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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Fourth Wing
Rebecca Yarros
Fourth Wing tells the story of Violet Sorrengail, whose military general mother has forced her to enroll in a school that trains students to be elite dragon riders. There she meets Xaden Riorson, who has reason to loathe her. We chose this book because it is a captivating novel about enemies to lovers that has the thrill of a fantasy.
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Gentle Rogue
Johanna Lindsey
Gentle Rogue, written in 1990, is the third in Johanna Lindsey’s 12-book series about the Malory-Anderson family. This novel serves as an early example of a series set within one family unit that immerses the reader within a cast of beloved, interconnected characters for a long run of romance books. It also demonstrates the way feminism affected the romance genre in the last part of the 20th century; the story’s heroine, Georgina, masquerades as a cabin boy to board a ship for America and take her fortune into her own hands.
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Get a Life, Chloe Brown
Talia Hibbert
Get a Life, Chloe Brown follows Chloe Brown, who spent most of her time at home due to her fibromyalgia, an illness that causes wide-body pain and fatigue. After a near-death experience, she decided to make a list to become more independent and rebellious. To help her do this, she seeks the help of her landlord.
The author of this book was a diverse romance writer who got started from self-publishing and social media. This book in particular follows a Black woman with a chronic illness, making it unique in the romance world.
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Hacked
Lucy Lennox and May Archer
Enter the thrilling world of Hacked, where cybersecurity meets heart-pounding romance. Join Jesse and Ian on a journey of danger and desire as they navigate the treacherous waters of cybercrime and love. Let their story inspire you to embrace the power of trust and passion in the face of adversity.
We chose this book because this novel presents a contemporary take on romance and how dating apps play a significant role in the characters' lives. This novel dives into the complexities of online dating and how relationships may tend to develop through a screen, yet it also reminds us that behind every profile is a person with their own vulnerabilities, desires, and secrets waiting to be discovered in the real world.
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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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Ice Planet Barbarians
Ruby Dixon
Ice Planet Barbarians is the first novel of a series, and it has roots in our topic of sci-fi disability romance. After a spaceship crash landing begins the story, humans interact with humanoid-like creatures on a faraway planet. With an interesting plot line and buildup of a romantic relationship between two unlikely partners, Ice Planet Barbarians would be a great read to include in the growing popular romance collection due to its roots in science fiction romance.
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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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Kate in Waiting
Becky Albertalli
Kate in Waiting is a unique story of two best friends who become involved in a complicated love triangle. As a contemporary romance, it has elements of LGBTQ+ representation, friendship, and the hardships of high school. Kate in Waiting adds a unique plotline to the collection, along with the indescribable feeling of adolescent romance that is captured beautifully in this novel.
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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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Only When It's Us
Chloe Liese
This book features an enemies-to-lovers trope. Willa, a star soccer player, hates Ryder, a quiet, burly deaf man, for unknown reasons. When they are paired together for a group project, they quickly become friendly through competitive pranks and practical jokes and then eventually fall for each other. This book is important to include in the collection as it is relatable to young adults but features a protagonist with a disability.
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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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Planet Zero
Lydia Hope
Planet Zero is a romance novel that features sci-fi elements while also shining a light on disability representation. The book examines trust between a wild nomad, Zoark, who suffers from postwar injuries, and Addie, who arrives on the primitive planet after a spaceship crash. Planet Zero would be of great value to add to the popular romance collection and be an intriguing option for readers.
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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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Population
Elizabeth Stephens
Abel lives in a post-apocalyptic world with bloodthirsty aliens and violent human scavengers. The last of her family is taken, and she is prepared to fight to get them back. When she loots a dying alien and then puts him in a secret place to allow him to die in peace, she doesn’t expect him to come back from the dead and save her. This will add to the collection because it contains an atypical pairing of a strong, independent heroine and an alien alpha as well, adding more diverse characters.
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Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice is a classic enemies-to-lovers story following the heroine Elizabeth Bennet and her family in Regency England. We chose this book because it has been a widely popular book since its publication and continues to be a beloved romance choice, inspiring multiple retellings and adaptations as well as the popular romance genre in general.
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Red Queen
Victoria Aveyard
Envelop yourself in the complexities and twists and turns shown in this tale of betrayal, power, and resistance. Red Queen offers an intriguing plot, full of surprises; you won’t be able to put this book down. Red Queen belongs in the romance collection because it contains elements of teen rebellion, love triangles, and representation of the disabled.
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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.
