Romance novels, while wildly popular, are often “loathed by literary critics” and denounced as formulaic “hackwork” (Crusie). However, popular romance novels cannot be ignored; these books make up the largest market share of genre fiction, earning a total of $1.44 billion in 2022 (Curcic). In spite of this popularity, most university libraries have few romance novels or related nonfiction scholarly and non-scholarly sources about romance novels on their shelves.
At UD, lecturer Amy Krug and her English composition students set out to change that. In the fall of 2023, they collaborated with University Libraries Director of Collections Strategies & Services Tina Beis to curate a list of novels and nonfiction resources about the genre and build a circulating collection. Browse them here and use the links provided to view them in the library catalog.
This project was supported by a grant from the Experiential Learning Innovation Fund. Logo design by Shahd Salem.
Sources:
Crusie, Jenny. “Defeating the Critics: What We Can Do About the Anti-Romance Bias.” JennyCrusie.com. Accessed May 15, 2023.
Curcic, Dimitrije. “Romance Novel Sales Statistics.” Wordsrated.com. October 9, 2022. Accessed May 10, 2023.
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Happiness for Beginners
Katherine Center
Author Katherine Center explores where the human desire for self-reinvention meets our sometimes weird cultural obsession with wilderness survival skills. The protagonist, who has never shown an inclination to outdoorsy pursuits in the past, believes conquering a three-week survival course will prove that her post-divorce self is more capable than ever. Along the way, Center examines the protagonist and her fellow campers, difficulties and disabilities and all, to question just what being "capable" and "a survivor" means.
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Hell Followed With Us
Andrew Joseph Waite
This book is a wild dystopian novel about a plague unleashed on Earth by a fundamentalist sect dedicated to bringing about Armageddon. Full of LGBTQ+ characters, it is very inclusive; it’s also a compelling story with a likable main character. This one isn’t for people with weak stomachs; there is a lot of body horror interspersed with romance. It’s unique and awful and beautiful.
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Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute
Talia Hibbert
Bradley Graeme is a football player who has obsessive-compulsive disorder but manages to do well in all of his classes — except the ones with his ex-best friend, Celine. Celine Bangura’s social media followers love her opinions on everything, but she’s still not cool enough to sit with the popular kids. In her mind, this is why Brad no longer sits with her. But when they both end up signing up for a survival course, they are forced to work together to win the grand prize. This book immerses readers into a different culture through its British lens. Additionally, it portrays several coping mechanisms that a person can use if they have OCD.
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It Ends with Us
Colleen Hoover
It Ends with Us shows a brutal depiction of the long-lasting effects of child abuse and how that bleeds into relationships we might make years into the future. This books shows the complexity of love and abuse and is a great testament to problems with child abuse in our current society.
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Love and Other Disasters
Anita Kelly
Love & Other Disasters explores the “enemies-to-lovers” trope in romance, and it will leave you starving for more by the end. The story follows London, a quiet nonbinary person who loves making desserts, and their inevitable falling for Delilah, their competitor on a cooking show. This novel explores themes of desire, competition, and loyalty while also educating the audience on nonbinary and queer experiences without making it center stage.
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Love from A to Z
S. K. Ali
Love from A to Z is about two characters named Adam and Zyneb, Muslim teens who met in Qatar. They bond over shared experiences of love, faith, and discrimination. Adam and Zyneb write journal entries that help them find strength over their struggles and connect. The book focuses on racism and identity in a story of love and friendship.
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Love Letters for Joy
Melissa See
Joy wants to be the first disabled valedictorian at Caldwell Prep, and her only competition is Nathaniel, her academic rival. Everyone starts to pair up, and Joy wonders if she is missing out. Joy is asexual, but that isn’t a reason for her not to have a first love. She gets in touch with Caldwell Cupid and finds herself liking the person behind the letters. This book shows that having a disability doesn’t prevent experiencing the same things as everyone else, and it illustrates that sexuality doesn’t define a person.
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Love Me Tinder
Nicola May
Throughout the past 12 years of her life, Cali Summers has been living a good life with her boyfriend, whom she married. However, after a year of marriage, he decided to give up on her for his trainer. This leaves Cali to settle with online dating, something she is unfamiliar with. Will she continue to deal with her broken relationship or decide to move on with something out of her comfort zone?
We chose this book because the plot gives a complete look at online dating. It shows a character who has had a traditional relationship for a little over a decade but has to learn how to use online dating apps. Throughout this unique book, readers see the confusion that can go into using these apps and how they connect with romance.
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Madelon
Valentina Luellen
Madelon is a historical romance set in medieval Spain. The main character, Madelon del Rivas y Montevides, was desired by many men; however, she falls in love with Valentin Maratin, who rescued her from being sold into slavery. However, Madelon comes to find out that Valentin is the mortal enemy of her brother. She is stuck between loyalty to her family and choosing to be with the love of her life. This book was chosen because it is a historical romance marketed as a woman being saved by a strong hero, but in reality, the heroine is the strong one. It is a great representation of the romance novels that were written during the mid-20th century.
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Me Before You
Jojo Moyes
This book follows the story of Louisa Clark, a typical girl with a typical life. She has a boyfriend and a close family in a small town. That all changes when Louisa needs a job. The job she finds is working for Will Traynor, Master of the Universe. Will uses a wheelchair after an accident and is unsure what to do with his life since he was very active before the accident. Louisa and Will are stuck with each other, and she finds out that he has an alternative plan for his life. She is on a mission to show him that life is still worth living.
Me Before You is a great addition to the Popular Romance Collection because it shows the reality of coping with devastating news. It shows the reality of how some characters may handle grief. Both characters, who are complete opposites, try to help each other find what is missing in their lives. This book is known for the controversy around the ending, especially among disability advocates. This is important to add because the ending may not be a traditional romance “happily ever after.”
Note: This book belongs to the "Is it a romance?" section. It's up to the reader to decide!
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Not Here to Be Liked
Michelle Quach
Not Here to Be Liked tells the story of a high school girl named Eliza, who, after years of hard work, is finally ready to take her position as editor-in-chief of her high school newspaper. But when her last-minute opponent, a totally unqualified ex-jock, is given the position, Eliza pours her anger into an essay. She claims the situation is a classic example of sexism, cheating women out of well-deserved leadership roles. As Eliza becomes the face of a feminist movement, she must grapple with the misogyny faced by women who do not conform to societal expectations, all while falling in love with the boy who started it all.
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On Rotation
Shirlene Obuobi
On Rotation gives readers a twist that challenges a popular culture stereotype. Through reading this book, you will learn how the protagonist, an immigrant medical student, does not follow the typical beliefs of how she should act. After reading this book, a reader may have a new perspective on immigrant stereotypes and realize the uniqueness of each person in the world.
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Playing with Matches
Hannah Orenstein
Sasha wants to be a writer but ends up taking a job as a matchmaker for New York’s elite. While her matchmaking skills work for others, her own relationship implodes when her boyfriend, Jonathan, cheats on her. Can she find her own perfect match with one of her clients?
We chose this book because it represents online dating sites in modern romance novels. This book gives an interesting perspective on dating in the modern world with a fun and engaging storyline. This is a great book to read if you're interested in how dating apps function in modern relationships.
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Red, White and Royal Blue
Casey McQuiston
This novel explores the relationship between two men who are looked on heavily by society — a British prince and the son of the president of the United States. This novel is an example of what it is like to navigate a romantic relationship in public society and how opinions of family and society impact a relationship. This novel is a great addition to this collection because of its inclusivity of romantic relationships. The novel allows for other mainstream novels that include LGBTQ+ elements within the romance genre.
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Serving Pleasure
Alisha Rai
Romance books do not often make best-seller reading lists because they are often thought of as “less than” compared to other genres. The fact that this book made The Washington Post’s Best of the Year list is significant in itself, but more significant is the fact that this book was the first self-published book to make the list.
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Shanna
Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
Shanna was the first official adult romance novel I read. I found it under my mom’s bed on a summer day when I was 12, and I was hooked. Woodiwiss was one of the most popular romance authors in the 1970s and '80s, but rereading her novels is difficult. Coercion, rape, and forced marriage are all themes in her stories, and looking at them through a 2023 lens is very problematic. I included this book to contextualize the evolution of the romance novel and show how far the genre has come with its depiction of women and gender roles. Dedicated to my mom, Sue Krisko.
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She Gets the Girl
Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick
Alex Blackwood is an undeniably courageous flirt. Molly Parker is a socially awkward compassionate soul. The duo strikes a deal that helps Molly explore her flirtatious nature and helps Alex prove to her ex that she is not self-centered. The question is: Do Molly and Alex want other people or each other? Author Alyson Derrick, a No. 1 New York Times best-selling author, depicts a beautiful dichotomy between wants and needs in romance.
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Sick Kids in Love
Hannah Moskowitz
Sick Kids in Love is an engaging book because it touches on issues that most books do not: romance of characters with disabilities. It shows that there are many good books for young adults and those with disabilities.
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Silent Melody
Mary Balogh
Silent Melody is about Emily Marlowe, who is unable to hear or speak. This book goes through Emily’s life as she dreams about falling in love with the reckless Lord Ashley, who left for India and found a different love. “Seven years and countless dreams later, he returned to her, and love was born with a dance, a minute that stirred her soul, a song so passionate it has no words.”
This book depicts an nontraditional kind of love. It teaches others that they can find love or love someone in any way they want, and love is different for everyone. Another reason we chose this book is that it is not often that you hear about the main character being completely deaf.
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Something More
Jackie Khalilieh
Something More, by Jackie Khalilieh, follows a Palestinian-Canadian girl, Jessie, who was diagnosed with autism right before starting her freshman year of high school. This book can give readers a different perspective of what it is like to go through school and social interactions with a disability. Able-bodied readers are able to reflect and grow their knowledge of how people with disabilities navigate their daily lives, all while enjoying a heartfelt love story.
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Space Raptor Butt Invasion
Chuck Tingle
This book is a bit of a doozy. While no one in their right mind would consider this book a flawless masterpiece, anyone could agree it is unconventional. The book outlines the erotic relationship between a human astronaut and a dinosaur astronaut describing how they have “totally-not-gay” sex. The most notable thing about this book is how it doesn’t live up to the wild expectations that the title conveys, though this might be done on purpose. Chuck Tingle is known to be quite the character, and it wouldn’t be unrealistic for someone like him to write something so outlandish simply for the sake of irony.
Note: This book is notable because it was nominated for a 2016 Hugo Award, a major honor for science fiction and fantasy. It is a typical “monsterotica” story in a large but mostly unknown and misunderstood romance genre. Also, this book belongs to the "Is it a romance?" section. It's up to the reader to decide!
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Take a Hint, Dani Brown
Talia Hibbert
This is the second book of the Brown Sisters series. It follows Dani Brown, a bisexual woman who only wants to focus on her work and grow her career. A workplace accident leads her into faking a relationship that turns into something more. This book is good for flipping gender roles by having a romantic man and a serious woman as its main characters. It also explores themes of anxiety and vulnerability with others.
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Tara's Song
Barbara Ferry Johnson
This is a very important book when talking about marketing in the late “dime novel” era. This book was marketed as an unassuming religious woman falling for a strong Viking warrior, but in reality, she is a strong heroine who had romances in the past. This description was left out on purpose to convince the predominantly male business owners to sell them in their stores. This was a common tactic with romance novels in the mid-20th century.
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Temptation
Charlotte Lamb
Published in the 1970s, this book was ahead of its time. The heroine is a strong woman who uses her wits and brains to get revenge on a man who took advantage of her. While it might not live up to the feminist standards of today, it was progressive for its era. It can help the reader understand more about the feminist movement during its second wave.
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The Beauty Myth
Naomi Wolf
In The Beauty Myth, Naomi Wolf establishes a strong feminist argument against romance and delves into the idea of "the beauty myth," which is a list of stereotypes and rules that women are expected to adhere to in order to be considered beautiful. This piece is an inspiring feminist writing that makes cases for many gender stereotypes.
