The hierarchy of romance
• Women’s Fiction: All romance is women’s fiction (for even when written by men, women generally comprise the primary readership). In women’s fiction there might be romance but it’s not always the driving force of the narrative. Neither does the story necessarily have to have a happy ever after. Meaning it’s often a weepier read, and themes can be grittier and explored in more depth.
• Romance: An important generic convention for romance is that all of the following categories should have a happy ever after, or a happy for now, ending. All (apart from erotic) can also have ‘open door sex’ but not pages and pages of it. Word count averages 80-100,000.