I share genre definitions and literary terminology on my Instagram Stories every so often. I've been planning to define romance for months now and finally got a chance to do it over the weekend and thought I'd create a version of it here as well.

February abounds with references to romance novels but people don't always get it right, likely because they've never taken the time to learn about the genre. There's a difference between love stories and romance novels. Here's the definition of the romance genre!

Alt text is listed below the graphic.

[Love stories are not the same as romance novels.]

[A romance novel needs a love story but a love story is not necessarily a romance.]

[According to Romance Writers of America, a romance novel has two requirements:

1. A central love story
2. It must have a happy (optimistic and emotionally satisfying) ending.]

[1. A central love story 

The main plot centers around characters falling in love and figuring out how to make the relationship work.]

[2. It must have a happy (optimistic and emotionally satisfying) ending.

Also known as Happily Ever After (HEA) or Happy For Now (HFN.)]

[If you tell someone a book is romance and it doesn't have a happy ending? Romance readers will revolt. Don't mess with the happy ending!]

[Not a romance:

Nicholas Sparks

Me Before You

Bridget Jones's Diary]

[Nicholas Sparks

Despite how often his books are erroneously shelved there, even the author will say he doesn't write romance. He writes love stories, with nary a happily ever after in sight.]

[Me Before You does center on two characters but is the goal for them to fall in love? No, even if the story ends up going there. (In a romance, this would be clear in the first couple of chapters.) Louisa's dating someone else and needs to get a handle on her life. Plus, spoiler alert: there's no happy ending here.]

[Books categorized as "chick lit" or women's fiction are trickier but there's your first clue. Chick lit and women's fiction are not romance novels, even if they have a strong love story. The love story is a secondary plot.]

[In the case of Bridget Jones's Diary, Bridget is focused on self-improvement, which frames the novel. She even dates someone who isn't the hero for a good chunk of the novel. The plot cares more about Bridget's growth than centering the love story.]

[So does this make romance formulaic? No!]

[Setting readers' expectations is the gift of genre fiction.]

[Characters will fall in love and live happily ever after in romance.

A murder mystery will be solved in the end.

Fantasy will transport you to another world.]

[Romance, and genre fiction in general, is no more predictable and formulaic than any other kind of literature. Give five authors the same premise and you'll get five different books.]

Interested in trying romance or exploring more of the genre?

Favorite Romance Novels Of 2018

Favorite Contemporary Romance Novels (including a Romance Starter Kit)

How I Became A Romance Reader