Before you venture into writing romance, you need to be aware of the various subgenres that exist in it. With this knowledge, you can define your writing and write according to the essential requirement that fulfills readers’ expectations in a particular subgenre. We will look at five popular subgenres of romance and what each one of them entails.

1. Futuristic. This subgenre is not really science fiction. The focus is more on the characters and their love relationship than on the setting. It is usually set on earth, rarely on a newly discovered planet, and never with aliens and monsters. It is just earth in the future with technological advances or post-apocalyptic circumstances. A contemporary example is The One by John Marr, involving a dating platform that matches people to those they are genetically designed to spend the rest of their lives with. Whatever futuristic elements you choose to include in your romance, they should not take center stage. The setting should help drive your plot, not become the story itself.

2. Inspirational. This is a pretty popular subgenre. Here, the romance is faith-based, mostly non-denominational Christian. The lives of characters are usually influenced by their religious belief which also affects their love story. A character may have lost her faith and regained it when she finally finds true love. These stories are not preachy. They are like every other romance featuring sympathetic characters who need to overcome their emotional issues preventing them from enjoying a blessed union. But they don’t include sex or any sensual element above PG-13. The relationship is driven by traditional values, and the stories are very conventional.

3. Regency. This subgenre of romance is about love stories set during the Regency era (1811-1820) or early in the nineteenth century. More than just modern versions of emotional tension between lovers in a historical setting, Regency romance is a unique genre, having its own style and norms. A derivative not so much from the contemporary works of Jane Austen in the nineteenth century, but from Georgette Heyer, who wrote more than two dozen stories about Regency romance from 1935 to 1974. Also known as novels of manner, Regency typically features a good amount of intelligent, fast-paced dialogue and little to no explicit sex.

4. Romantic Comedy. This is basically for the laughs. Romantic comedy portrays the sense of fun and humor in a love relationship while still putting emotional obstacles between the lovers. It is humorous on all levels; the characters, plot and writing style. The main characters are usually in their twenties or thirties, and the narration is upbeat with a lot of fun throughout. A successful romantic comedy has less slapstick and physical comedy; the humor usually stems from the characters and their reactions to situations.

5. Romantic Suspense. This is the most popular subgenre of romance. It is a perfect blend of romance, suspense, and mystery. So, readers expect a romantic journey with emotional tension and a life-threatening danger on the loose that needs to be averted by the end of the story. There is a difference between romantic suspense and a suspense novel with an element of romance, which doesn’t fulfill the romance reader’s desire for an emotional relationship between characters. It should be suspense-filled while simultaneously presenting sympathetic characters with emotional obstacles between them and a happily-ever-after ending.