From Ancient Greek laments and bodice rippers to romantasy — romance and fantasy combined — shadow daddies and yearning rom-com men, the romance genre has reigned supreme for eons.
“The romance genre has always been huge,” said Lilly Vanderbunt, sophomore in Media. “‘Pride and Prejudice’ flew off the shelves in 1813; it’s always been huge, but it’s easy to forget that.”
The romance genre’s popularity prompted a modern transformation: The characters in romance novels shifted away from stereotypically rich or noble men and submissive women. Contemporary romance novels often star ethnically and sexually diverse characters that readers can identify with and have more engaging, realistic plots.
In the past, the public attempted to restrict the consumption of romance’s black sheep — smut. Smutty books feature “spicy,” explicit scenes that are more graphically and openly described on-page than those typically found in romance novels. Readers had to purchase them at grocery stores as small mass-market copies with conspicuously placed sensual titles.
Some modern romance and smut enjoyers started their journeys on sites like Wattpad and Archive of Our Own.
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“When I was probably around 14 or so, I was definitely on Wattpad,” Vanderbunt said. “We all got our start with romance in the same place.”
Recent trends on Instagram and TikTok — or Bookstagram and BookTok — have brought smut to the limelight. Book-focused content creators recommend their favorite steamy reads and lead smut into mainstream book culture, as well as new romance readers into the fold.
“You literally look up a romance book you want, you look up an ending or tropes, fan art — anything you could possibly want on TikTok, and you’re able to get it,” said Natalia Kowalewska, junior in LAS.
Romance novels can exist without any smut at all. However, authors like Ali Hazelwood, Jasmine Mas and Emily Henry use passionate, romantic plots as devices to further their storylines and worldbuilding, blending spicy romance with legitimate genre fiction.
Smut and romance interact with several subgenres, including historical fiction, gothic, contemporary and romantasy. The highly popular romantasy subgenre is anything but a publishing fad or passing craze, amassing an estimated $610 million in sales in 2024.
“I’d say the majority of the population doesn’t read books,” said Michael Cantore, Kowalewska’s boyfriend and junior in Business. “I think that the books coming out that (Kowalewska) and others are so interested in keep literature alive.”
Romantasy is by no means new — consider Diana Gabaldon’s “Outlander” series that began in 1991 — but its popularity definitely is. Hype over series like Rebecca Yarros’ “Empyrean” and Sarah J. Maas’ “A Court of Thorns and Roses” helped bring the subgenre to the spotlight.
Social media has been a breeding ground for generating excitement about smut and romance books and has destigmatized the genres by emphasizing their approachability. BookTok and Bookstagram offer modern readers platforms to share their love of smutty romance with pride.
“Romantasy, fantasy, fiction, smut — I feel like those used to be very taboo topics, but BookTok turned it into this common thing and has been very loud about it,” Kowalewska said.
While BookTok and Bookstagram might have led the charge with popularizing smutty romance, in-person discussions are fueling its fire.
“It really gives me (a) connection to my family and friends — being able to talk about topics I used to be afraid of, or even showing book recommendations or talking about characters we relate to and like,” Kowalewska said. “It motivates me to read novels I never would have touched before.”
From book release parties to vibrant social media recommendations and communities, smut and romance novels connect a wide number of readers. Talking about spicy romance novels freely might just be the new norm for readers like Vanderbunt and Kowalewska.
“My mom has always been a reader, but she’s recently gotten really big back into reading,” Vanderbunt said. “She keeps coming into my room and stealing all my books, and she’s like, ‘Which one should I read next?’”
