Library challenge: Romance subgenres
Jan. 25th, 2026 09:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yuuagoThe library ran an "Exploring Romance Subgenres" challenge, where the idea is (not surprisingly) to read works in different romance subgenres, one book each. I thought I'd post the list of what I read and some quick thoughts.
Here we go:
Holiday Romance: The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch. M/M. It's set in a sort of world in which "kingdoms" for each holiday exist hidden from the Normal World. Tl;dr the prince of Christmas is engaged to the princess of Easter, but falls in love with the prince of Halloween instead, which messes up the planned political alliance between Christmas and Easter. It was very silly, but I enjoyed it enough that I might pick up the next book in the series.
Sports Romance: Fangirl Down by Tessa Bailey. F/M. The fan of a has-been golf star ends up working as his caddy with the goal of helping him win the PGA tour - earning some cash for herself and helping him get his mojo back along the way. The characters were pretty fun, but there were too many sex scenes for my taste, plus lots of stereotypical heterosexual nonsense. Also there wasn't enough sports in this sports romance (I don't even like golf but if I'm going to read/watch a sports romance, I want it to have More Sports. Then again I'm one of those people who wanted even more skating-related stuff in Yuri on Ice.)
Romantic Comedy: Boyfriend Material by Alexis Jall. M/M. The fuckup son of an aging rock star begins dating a squeaky-clean lawyer as a PR move. This one was so-so; the main character was kind of exasperating because he created a lot of his own problems. A lot of the time that I was reading it I kept feeling like, "You brought this on yourself, bro. Grow up, calm down, and think things through first." But I did like that he was actually pretty good at his job as an event organizer (?) for a small nonprofit, and that the job-related problems that came up had more to do with people responding to the media portrayal of him rather than him being bad at doing his actual work. I did like the love interest a lot; found him very sympathetic. There was this one bit where he mentioned having difficulty engaging with queer clubs and things because only thing he has in common with the people at them is his sexuality, and.... yeahhh, I've felt that before.
Paranormal Romance: The Only Purple House In Town by Ann Aguirre. F/M. A vampire who isn't good at being a vampire (for reasons that become very clear later) inherits a relative's house and moves in; she turns it into a boarding house and ends up leasing rooms to a varied cast of characters, including a handsome hawk-shifter that she used to go to school with. I enjoyed the premise but the execution was not my thing at all. It seems to be written for the sort of audience who really likes the subtype of "found family" narratives where everyone fits into very defined roles and tidy boxes.
Romantasy: Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree. F/F. An orc pursues her dream of opening a coffee shop, and discovers maybe her "heart's desire" isn't something but someone. Yeah, I know this is more "fantasy with romance", shh it's close enough. I've heard so much about people both loving and hating this book that I wasn't sure what to expect. It was... okay! A little saccharine, but I can see why people would find it appealing. I do remember seeing someone say that "even the points where the stakes are high don't actually FEEL like the stakes are high" and I think I would agree with that. It was nice over all though, the relationship was cute, and I liked some of the worldbuilding.
Dark Romance: How does it feel? by Jeaneane O'Riley. F/M. A scientist who studies moths accidentally enters fairyland, is captured by the Unseelie Prince, and gets caught up in the conflict between the Seelie and Unseelie courts. I'll be honest, I hated this. The beginning, where the main character is in the real world and doing scientist stuff, was all right, but after she fell through the fairy ring everything was just Not My Thing. There was nothing likeable about the love interest and a lot of their scenes together had the kind of stereotypical heterosexual nonsense that I find a real turnoff (like, it was more than the usual level of nonsense I would expect in a F/M romance novel). This is the beginning of a series but I will Not be checking out the rest or anything else by this author.
Western Romance: Wild and Wrangled by Lyla Sage. F/M. A real estate lawyer falls back into love with her ex, a ranch hand. This was actually quite nice, and kind of cozy. I found the argument 3/4 of the way through the book pretty tedious, but it resolved pretty quickly. This is another protagonist who creates some of her own problems, though I found her more sympathetic than the protagonist of Boyfriend Material. I did end up with a lot of questions about how things turn out, though; like, the protagonist's parents are huge snobs who hate the love interest, and while there is a big scene where shit goes down, the issue isn't resolved at the end. Like, okay, how's she going to deal with that mess? Who knows.
SciFi Romance: Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell. M/M. A political arranged marriage between two people from different planets doesn't go as smoothly as expected due to a third party working to make the interplanetary political situation explode. I really enjoyed this! I've seen it recced around a lot, both in its original form and after it was published, so I was kind of worried I'd be disappointed. Not so! One thing that made me like it so much is that there was so much to chew on aside from the relationship. Interesting worldbuilding, lots of plot both related and unrelated to the relationship, etc. I also liked the relationship - like, those two definitely have some stuff to work through, it's kind of a mess, but I'm confident they can manage it. I'm definitely going to read the sequel.
Regency Romance: The Duke at Hazard by KJ Charles. M/M. A duke's ring is stolen after a poorly thought-out tryst, and he takes it upon himself to track down the culprit and recover it, quickly enlisting the help of a disgraced gentleman that he went to school with. This was very fun! Again, part of what it had going for it is that there is a lot of plot aside from the relationship - yes, the developing feelings are important, but there's also the matter of the quest, and all the various subplots the duo get tangled in, etc. I really liked the way things wrapped up; it was very satisfying. This is an author I'd heard a lot about but wasn't sure I would ever actually read; I really liked this one though so I might seek out some more in the future.
Highlander Romance: Under Loch and Key by Lana Ferguson. F/M. I was kind of cheating with this one, as it's actually contemporary paranormal, but the love interest is a sexy Scottish dude so I'm counting it anyway: An American visits some estranged relatives in Scotland and, while there, encounters a handsome dude with a temper who (it turns out) is cursed to turn into a lakemonster at night. The premise was silly, but fun, and I could roll with it. There were more sex scenes than I prefer, but some of them were quite Inspired, leaning into the monsterfucking premise in a way that I hadn't expected (they weren't my thing overall, but at the same time I was kind of impressed). But there was some of the nebulous heterosexual nonsense that I'm not a fan of. ...Also a major plot point hinged on the protagonist finding a diary from the late 13th century, reading it, and discovering the secret to (potentially) end the curse. Unfortunately for me I find it much easier to accept the idea of a handsome were-Nessie than I can accept the idea that an untrained rando could successfully read a 13th-century Scottish manuscript.
Whew. That was a lot. ...I think I'm going to take a break from Romance Novels and read something else now. :V Fortunately there's lots of good books out there to explore, eh.
Here we go:
Holiday Romance: The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch. M/M. It's set in a sort of world in which "kingdoms" for each holiday exist hidden from the Normal World. Tl;dr the prince of Christmas is engaged to the princess of Easter, but falls in love with the prince of Halloween instead, which messes up the planned political alliance between Christmas and Easter. It was very silly, but I enjoyed it enough that I might pick up the next book in the series.
Sports Romance: Fangirl Down by Tessa Bailey. F/M. The fan of a has-been golf star ends up working as his caddy with the goal of helping him win the PGA tour - earning some cash for herself and helping him get his mojo back along the way. The characters were pretty fun, but there were too many sex scenes for my taste, plus lots of stereotypical heterosexual nonsense. Also there wasn't enough sports in this sports romance (I don't even like golf but if I'm going to read/watch a sports romance, I want it to have More Sports. Then again I'm one of those people who wanted even more skating-related stuff in Yuri on Ice.)
Romantic Comedy: Boyfriend Material by Alexis Jall. M/M. The fuckup son of an aging rock star begins dating a squeaky-clean lawyer as a PR move. This one was so-so; the main character was kind of exasperating because he created a lot of his own problems. A lot of the time that I was reading it I kept feeling like, "You brought this on yourself, bro. Grow up, calm down, and think things through first." But I did like that he was actually pretty good at his job as an event organizer (?) for a small nonprofit, and that the job-related problems that came up had more to do with people responding to the media portrayal of him rather than him being bad at doing his actual work. I did like the love interest a lot; found him very sympathetic. There was this one bit where he mentioned having difficulty engaging with queer clubs and things because only thing he has in common with the people at them is his sexuality, and.... yeahhh, I've felt that before.
Paranormal Romance: The Only Purple House In Town by Ann Aguirre. F/M. A vampire who isn't good at being a vampire (for reasons that become very clear later) inherits a relative's house and moves in; she turns it into a boarding house and ends up leasing rooms to a varied cast of characters, including a handsome hawk-shifter that she used to go to school with. I enjoyed the premise but the execution was not my thing at all. It seems to be written for the sort of audience who really likes the subtype of "found family" narratives where everyone fits into very defined roles and tidy boxes.
Romantasy: Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree. F/F. An orc pursues her dream of opening a coffee shop, and discovers maybe her "heart's desire" isn't something but someone. Yeah, I know this is more "fantasy with romance", shh it's close enough. I've heard so much about people both loving and hating this book that I wasn't sure what to expect. It was... okay! A little saccharine, but I can see why people would find it appealing. I do remember seeing someone say that "even the points where the stakes are high don't actually FEEL like the stakes are high" and I think I would agree with that. It was nice over all though, the relationship was cute, and I liked some of the worldbuilding.
Dark Romance: How does it feel? by Jeaneane O'Riley. F/M. A scientist who studies moths accidentally enters fairyland, is captured by the Unseelie Prince, and gets caught up in the conflict between the Seelie and Unseelie courts. I'll be honest, I hated this. The beginning, where the main character is in the real world and doing scientist stuff, was all right, but after she fell through the fairy ring everything was just Not My Thing. There was nothing likeable about the love interest and a lot of their scenes together had the kind of stereotypical heterosexual nonsense that I find a real turnoff (like, it was more than the usual level of nonsense I would expect in a F/M romance novel). This is the beginning of a series but I will Not be checking out the rest or anything else by this author.
Western Romance: Wild and Wrangled by Lyla Sage. F/M. A real estate lawyer falls back into love with her ex, a ranch hand. This was actually quite nice, and kind of cozy. I found the argument 3/4 of the way through the book pretty tedious, but it resolved pretty quickly. This is another protagonist who creates some of her own problems, though I found her more sympathetic than the protagonist of Boyfriend Material. I did end up with a lot of questions about how things turn out, though; like, the protagonist's parents are huge snobs who hate the love interest, and while there is a big scene where shit goes down, the issue isn't resolved at the end. Like, okay, how's she going to deal with that mess? Who knows.
SciFi Romance: Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell. M/M. A political arranged marriage between two people from different planets doesn't go as smoothly as expected due to a third party working to make the interplanetary political situation explode. I really enjoyed this! I've seen it recced around a lot, both in its original form and after it was published, so I was kind of worried I'd be disappointed. Not so! One thing that made me like it so much is that there was so much to chew on aside from the relationship. Interesting worldbuilding, lots of plot both related and unrelated to the relationship, etc. I also liked the relationship - like, those two definitely have some stuff to work through, it's kind of a mess, but I'm confident they can manage it. I'm definitely going to read the sequel.
Regency Romance: The Duke at Hazard by KJ Charles. M/M. A duke's ring is stolen after a poorly thought-out tryst, and he takes it upon himself to track down the culprit and recover it, quickly enlisting the help of a disgraced gentleman that he went to school with. This was very fun! Again, part of what it had going for it is that there is a lot of plot aside from the relationship - yes, the developing feelings are important, but there's also the matter of the quest, and all the various subplots the duo get tangled in, etc. I really liked the way things wrapped up; it was very satisfying. This is an author I'd heard a lot about but wasn't sure I would ever actually read; I really liked this one though so I might seek out some more in the future.
Highlander Romance: Under Loch and Key by Lana Ferguson. F/M. I was kind of cheating with this one, as it's actually contemporary paranormal, but the love interest is a sexy Scottish dude so I'm counting it anyway: An American visits some estranged relatives in Scotland and, while there, encounters a handsome dude with a temper who (it turns out) is cursed to turn into a lakemonster at night. The premise was silly, but fun, and I could roll with it. There were more sex scenes than I prefer, but some of them were quite Inspired, leaning into the monsterfucking premise in a way that I hadn't expected (they weren't my thing overall, but at the same time I was kind of impressed). But there was some of the nebulous heterosexual nonsense that I'm not a fan of. ...Also a major plot point hinged on the protagonist finding a diary from the late 13th century, reading it, and discovering the secret to (potentially) end the curse. Unfortunately for me I find it much easier to accept the idea of a handsome were-Nessie than I can accept the idea that an untrained rando could successfully read a 13th-century Scottish manuscript.
Whew. That was a lot. ...I think I'm going to take a break from Romance Novels and read something else now. :V Fortunately there's lots of good books out there to explore, eh.
Yuu. Fic writer & book lover. M/Canada.
no subject
Date: 2026-01-26 04:52 pm (UTC)I liked hearing your thoughts about Winter's Orbit! I pretty much agree with them, and I think you'll also like Ocean's Echo, although fair warning, it's only a sequel in the sense that it's set in the same universe, with some of the bigger picture worldbuilding being relevant to both. Not only does it not have the same characters, it's not even set on the same planet.
Ha! I would probably feel the same way.
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Date: 2026-01-27 01:21 am (UTC)re: Ocean's Echo, noted! That's kind of a plus and kind of a minus - like, I want to see more of Kiem and Jainan, but I also want to see more of the world from an angle that you wouldn't be able to get with them. So, I'm looking forward to it regardless.
no subject
Date: 2026-01-26 05:17 pm (UTC)It's also super interesting to hear this breakdown with at least one entry in each subgenre (maybe not The Most Representational entry but someone else curated this list and also idk if one could make the most representational entry ever, all books are kinda doing their own thing at least a little bit), it really shows the growing variance across the genre and it kind of says something about our era that these are the particular romance subgenres ... I wonder what they were in the 90s. I seem to recall hearing / poking gentle fun of Celtic themed romances and I wonder if any of them were like inspired by the popularity of Highlander or other such shows. Or was there any spy-themed enemies to lovers stuff during the height of the Cold War? That sort of thing. Also makes a ton of sense that the ones that were good also had other things not-related to the romance in the novel, it's like it leverages the risk in case the romance notes aren't fully hitting it, but has a nice side effect of upping the stakes. For the books that didn't have much in the way of plot... what did they have? How did they fill up so many words and pages if not with plot?
Unfortunately for me I find it much easier to accept the idea of a handsome were-Nessie than I can accept the idea that an untrained rando could successfully read a 13th-century Scottish manuscript.
1000% agreed!!!
no subject
Date: 2026-01-27 01:31 am (UTC)For the books that didn't have much in the way of plot... what did they have?
Lots of sex scenes, mostly. ...I jest, but only slightly - there did seem to be a lot more though, and also more pagetime spent on thrist. Aside from that, I suppose you could say the ones with less non-romance plot focused more on building up scenes where the couple interact, and also spending more time on ~feelings~. Not that the ones without outside plot don't do that, but they devote comparatively less pagetime to it.
no subject
Date: 2026-01-26 11:29 pm (UTC)I'm one of those people who wanted even more skating-related stuff in Yuri on Ice
Same. Had to rein myself in a bit while writing a skating-related origfic since it was starting to feel a bit too intensely Did You Know I Like And Know Skating haha.
I've also seen Winter's Orbit recced a lot, sound like I should go ahead and put it on my TBR list!
no subject
Date: 2026-01-27 01:33 am (UTC)Glad to know I'm not the only one re: wanting lots of actual sports in sports fiction. :P
no subject
Date: 2026-01-27 03:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-01-27 03:36 am (UTC)