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A very interesting thread on romance and formulaicity by @romgothsam.bsky.social ⤵️

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Emma Cole @editrixemma.bsky.social · 10/10/2024

I guess I've been lax at posting over here, but I will try to be better. An intro: I'm Emma, I'm an editor at Harlequin, and in my spare time I'm writing a nonfiction book about romance in horror movies because I love horror. Always happy to answer questions about Harlequin if I can!

A picture of me smiling while holding a big stack of horror movies as research for my upcoming book.

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Congratulations to Jodi McAlister, the double threat in our shining kingdom of popular romance, on your new novel!

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Dr Sam Hirst @romgothsam.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

If you missed my talk yesterday, you can watch it here! Fantomina and an alternative genealogy of the romance! youtu.be/Jkq0PO4GeGU

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Fantomina and an Alternative Genealogy of the Romance with Dr Sam Hirst

YouTube video by Romancing the Gothic

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🚨 New publication (as Early Access) alert! You can now read Hanna Hoorenman's (@hannahoorenman.bsky.social) review of Francesca Pierini's latest book: Romancing Literature: When Literary Fiction Meets Genre. Follow the link to read and download: doi.org/10.70138/XNU... #RomanceResearch

Book cover for Romancing Literature: When Literary Fiction Meets Genre, it features a swirl of pastel blue and pink as a background

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📣 Here at JPRS we know that size doesn't matter! That's why we have a dedicated section for pieces that wouldn't fit the scope/requirements of a more traditionally published academic article: our "Notes and Queries Section". Follow the link to submit contributions: www.jprstudies.org/submissions/...

jprstudies.org

Notes and Queries Section – Journal of Popular Romance Studies

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We are excited to release a preview of our forthcoming Romancing Africa Special Issue, with a fascinating article by Enet Mundembe and F. Fiona Moolla on the centrality of motherhood in Nigerian popular romance 📢 #PopularRomance #Africa #NigerianRomance www.jprstudies.org/2026/08/marr...

jprstudies.org

Marriage and Procreation: Continuities and Transformations in the Ankara Novellas A Tailor-Made Romance and Love Me Unconditionally Against the Backdrop of Flora Nwapa’s Efuru – Journal of Popular Rom...

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Can writing and reading popular romance help us rethink the meaning of 'work'? A new book by Alicia Izharuddin, 'The Work of Romance: Creating Moral Worth in Malay Women's Writing (University of Hawai'i Press), says yes! 💥Out on 31st October 2026 in hardback:💥 uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/the-wo...

uhpress.hawaii.edu

The Work of Romance: Creating Moral Worth in Malay Women’s Writing

In the Malay print romance industry, love stories are far more than entertainment. Emerging in the late 1980s amidst rapid social and cultural change, the genre gained popularity and continues to t…

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Zócalo Public Square @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Romance genre historian @stegan.bsky.social writes about the summer of 1994, when, for the first time, Black Romance readers had a choice of books featuring characters who looked like them. zps.la/4g6Ckay

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One Summer, Publishers Fell for Black Romances | Essay

And Black Readers Finally Found Their Love Stories on the Shelves

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This #RomanceResearch piece focuses on the use of fujoshi voices in Thai BL narratives and its implication with regard to practices of consumeristic engagement encouraged by the industry in question.

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From our new issue, a Note by Francesca Pierini: 'Literary Fiction from the Perspective of Romance Scholarship: André Aciman’s Room on the Sea'🌊 www.jprstudies.org/2026/07/lite... Pierini deploys Gillian Beer's The Romance (1970) to illuminate the what-ifs of late-life romance in Aciman's novel.

jprstudies.org

Literary Fiction from the Perspective of Romance Scholarship: André Aciman’s Room on the Sea | Journal of Popular Romance Studies

This Note reads André Aciman’s Room on the Sea (2025) in light of Gillian Beer’s The Romance (1970), a short treatise on the literary form from its origins to the modern era.[1] The protagonists of Ac...

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Jodi McAlister @jodimca.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Come and talk about romance with us in Spain in June 2027!

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Its focus: Alyssa Cole's richly-researched novel, A Hope Divided, a 'speculative' and intellectual romance between a free biracial black woman (with a complicated family history) and a white Union soldier. Their romance develops emotionally, and through a reckoning of their respective history.

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Featured in our new issue 💥 Sarah Ficke's article, 'Narrating Histories of Love and Violence', considers the 'reparative' and 'speculative' possibilities of the American civil war historical romance.

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Kvistad discusses the 'dark' in two dark romance novels: Amelia Wilde's Beast of Bishop's Landing trilogy and Sam Mariano's Descent, and makes notable comparisons, such as the unapologetic, repeated use of the word 'rape' in Descent, something rare & unusual in dark romance.

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We continue showcasing articles published in our brand new issue! In Erika Kvistad's rigorously argued article, 'Happily Ever After?/Happily Ever After!', we find that the Gothic and its allusions to horror are key to the allure of dark romance. www.jprstudies.org/2026/07/happ...

jprstudies.org

Happily Ever After?/Happily Ever After! Negotiating the Gothic in Contemporary Dark Romance | Journal of Popular Romance Studies

Content note: This article discusses sexual violence and abuse in the context of romance novels. In the first book of Amelia Wilde's Beast of Bishop's Landing trilogy (2021), Secret Beast, the male ma...

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Centre for Love, Sex, and Relationships @clsrleeds.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Want a @britishacademy.bsky.social post-doctoral fellowship with us? We'd love to mentor philosophers with projects on intimacy, love, and relationships. More information here: ahc.leeds.ac.uk/news/article...

ahc.leeds.ac.uk

PRHS Opens Call for 2026 British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships

Prospective candidates must submit their initial proposals by 12 noon (UK time) on Tuesday 4 August 2026 to be considered for department sponsorship

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In her article, Butler proposes to read Keyes' novel as an unconventional love triangle between an alcoholic, alcohol, and AA (2/2).

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We don't want any of you missing out on the newly published pieces, so we will be highlighting them individually ✨. Starting now with Maria Butler's article (doi.org/10.70138/PWR...) : "Marian Keyes’ This Charming Man: An Alcoholic Love Story" (1/2).

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Marian Keyes’ This Charming Man: An Alcoholic Love Story | Journal of Popular Romance Studies

Marian Keyes’ ninth novel, This Charming Man (2008) is a multi-person narrative told from the perspectives of four women, Lola, Alicia, and twins Grace and Marnie, who have intimate relationships with...

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New Issue Alert: Very pleased to share the latest issue of JPRS!📢 With articles on trauma in popular romance by Alicia Leigh, cuteness in Thai boys-love novels by Bancha Rattanamathuwong, notes on defining the 'trope' in romance fiction, and many others🎉 www.jprstudies.org/issue-15-1/

jprstudies.org

Issue 15.1 | Journal of Popular Romance Studies

Editor’s Note by Amy Burge General Articles Notes and Queries Book Reviews

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Bridget Kies @bridgetkies.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Romance writers wanted! Please share your thoughts on AI for a research project being conducted by Bridget Kies of Oakland University. Soliciting published and unpublished authors for interviews. More info: bridgetkies.com/romance-and-... #romance #romancelandia #romanceauthors

A heading says Romance Writers Wanted, with a small robot reading a book and two stacks of books flanking a QR code.

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Looking for a #RomanceResearch piece to read during this Pride Month? We've got you covered: Jessica Taylor analyzes E.M. Hull’s The Sheik (1919) through the lens of queer and trans studies in JPRS' article "Garçon Manqué: A Queer Rereading (of) The Sheik". Find the article: doi.org/10.70138/VBE...

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Garçon Manqué: A Queer Rereading (of) The Sheik | Journal of Popular Romance Studies

Introduction [End Page 1] Near the end of E.M. Hull’s bestselling 1919 novel The Sheik, Ahmed Ben Hassan, an Arabian sheik who has abducted and raped the English Diana Mayo, lies delirious in his tent...

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👁️👁️ Our readers might want to check this out!

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🆕 Amy Duong has reviewed the volume Conflict and Colonialism in 21st Century Romantic Historical Fiction: Repairing the Past, Repurposing History (2025), edited by Hsu-Ming Teo and Paloma Fresno Calleja, for JPRS. Follow the link to read the full early access review: doi.org/10.70138/VPK...

Cover image for the book Conflict and Colonialism in 21st Century Romantic Historical Fiction: Repairing the Past, Repurposing History, edited By Hsu-Ming Teo and Paloma Fresno-Calleja

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Dr Amy Burge @dramyburge.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

My article on masculinity for the forthcoming special issue of @jprstudies.bsky.social on African romance novels has been published online! This one has been in the works for some time - I'm so pleased it is officially out in the world :) www.jprstudies.org/2026/05/a-de...

jprstudies.org

A Decolonised Alpha Hero? Negotiating Masculinities in Nigerian Romance Novels | Journal of Popular Romance Studies

Introduction Women of all ages have always enjoyed romance. They ask for it in their movies, in their music, from their lovers and in their books. But in Africa, they have had to find it in the pages ...

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⌛ Just a bit over a month left to send in your proposals for JPRS Special Issue on Sport Romance. Don't miss out on this opportunity! #RomanceResearch

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Erotic romance writers in northern Nigeria bypass censors and strict religious authorities by sharing their stories on WhatsApp. NB: story not universally paywalled(?)🎉 www.nytimes.com/2026/04/09/w...

nytimes.com

The Hit Erotica Writers Outwitting Nigeria’s Religious Censors

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Laura Vivanco @lauravivanco.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

My central argument is that "romance authors have assumed pastoral roles, offering hope to their readers through novels which propagate faith in the goodness and durability of love." Anyway, it's free to download from here:

vivanco.me.uk

Faith, Love, Hope and Popular Romance Fiction | Laura Vivanco

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Every reader has a favorite romance trope but they are rarely studied by scholars... Or at least it was so. Our new multi-authored Note, "Defining the Trope in Romance Fiction", synthesizes ideas and discussions on this topic. Follow the link to read: doi.org/10.70138/ECM... #RomanceResearch

doi.org

Defining the Trope in Romance Fiction | Journal of Popular Romance Studies

Trope n. A named, recognizable plot device or feature that raises expectations about the direction of the plot or character interactions. A tag that references a recognizable plot device and serves as...

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Laura Vivanco @lauravivanco.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

A good few days for publications by long-time romance scholars @profromance.bsky.social , @jessicatripler.bsky.social and @emselinger.bsky.social: Kamblé, Jayashree (2026). "Recolouring the romcom: humor, respectability, and race in a 1986 American category romance novel." Comedy Studies.

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🚨 Our first article of the year is out now! "Romancing the Darkness: Understanding Trauma in the Romance Genre", by Alicia Leigh, is published as an Early Access Piece in JPRS. Follow the link to read about the three trauma-themed romance subgenres proposed by the author: doi.org/10.70138/ZOG...

doi.org

Romancing the Darkness: Understanding Trauma in the Romance Genre | Journal of Popular Romance Studies

Introduction Recent decades have shown a marked rise in the societal, public, and scholarly awareness of trauma, especially in Western culture (see Foulkes and Andrews; Gillis). Literary theorists hav...

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Frederick Smith, Ed.D. @fsmith827.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

The Journal of Popular Romance Studies (@jprstudies.bsky.social) did a special issue on Black Romance novels in 2022. It includes scholarly articles and interviews with Black Romance authors. www.jprstudies.org/issues/volum... #Romancelandia #RomanceBookSky #BlackBookSky

jprstudies.org

Special Issue: Black Romance | Journal of Popular Romance Studies

Black Romance Podcast Interviews with Writers Producer and Editor: Julie E. Moody-Freeman Sound Editor: Juelle Daley Transcriptions: Jennifer Ogwumike and Jessica Williams

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The Conversation AUNZ @aunz.theconversation.com · 11/02/2026

More and more romance adaptations are starting to appear – but what makes the translation from page to screen really sing?

theconversation.com

From Bridgerton to Heated Rivalry, what’s the secret to a good book-to-TV romance?

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CfP 🚨 Are you interested in #RomanceResearch and Sports? JPRS is calling for papers for its special issue on Sport Romance! 📆 300-word abstracts to be submitted by 31st May 2026 to Atlanta Tsiaoukkas (at839@cam.ac.uk). 🔗 Find all the information on our website: www.jprstudies.org/submissions/...

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Topics of interest may include but are not limited to:

Sports in romance narratives in a variety of media, including but not limited to: genre fiction, memoir, screen media, music, or in the teaching of these media.
The significance of self-publishing in contemporary sport romance
The relationship between sport fan communities, romance fan communities and sport romance fiction
‘BookTok’ and the impact of sport romance fan behaviour on athletes
Precursors to contemporary sport romance such as Jilly Cooper’s Rutshire Chronicles and Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ Chicago Stars
Portrayals of gender difference and subversion in sport romance
Class, wealth and celebrity in sport romance
Queer themes and homophobia within sport culture as explored in sport romance
Young Adult sport romance and the pedagogical interventions endeavoured by sport romance in young people’s physical activity

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Laura Vivanco @lauravivanco.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

Do you listen to podcasts about romance novels? One of the romance scholars (Dr. Precie A. Schroyer) is inviting you to take part in a research study: forms.office.com/pages/respon...

forms.office.com

Microsoft Forms

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Amanda K. Allen @amandaallenphd.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

It was an absolute privilege to work with these wonderful scholars. I hope that people enjoy this special issue on YA and series and romance!

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