While mystery is probably the most popular book genre in our library, romance books are a very close second. This can probably be compared with overall book sales as well. According to the Romance Writers of America, romance fiction generated $1.438 billion in sales and was the top-performing category on the best-seller lists in 2012. Also, romance fiction was the largest share of the U.S. consumer market in 2012 at 16.7 percent. The numbers don't lie!
One of the most popular romance writers of all time was Janet Dailey. It is estimated that between 100 million and 300 million copies of her books have been sold worldwide. Dailey started her career in the mid-1970s and her first best seller, Touch the Wind, was published in 1979. At the time her books were a bit different than the average romance novel in that her stories were set in America and that many of the female characters were working women.
Today there is such a wide variety of romance sub-genres readers shouldn't have any trouble finding one that suits their tastes.
In honor of what would have been Janet Dailey's 70th birthday, I'll take a look at some of the more popular Romance genres and the authors that write them.
Contemporary Romance -- This sub-genre takes place anytime after World War II no matter what the setting. These type of books generally has the heroine dealing with more ordinary problems such as single parenthood or career difficulties. These hardships tend to be at the center of the romantic relationship as the couple deals with these issues.
To read titles like this check out these authors:
Kristin Hannah
Susan Mallery
Debbie Macomber
Sherryl Woods
Historical Romance -- This is one of the most popular romance sub-genres. Books that fall into this category have stories set in any historical time period. The most popular time period is the Regency era.
To read titles like this check out these authors:
Mary Balogh
Eloisa James
Sabrina Jeffries
Stephanie Laurens
Inspirational Romance -- Romance novels in which religious or spiritual beliefs (in the context of any religion or spiritual belief system) are a major part of the romantic relationship.
To read titles like this check out these authors:
Lori Copeland
Karen Kingsbury
Janette Oke
Francine Rivers
Paranormal Romance -- These novels use otherworldly characters, such as angels and psychically-gifted humans, to tell stories of romance set in the future or a fantasy world.
To read titles like this check out these authors:
Chrstine Feehan
Sherrilyn Kenyon
Jayne Ann Krentz
Karen Marie Moning
Romantic Suspense -- Romance novels in which suspense, mystery, or thriller elements constitute an integral part of the plot.
To read titles like this check out these authors:
Suzanne Brockman
Heather Graham
Lisa Jackson
Karen Robards
--Post by Tracy
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