page than the romantic journey.
Authors who’ve successfully entered this realm of romantic women’s fiction include Susan Wiggs, Amy Harmon, Kristin Hannah (some of hers), Katherine Center, Nicholas Sparks, and Barbara O’Neal to name a few. Jeeves Reeds lists a few of these “crossover books” and Amazon even has a category of “Women’s Romance Fiction.”
What authors do you think fall into this realm of Romantic Women’s Fiction?
When an author plunges into the world of querying and marketing such a novel, we quickly find ourselves stuck in the murky world of: Is my book romance? Is it a subgenre of romance? Is it women’s fiction with romantic elements? What is my book?? Who will want this? Agents and readers may say, “Yuck! There’s not enough romance in this” or “Nope, this story has too much romance to be women’s fiction.” It’s the Goldilocks of fiction genres: too much or too little romance. What is the balance of just right? That answer, I do not have.
I am currently querying a book that falls into this mysterious in between. I’m also writing a book that has yet to be labeled with a very low-simmer and side-story romance, but it’s definitely not the central story.
My hope is this new label of romantic women’s fiction takes a strong hold of the writing, reading, and publishing community and becomes a genre we hear more about. I want to see lists on Amazon, Goodreads, and BookBub. I’d love to see hashtags like #romanticwomensfiction take off on Instagram, Twitter, and MSWL.
What do you consider Romantic Women’s Fiction?
I’d love to hear from you.
Until next time…
P.S.
Here’s a list of a just few (there are many of us out there!) up and coming authors who delve into the Romantic Women’s Fiction realm:
