Eyes lock across a crowded bar. Pulses race. Old enmities are forgotten as rivals become lovers and – after overcoming a couple more of life’s obstacles – a man and a woman secure their happy-ever-after ending.
The rites of romantic fiction are long established. Yet something new is going on between the pages of this oft-traduced but hugely popular genre – and it’s booming.
Sales of romantic fiction areat their highest level in more than a decade, according to Nielsen BookScan, with almost ten million books sold in the UK last year. Not since EL James’s billionaire Christian Grey helped a 21-year-old virgin to find her “inner goddess” with the help of leather handcuffs have we devoured so many love stories.
Publishers believe this is
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