The Romance Novel

The romance novel is a subcategory of fiction, which the main plot of the story is a love relationship between a man and a woman. Often times the story is told from the point of view of the heroine, but in many modern romance novels, the story can be told from both the hero's as well as the heroine's point of view, (POV).

The usual formula for the romance noel is that the heroine meets and falls in love with the hero. The two suffer from both an internal as well as an external conflict that thwarts their relationship. Usually the external conflict is resolved first,
before the internal conflict is resolve and the two can live happily, even though marriage may not be the outcome of the story.

Throughout the story, the relationship between the hero and the heroin determines the plot and sets the tone of the book. In addition, the reader must sense the sexual attraction between the hero and heroin throughout the novel. The majority
of romance novels do have scenes that either hint to or give some detail of lovemaking. However, the details are not usually overly graphic as the author's of these novels place more emphasis on the sensual element of the story rather than the physical action between the hero and heroin.

Many people feel that Harlequin invented the romance novel, however, romance has been a key element in most literally works. The proof of this is the tale of Cupid and Psyche, Helen of Troy, and many children's fairy tales where the hero defeats
the wicked witch and rescues the fairy princess. However, Harlequin can be given the credit of creating and developing the romance novel to what it is today.

Romance novels fall into three distinct categories. The sensual romance, where the plot centers on the sensual tension between the hero and heroine, may include one or two sexual scenes. These would include what would be called ?Bodice-rippers.

The next category is the spicy romance. In this type of romance, the hero and heroin are usually married yet still face internal and external conflict that places their relationship in jeopardy. The characters resolve their conflicts and live happily.

The last type of romance is know as the sweet romance and are similar to the Regency romance which was once a very popular historical. In these novels, the heroine is usually very sweet, innocent and often times naive. These stories contain very
little physical sex and like the other two types of romances, the hero and heroin conquer their internal and external conflicts for a happy ending.
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