Romance Revival: Why We Love Stories About Love

Queer ice-hockey series Heated Rivalry, based on the books by Rachel Reid, has become a global phenomenon. The latest episodes of Bridgerton received nearly 40 million views in their first four days on Netflix. And when Onyx Storm, the most recent instalment in the Fourth Wing series was released in 2025, it became the fastest selling adult fiction title in 20 years.

But there hasn't always been such widespread love for love stories.

Professor Hsu-Ming Teo from the School of Humanities at Macquarie University says romantic fiction has been copping criticism for as long as the genre has existed.

Back in 1856, Middlemarch author George Eliot sneered at the genre for being 'silly novels by lady novelists'. More than a century later, Australian feminist Germaine Greer chastised romance authors for indoctrinating readers into "cherishing the chains of their own bondage".

"Romantic fiction has always been a feminine genre that has generated a lot of anxiety, derision and moral panic," Teo explains.

"It's one of those things that society uses to beat women over the heads with, and put them down for not being intellectual, for being too emotional or irrational."

So, what is it about romance novels that keeps readers hooked? And could more of us benefit from paying more attention to the power of a guaranteed happily ever after?

"It's really interesting that romance had a revival during the lockdowns, especially on BookTok," she says, referring to the passionate community of readers on TikTok.

Sales of romance fiction have soared in Australia and internationally in the past five years. Data from Nielsen BookScan Australia shows that readers purchased three million romance novels in 2024. In a period of increasing global uncertainty, it seems as though readers are embracing the escapism romance can offer.

Teo says this element of providing comfort to readers has long been a feature of romance fiction. She points to a landmark study from American sociologist Janice Radway, who interviewed women about why they enjoyed reading romance.

"It gives women comfort and it gives them 'me time' to attend to their emotional and psychological needs," Teo says.

"Women still often have to carry the weight of emotional labour and the majority of caregiving. Reading romance is time when you can focus on meeting your own needs in your own space. It's regenerative in that way."

The inherent optimism of romance is also nurturing for readers.

"It has a very positive, empowering message that the little things in life matter – the things you do at home, your family, your friendships," Teo says.

If your idea of a romance novel is a classic Mills and Boon bodice ripper with a long-haired lothario on the cover, think again.

Romance has countless sub-genres, including romantasy, paranormal, historical and yes, erotica. There's something for everyone.

But what's most powerful about romance is its representation of ethnic, cultural, sexual and religious minorities, a shift that begin in the 1990s with the rise of digital publishing.

"Women writers used this very despised form of literature as a public forum for activism and for change," Teo says.

"They continue to use the love story to showcase women's needs and argue for inclusion and what needs to be changed. And one of the first group of writers to do that were Black American women."

Historical fiction author Beverly Jenkins was one such trailblazer.

"She was empowering women and putting Black women back into American history for ordinary readers by writing historical romances," Teo says.

She recalls a moving scene from the 2015 documentary Love between the covers, where Black women attending a book signing with Jenkins and became emotional meeting the author.

"These women were telling her they had never seen Black women as beautiful heroines before. They were crying because there were no African American historical love stories with hopeful, happy endings."

Teo is currently studying the romantic comedy novels written by Indigenous author and academic Anita Heiss.

"Heiss is using the conventions of the genre to explore and envision what it's like to a successful, ambitious, happy, middle class Aboriginal woman," she says.

"Her works are putting Indigenous people at the forefront – they're the romantic protagonists because their lives and their loves matter."

This kind of representation has immense cultural implications.

"In iconic love stories like The Man from Snowy River and Australia, it's the white couple that are the ones that get married, form families and build the nation," Teo says.

"If the stories that a nation tells itself about love exclude a whole lot of minoritised people, then what they're saying is that these people don't really belong. That's why love stories matter."

When asked if more men should be reading romance, Teo's answer is immediate.

"Yes, absolutely," she says. "A lot more men are reading more romances than they used to, and they're writing it as well."

In a world where politics and social media drive division, romance encourages cooperation and understanding.

"If you think about the manosphere and incels, that's men talking to men. People are being pushed towards difference, but romance tends to act as a sandbox for people who are very different to come together and work out their differences," Teo says.

"It gets the message across that the relationship and the love matters more. Romance is powerful because it imagines a better world."