Romance novel
Related: women's fiction - romantic love
Definition
A romance novel is a novel from the genre currently known as romance. The genre has two strict criteria:
- the story must focus on the relationship and romantic love between a man and a woman;
- the end of the story must be positive, leaving the reader believing that the protagonists' love and relationship will endure for the rest of their lives.
If a novel does not fulfil those conditions, fans of the genre are likely to claim that it belongs to a related genre, such as women's fiction or chick lit, or that it is just a mainstream fiction novel.
Some romance novel readers would claim that the genre has additional restrictions, from plot considerations such as the hero and heroine meeting early on in the story, to avoiding possible themes, such as neither hero nor heroine committing adultery in the course of their relationship developing. However, these are not hard-and-fast rules, and some writers deliberately write stories that may put off some readers in order to push the genre's boundaries. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romance_novel [Feb 2005]