Why Is The Romance Genre So Popular?

 

No genre has more popularity than romance books. These books traditionally outsell other novels. It has been that way for many years. From mega-selling authors Danielle Steele and Nora Roberts, to EL James and Beverly Jenkins, fans buy tens of millions of copies of romance books every year.  

It should not be a surprise.  

Look at all of the people who are lonely and not in a relationship or even dating. Look at all of the married couples who long for something other. And everyone wants to explore some kind of fantasy, especially when it has become mainstream to discuss so many varieties of sexual encounters involving so many new gender and coupling situations.  

Romance books are incredibly popular and for obvious reasons. They give you permission to entertain any unusual or desired location, relationship, sexual practice, and physical dynamic. You can live through what you read — without disease, judgment, consequence, or losing whatever it is you currently have. It is a risk-free way to explore what turns you on.  

Romance is a wild west category these days. These books are no longer about the pursuit of love, the allure of affairs, and straight sex between two consenting adults, one male and one female. We have erotica, LGBTQ, and niche couplings that include vampires, aliens, bestiality, clones, transgenders, and robots. We have always had books littered with rape fantasies, sex slave romps, incest, prostitution, kinky sex, and people violating their stations in life to bang at will. Romance books are about taboo screwing or a perfect love — and Americans simply lust for such stories. 

Romance books are challenged to please readers who already are exposed to porn’s raunchy, 24-7 available, free videos, the ever-available R-rated streaming shows, and unrated big-screen movies. The challenge for authors is to keep pushing limits without appearing absurdly extreme or out of touch with both traditions and current trends. 

The pandemic screwed up human relations and we have not quite recovered. We attempt to fill the void of dating with pseudo physical contact via sexting or porn. Swipe right has replaced dating. Escorts and online sugar daddy sites fill a big void for some. Intentional celibacy is up. Society is simply moving away from dating, commitment, and romance. 

Some of that void gets filled by romance books. These books can’t be hugged, say I love you, or caress your soul during sex, but they can let you feel you are not alone and allow you to normalize your need or desire to live a more isolating lifestyle. 

Niche sub-specialties of romance books have expanded with the public change in social mores and the legalization or legitimization of many proclivities and curiosities. There is something for everyone.

The captivating stories of romance books have an enchanting power to transport us beyond our everyday lives and sexual practices. We are, when we read, engulfed in a new realm, one brimming with deep love, strong desire, and the allure of experiencing forever ecstasy. In a world where happily forever-after lives rarely exist, reality can often be harsh, unpredictable, and painful. But, romance novels serve as a vaunted escape into our deepest desires, wildest imaginations, and darkest thirsts. 

In the imaginary and ever-expanding realm of romance novels, readers find a welcome form of escapism from the difficult demands and daily routines of ordinary life. Romance books transport us to unachievable worlds that are filled with unrivaled passion, unbridled desire, and pure, heartfelt emotions. 

The demographic of romance readers, according to the promoter for bestselling author Colleen Hoover, has dropped in age. No longer is it mainly women ages 35 to 54. Now, it is 18-54. Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X have one thing in common: romance books. 

Many readers of romance thirst for what they have not experienced or can’t have. They want amazing sex, enthralling lives, and beautiful people who love them while giving them a freedom to live passionately and without restraint. Readers are trying to supplement reality with fantasy, to make it palatable, or they are looking for inspiration and a roadmap to leap into foreign, even forbidden territory. For either reason, romance book sales will continue to heat up.

Sevareid’s Law: “The chief cause of problems is solutions.”

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About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over four million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2025.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog