#BroaderBookshelf 2021 - Contemporary Romance Novels
- Sara M.
- Monday, February 08, 2021
Collection
Fulfill the "Read a Romance Novel" prompt for this year's Broader Bookshelf challenge with one of these contemporary romances. A contemporary romance is set in the time it was written in, but can be about anything - this list has books about cowboys, cosplayers, yarn store owners, and princes! (A surprising number of princes.)
A romance novel isn't just a book that happens to have a love story in it - romance is an enormously popular genre with its own conventions, subgenres, and devoted readers that brings in a billion dollars a year and makes up almost a quarter of all books published in America. A true romance novel has to have two things: a central love story which is the focus of the novel and a satisfying, optimistic ending. It doesn't have to be "happily ever after", but a true romance novel is at least "happy for now". Romances can also be sad, funny, thoughtful, and suspenseful, and are written by, about, and for a wide variety of people - even if you don't think you like romance, if you like books about people experiencing human emotion there's one for you!
Learn more about the Broader Bookshelf challenge and see more lists here.