Hatrack River Forum: is enchantment a romance novel?

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Posted by willthesane (Member # 11754) on :

just a question that came up just prior to math class today. i mentioned that i had at one point read a romance novel(i am male) and the woman i was talking to asked me if i was talking about enchantment.

i don't view enchantment as a romance novel though. more fantasy than romance.

in case anyone is curious i viewed "woman of destiny" to be a romance novel. found a copy in a used bookstore in sometown in texas, and read it on the drive to florida.

i guess i'm rambling. but is enchantment a romance novel?

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

There's a romance in it.

And it's a novel.

Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :

It also happens to have fantasy in it.

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

So it must be a fantastic romance novel!

Posted by LargeTuna (Member # 10512) on :

I'd call it a Fantasy with romance, but not a romance singularly by definition.

Posted by scifibum (Member # 7625) on :

I don't recall any mention of throbbing. I don't have an especially good memory, though.

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

quote:
Originally posted by scifibum:
I don't recall any mention of throbbing.

Posted by Sterling (Member # 8096) on :

Ooh, three eye-rollings. It's a new best!

Frankly, romance (and romance-fantasy, and gothic-romance-fantasy) have so willingly segregated themselves as subgenres that it's difficult for me to identify something as "a romance" unless the work or author chooses to so self-identify.

I think Enchantment is a fantasy with a love story in it. It's quite important to the story and the characters, but it's not the case that the majority of the other characters and plot elements revolve around either making that love story happen or trying to prevent it from happen to escalate romantic tension. So I wouldn't call it a romance with regard to how the term is usually identified in the present day. It is a very pleasant fantasy story with a rather well written romantic plot element.

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Sterling:
Ooh, three eye-rollings. It's a new best!

Are you aware that there is an entire sub-genre of romance novels called "sweets", in which the most intimate contact that happens is a chaste kiss or two?

Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :

quote:
Originally posted by rivka:
So it must be a fantastic romance novel!

Either that or a romantic fantasy novel [Wink]

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

But that loses the whole wordplay.

Posted by Sterling (Member # 8096) on :

quote:
Originally posted by rivka:
Are you aware that there is an entire sub-genre of romance novels called "sweets", in which the most intimate contact that happens is a chaste kiss or two?

I wasn't. That's interesting. But that doesn't really distinguish from the definition of romance that I described (which did not, I will note, include "throbbing".)

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

Not the second time. [Wink]

Posted by scifibum (Member # 7625) on :

Did you mix us up? (Sterling and me.)