The genre is finally getting the love it deserves
The UK may be on the verge of a literacy crisis, but the book business is booming. In 2024, fiction sales rose 18% from the previous year, bringing in revenue of over £1 billion for the first time. The key driver? Romance. That’s right. The genre long looked down upon and dismissed as ‘chick lit’ is bringing in the big bucks for the publishing industry.
Heavyweight authors such as Colleen Hoover, Emily Henry, Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yarros have become titans of the book world. The latter two especially have paved new ground, as ‘romantasy’ – fantasy novels with a generous helping of ‘spice’ – has grown into the internet’s favourite genre. The numbers speak for themselves. Last month’s announcement that Maas will be bringing out two new books in her blockbuster A Court of Thorns and Roses series added £70 million to publisher Bloomsbury’s market value.
But you don’t need to get deep into stock markets and balance sheets to see the impact of romance – it really is inescapable. A creator sharing their favourite BookTok rec is never a scroll away on TikTok, nor are there many tube carriages where a commuter isn’t carrying a copy of Fourth Wing. What was once dismissed as a guilty pleasure is now shaping mainstream culture.
Nowhere is the romance boom more obvious than on our screens, where a wave of TV and film adaptations is ready to whet the appetite. Bridgerton hardly needs an introduction. One of Netflix’s most streamed shows of all time, it will be returning for a fifth season next year – the first to focus on a same-sex couple. More impatient romance fans can catch the second instalment of Disney+’s acclaimed adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s Rivals next month. And for the first portion of 2026, a certain adaptation of Wuthering Heights was hard to avoid. These adaptations prove that romance has long been a mainstay of the culture, from Cooper’s scandalous 80s bonkbusters to Emily Brontë’s gothic 19th century novel. So why has it taken so long for the genre to really get its moment in the spotlight?
This was the frustration felt by Sarah Maxwell, founder of Saucy Books, England’s first bookstore dedicated entirely to romance. “I could not find my favourite female authors and romance authors in stores and I was very frustrated by that,” she explains. “Because England is the home of Jane Austen, Bridget Jones, Sophie Kinsella and so many prolific romance authors, I felt like it was long overdue to have a specialty bookstore dedicated to the genre.”
Since opening in June 2025, the Notting Hill-based store has become a hub for romance fans, who make the pilgrimage from all over the country (and often further afield) to browse every subgenre and sub-subgenre you can imagine. From historical MLM (men loving men) queer romances to dystopian friends-to-lovers tales, there is something to meet everyone’s taste.
But while Saucy’s customers may be drawn to the store by the promise of romantic escapism on the page, it is the spirit of friendship and community that has always been at the heart of Maxwell’s vision. “People have been able to find like-minded women here and cultivate friendships that they probably wouldn’t have otherwise,” she says.
That focus has been a huge driver for Saucy’s success and social media virality. As Gen Z looks to step away from the screens and seek connections IRL, Saucy is satisfying this craving with a regular calendar of events, which go far beyond the usual fare of author Q&As with free bookmarks. For the release of Navessa Allen’s dark romance Game On earlier this year, the store transformed into a casino, and Maxwell is in the process of planning a full-blown murder mystery event for a few months’ time.
While historically women may have felt the need to hide their love of romance, there are now more spaces popping up for them to celebrate their interests, including The Fangirl Nation. Founded by Ambar Lee, The Fangirl Nation is ‘part community, part cultural movement’ that seeks to unite women through their favourite books, films and TV shows.
Since launching on Instagram in September 2025, it has held a range of in-person events, including a full Twilight movie marathon and a celebration of 250 years of Jane Austen (held at one Saucy Books), all encouraging a core fanbase of 25-35-year-old women to proudly embrace their inner fangirl.
“I think in general there’s been a problem with shaming women, especially young women, and their interests – whether that’s boy bands or romance books,” says Lee. “It’s weird because male sports fans are literally fanboys but that’s completely acceptable, so that’s what I’m trying to do with the Fangirl Nation, empower women to love whatever they love without being embarrassed about it.”
Maxwell has also noticed this sense of shame and embarrassment forced upon women for simply liking what they like. “How romance is perceived is a larger systemic problem. Women’s pleasure has never been embraced or allowed,” she says. “Books are the only media I’ve experienced that are truly from the female gaze. Female experience written by women for women. I know from the authors I’ve spoken to, having a physical store dedicated to the genre for them is really important, they feel they can be taken seriously.”
The growth of these communities proves that romance is serious business. At a time when reading itself is under threat, the genre is proving powerful enough to reshape an industry, and challenge cultural perceptions.
Gone are the days when you had to bashfully shield your Mills & Boon in public. Romance is at last being celebrated on its own terms, opening up space for women to come together and centre their interests without apology.
We’re shining a light on the issues women continue to face as part of our Year of the Woman campaign. The World Economic Forum has said it could take 123 years to reach global gender parity, meaning several generations may pass without seeing true equality in their lifetimes. We firmly believe that, particularly in the current climate, a level playing field will only be achieved if these issues continue to be highlighted and challenged. Find more Year of the Woman content here.
