Journal of Popular Romance Studies

Do you listen to podcasts about romance novels? One of the romance scholars (Dr. Precie A. Schroyer) is inviting you to take part in a research study: forms.office.com/pages/respon...

February is Black History Month, so we wanted to highlight an article from our 2022 Special Issue "Black Romance". Follow the link to read "Against Odds: Beverly Jenkins’ Indigo and Black Historical Romance" by Margo Hendricks (@elysabethgrace.bsky.social): doi.org/10.70138/DZP...

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It was an absolute privilege to work with these wonderful scholars. I hope that people enjoy this special issue on YA and series and romance!

The start of 2026 in JPRS is marked by the publication of Amy Burge's (@dramyburge.bsky.social) Editor's Note for Volume 14 ✨. Follow the link to read our Executive Editor's review of last year's publications: doi.org/10.70138/ZFX...

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A poster for 'Falling in Love with Love: A History of Popular Romance: An Online Course' including front covers from the following books: Fantomina by Eliza Haywood, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, The Sheik by E M Hull, The Quiet Gentleman by Georgette Heyer, Tabitha in Moonlight by Betty Neels, Indigo by Beverley Jenkins, Hen Fever by Olivia Waite, The Isle of the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri

I'm running a popular romance course at the University of Liverpool... but only if enough people sign up!

Come and join us!

www.liverpool.ac.uk/continuing-e...

This article may be of interest to our readers!

JPRS 2025 Wrapped! 🎆 Today marks the end of an exciting year for the Journal of Popular Romance Studies: we've published 5 articles, 1 Special Issue, 4 pieces in the Notes and Queries section, and 6 book reviews. Thank you to all authors and readers! We'll see you in 2026 for more #RomanceResearch.

Jeff Fields McCormack (@jfmauthor.bsky.social) reviews the volume "Young Adult Gothic Fiction: Monstrous Selves / Monstrous Others", edited by Michelle J. Smith and Kristine Moruzi: doi.org/10.70138/NSV...

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Carly Bennett reviews Derritt Mason's book "Queer Anxieties of Young Adult Literature and Culture": doi.org/10.70138/NZG...

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Pavlína Studená reviews Cristina Herrera's book "ChicaNerds in Chicana Young Adult Literature: Brown and Nerdy" (2020): doi.org/10.70138/SEX...

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To accompany this Special Issue, three new book reviews about YA literature have been published in JPRS. Keep reading to find out more about them:

Amber Moore and Kaye Hare keep the focus on Nancy Drew and close this Special Issue with their article "Romance, Eroticism, and Intimacy in a Work of Nancy Drew Fanfiction: Cross-Reading Personal Pedagogies and Literacies": doi.org/10.70138/ORZ...

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Andrea Braithwaite's (@ahbraithwaite.bsky.social) article, "You Go, Girl! Nancy Drew in the Girl Power Era", explores how this popular character has been adpated to the shifting terrain of postfeminist popular culture: doi.org/10.70138/ZUU...

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Tharini Viswanath and Nithya Sivashankar tackle adolescent romantic subjectivity in “'I’d really, really like a boyfriend': A Narratological Examination of Adolescence, Ideology, and Subjectivity in Indian and Indian American YA Netflix Romances": doi.org/10.70138/YRR...

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Christian M. Hines' article, "Main Character Energy: Black Girls Getting the Love They Deserve in Elise Bryant’s Young Adult Novels", focuses on Black Young Adult (YA) romance: doi.org/10.70138/ZOK...

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Jessica Caravaggio analyzes the soulmate trope in the ACOTAR series in her article "Together Forever: Heterodestiny and the Soulmate Trope in Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses Series": doi.org/10.70138/KRY...

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“Leading dual lives, even literarily”: Voice, Visibility, and Ghostwriting in the Sweet Valley Franchise | Journal of Popular Romance Studies Introduction Authorship is a profession in flux. Ranging from the anonymous and attributed, individual and collective, or even mythical writers of ancient and medieval periods, to the idealised author...

Melanie Ramdarshan Bold (@drmrb.bsky.social) and Nora Slonimsky (@noraslonimsky.bsky.social) write about the Sweet Valley Franchise in their article "'Leading dual lives, even literarily': Voice, Visibility, and Ghostwriting in the Sweet Valley Franchise": doi.org/10.70138/HCI...

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🚨 A new Special Issue has been published today! The volume "(Un)defined YA / Series / Romance" features an introduction by Amanda K. Allen (@amandaallenphd.bsky.social) and six research articles. Follow the link and keep reading to discover them: www.jprstudies.org/special-issu...

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🚨 A new book review has been published in JPRS!

Qurratulaen Liaqat reviews Javaria Farooqui's (@javariafarooqui.bsky.social) book "Romance Fandom in 21st-Century Pakistan: Reading the Regency". Follow the link to read it: doi.org/10.70138/FRC...

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🚨 New article alert!

Follow the link to read "The Debasement of Love and its Cure in Romance: Psychoanalysis and Healing Through Feminization in Loretta Chase’s Lord of Scoundrels", an article by Noam Raveh: doi.org/10.70138/XLC...

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Question for any romance novel history people out there: does anyone know who might have been the first romance author to write/publish strict dual POV, ie: in equally distributed, alternating chapters? (Or, first-ish, I know tracking firstness in literature is complicated)

Feel free to RT/boost

This CfP may be of interest to some of our readers:

🚨 Just one week left to send in abstracts for the Special Issue "Romancing the Posthuman". Don't miss the chance!

Fifty Shades of Twilight: A Computational Approach to Textual Adaptation This paper analyzes the relationship between the Twilight Saga and Fifty Shades trilogy as a case study on the relationship between published fiction and fanfiction. We aim to develop computational me...

What is the relationship between #Twilight and Fifty Shades? What do these texts reveal about the relationship between published fiction and fanfiction when studied computationally? Find out in our new article (with Barbara Bordalejo and @jorisvanzundert.bsky.social)

doi.org/10.16995/dsc...

Is heterosexual romantic love positive or regressive for women? Follow the link to read "Feminist Researcher Wishes to Meet Romantic Subject: The “Case” of Mrs. F.", an article by Susan Ostrov Weisser addressing this debate within Love Studies: www.jprstudies.org/2017/04/femi...

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For those interested in romance teaching:

This call may be of interest to our readers!

New article alert 🚨 A new article by Emily Fuller has just been published on JPRS. Follow the link to read "Breaking Boundaries through the Body: Love, Monogamy, and Heteropessimism in Fredrik Backman’s Fiction": doi.org/10.70138/LXC...

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📣 Important update regarding this CfP: the submission deadline for our Special Issue "Romancing the Posthuman" has been extended until 30 November 2025!

🔗 Find all the relevant information through the JPRS website: www.jprstudies.org/submissions/...

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