Romance Novel Subgenres
Ever wondered what was the difference between a contemporary and a contemporary series novel? Here you'll find a list of the terms we use on this site, a short definition of each, and links to the books database for each subgenre.
- Contemporary
- Time periods are generally set after the World Wars.
- Contemporary Series
- Time periods are generally set after the World Wars, and these novels are released as part of a numbered series of books, i.e. Silhouette Romance.
- Erotic Romance
- These novels often have graphic sexual content. Generally, these novels are not for the timid.
- Erotica
- These novels often have graphic sexual content above and beyond even that of "erotic romance".
- Fantasy, Futuristic, and Paranormal
- Also called FF and P. These books can contain fantasy, science fiction, and paranormal elements, including magic, ghosts, psychics, vampires, werewolves, space-travel, etc. Time periods can include the past, present, or future, or any combination thereof. We include time-travel books in this category.
- Historical
- Generally, these novels are set during any time period before the World Wars.