Despite often being diminished as a genre, Romance and Fantasy novels, known by the hybrid blended title of ‘Romantasy’ are growing in popularity. A surge in romance and fantasy sales last year pushed UK fiction revenue above £1bn for the first time, according to a recently released report.
Romantasy has become a high-ranking fixture on bestseller lists in recent years, and this is thought, in part, to be due to the TikTok reading community, BookTok’s influence. Major series such Fourth Wing, and A Court of Thorns and Roses which centre female protagonists in magical, fantasy worlds have become extremely popular.
Both romance and fantasy saw record sales last year, according to data gathered, from more than 7,000 UK booksellers. Romance & Sagas increased from £62m in 2023 to £69m in 2024, while Science Fiction & Fantasy saw an even bigger bump – from £59m to £83m. Women under 35 years old make up more than half of romantasy purchases, figures also show.
Although attitudes towards romance are changing for the better according to some readers and experts, there is still a long way to go, with sexism impacting the genre’s ability to go ‘mainstream’.
Saucy Books, London
Early this month, however, Sarah Maxwell gained the confidence to launch London’s first romance-only bookshop in Notting Hill, catering specifically to the uptick in romance’s popularity. Saucy Books, which also features a ‘smut hut’ for the store’s more erotic titles, caters to the diversity of romance novels from enemies to lovers tropes to ‘second-chance romances’.
“People have this perception that it’s not good business,” Sarah says, but “Millennial women have the most disposable income. Romance is serious business.”
