Jayashree Kamblé is an Associate Professor of English at LaGuardia Community College in the City University of New York. She is the author of Making Meaning in Popular Romance Fiction: An Epistemology (2014) and a Vice-President of the International Association of the Study of Popular Romance.

Eric Murphy Selinger is a Professor of English at DePaul University, Executive Editor of the Journal of Popular Romance Studies, and President of the International Association for the Study of Popular Romance. He is the author of What Is It Then Between Us? Traditions of Love in American Poetry (1998) and co-editor of New Approaches to Popular Romance Fiction (2012) and Romance Fiction and American Culture (2016).

Hsu-Ming Teo is a novelist and cultural historian at Macquarie University, Australia, where she is an Associate Professor of literature and creative writing. Her academic publications include her monograph Desert Passions: Orientalism and Romance Novels (2012), and the edited books The Popular Culture of Romantic Love in Australia (2017) and Cultural History in Australia (2003).

Popular romance fiction constitutes the largest segment of the global book market. Bringing together an international group of scholars, The Routledge Research Companion to Popular Romance Fiction offers a groundbreaking exploration of this global genre and its remarkable readership.

Introduction

PART I: NATIONAL TRADITIONS

1   History of English Romance Novels, 1621-1975

2   The Evolution of the American Romance Novel

3   Australian Romance Fiction

Lauren O'Mahony

PART II: SUB-GENRES

4   Gothic Romance

Angela Toscano

5   The Historical Romance

Sarah H. Ficke

6   Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy

María T. Ramos-García

7   Young Adult Romance

8   Inspirational Romance

9   Erotic Romance

Jodi McAlister

10   African American Romance

Julie E. Moody-Freeman

11   Explorations of the "Desert Passion Industry"

PART III: METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES

12   Romance in the Media

Jayashree Kamblé

13   Literary Approaches

Eric Murphy Selinger

14   Author Studies and Popular Romance Fiction

Kecia Ali

15   Social Science Reads Romance

Joanna Gregson and Jennifer Lois

16   Publishing the Romance Novel

17   Libraries and Popular Romance Fiction

PART IV: THEMES

18   Class and Wealth in Popular Romance Fiction

Amy Burge

19   Sex and Sexuality

20   Gender and Sexuality

Jonathan A. Allan

21   Love and Romance Novels

Hsu-Ming Teo

22   Romance and/as Religion

Eric Murphy Selinger and Laura Vivanco

23   Race, Ethnicity, and Whiteness

Erin S. Young

24   In Response to Harlequin: Global Legacy, Local Agency

Popular romance fiction constitutes the largest segment of the global book market. Bringing together an international group of scholars, The Routledge Research Companion to Popular Romance Fiction offers a ground-breaking exploration of this global genre and its remarkable readership. In recognition of the diversity of the form, the Companion provides a history of the genre, an overview of disciplinary approaches to studying romance fiction, and critical analyses of important subgenres, themes, and topics. It also highlights new and understudied avenues of inquiry for future research in this vibrant and still-emerging field. The first systematic, comprehensive resource on romance fiction, this Companion will be invaluable to students and scholars, and accessible to romance readers.