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I recently came across this really interesting Twitter thread from author Sarah MacLean about how trends within the romance genre ebb and flow in response to social and political shifts. (She didn't specify whether these trends were specific to the US or global.) For example, she cites "The rise of the working heroine (even in historicals)" during the 80s, the popularity of PNR after 9/11 "when it seemed we would need a superhuman hero" to save us, and the "Rise in popularity and choice in lgbtq* romance as queer rights took center stage in the United States & gay marriage was passed."
She predicts that "something big" is coming to romance. In the wake of the recent election, I'm curious as to whether authors and readers here at AW feel the same. Personally, I find myself leaning away from contemporary in favor of historical and SF--in other words, pretty much anything that doesn't remind me of real life.
What do you think? Has the Billionaire bubble finally burst? Are we going to see more lighthearted stories in the coming years or will dark romance become the Next Big Thing?
She predicts that "something big" is coming to romance. In the wake of the recent election, I'm curious as to whether authors and readers here at AW feel the same. Personally, I find myself leaning away from contemporary in favor of historical and SF--in other words, pretty much anything that doesn't remind me of real life.
What do you think? Has the Billionaire bubble finally burst? Are we going to see more lighthearted stories in the coming years or will dark romance become the Next Big Thing?