Romantic stories are one of the best selling genres. They are mostly written and read by women. If a man reads romance novels, he's not likely to admit it. The first ones were written by celebrated 19th century authors, such as Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice) and Charlotte Bronte (Jane Eyre). Emily Bronte wrote the wonderfully Gothic Wuthering Heights. These novels were of course, considered to be literary classics whereas most modern offerings are not.
The modern romantic book, as published by Mills and Boon etc., is pretty formulaic. Boy meets girl, boy loses girl and boy gets girl again. There is nearly always a happy ending and there are no graphic descriptions of bedroom scenes. The protagonists tend to be middle or upper class. There are often doctor and nurse scenarios and men have chiseled jaws and muscular arms. Historical romance is also popular, with opportunities for a lot of genteel courtship and brave fiancées marching to war in their neatly pressed uniforms. It's easy to poke fun but these romance novels give pleasure to thousands of people. Fans want a bit of harmless escapism at the end of a busy day.
The English writer, Barbara Cartland was probably the most prolific of all the romance novels scribes. She famously dictated thousands of words a day, with her little dog on her lap. She only dressed in pink and prided herself on chaste heroines. We shall never see her kind again.
More recent novelists have tried to keep the genre alive but brought it into line with contemporary values. This has been dubbed chick lit and its leading light is the Bridget Jones books. She is a character for a modern generation, an independent career woman but one who freely admits to wanting a man in her life. There are shades of the Pride and Prejudice story in there, which brings romance novels full circle. It's probably what Jane Austen would be writing, were she alive today.
Fans don't seem to mind that they can guess what's coming. They find it comforting in an unsettled world. The setting and time period probably don't matter very much. It's the relationship between the man and woman (it's always a man and woman) that counts. Modern standards of behavior have changed significantly but there is still a demand for old-fashioned romance novels with clearly defined plots. Mr. Darcy is alive and well.
