Shonda Rhimes’ Bridgerton, based on a series of books by Julia Quinn published 20 years ago was released on Netflix on Christmas 2020 set in the Regency-era London marriage market the raunchy series  seemed to provide escape.

Romance author Emily Henry is on the top of US and UK bestseller lists with romantic comedies such as People We Meet On Vacation and Book Lovers. Sarah J Maas, whose series about a kingdom of sexually charged faerie warriors, A Court of Thorns and Roses, has been optioned by Hulu. Colleen Hoovers’ 2016 novel It Ends With Us was discovered on TikTok, and she became one of biggest publishing phenomenon  of the decade, so much so, she held seven of the 10 spots on the New York Times paperback fiction bestseller list.  Fans of romance are ravenous hungry for reading multiple books a week.. Today romance is the bestselling genre in the US, with over 32 million copies sold with over 80 per cent of female readers, so far this year according to industry tracker Circana.

Often a stigma dogged romance novels as many assume that its stories are little more than the thrusting, throbbing, swooning prose of Harlequinn or Mills & Boons, who dominated the industry much of the 20^th century,

Harelquinn owned by Harper Collins publishes over 70 romance books per month across over 100 international markets in some 30 languages. In the US Cowboy romance reigns supreme with the hit series Yellowstone.