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If you’re a romance reader, you won’t be surprised to hear that romance is the biggest genre in publishing. Nearly 40 million romance novels were sold in 2024. Books range from flirty (fade to black) to downright steamy (open door), with myriads of subgenres and tropes to choose from. (Rom-com! Paranormal romance! Historical fiction!)

So this week, Big Books and Bold Ideas host Kerri Miller sits down with three Minnesota romance experts to talk about romance writing and reading today. She brings some quizlets and challenges, and each author shares an excerpt of a romance novel that has stuck with them. 

Big Books and Bold Ideas Romance Roundtable

Along the way, they discuss the rules of romance (happy endings are nonnegotiable), what differentiates a love story from a romance novel and how the industry is starting to adapt to the diversity readers want.

They also recommend romance novels that have maybe slipped through the cracks but deserve attention. 

For Richards, that was the book she chose to feature in her excerpt: the historical queer romance “

. She also recommended anything by writer 

Tschida said readers should check out the wit and charm inherent in any 

 novel, who is best know for her rewrites of Jane Austen. “Start with ‘

,’” Tschida recommended, “and then move on to 

, who writes books broader than the cowboy romance genre she is often stuck in. 

Palmer said she’ll “never stop talking” about 

,” is similar to the movie “Sweet Home Alabama” — but in this case, a hurricane traps a couple headed toward divorce in the home they built together when their love was young. 

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Move over, Mr. Darcy. These days, romance novels are just as likely to be populated by zombies, vampires and antiheroes as a muscle-bound alpha male. But one thing remains: the promise of a happy ending. Three Minnesota romance aficionados join host Kerri Miller on this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas to talk about how the genre is changing.  

Vampires and a happy ending: Three Minnesota romance buffs discuss how the genre is changing

Kerri Miller for a romance genre roundtable on Big Books and Bold Ideas.

Vampires and a happy ending: Three Minnesota romance buffs discuss how the genre is changing

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