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Romance novels for men?

Maeven_quinn said:
That's not what I mean. I'm saying that Romance books already exist. Men can read them too.

Asking "Is there any romance for men" is like saying "Is there any science fiction for women?"
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"Is there any romance for men?" is what the OP asks.

Romance stories are normally written by and for women and marketed to women. Men do read romances, but we're probably pretty negligible in the romance market. Science fiction stories are different. They're not tightly focussed on a male market.

There are stories written and marketed in other genres that are essentially romances, but are more appealing to men; some westerns, adventures, and historical novels come to mind.

And of course, gay romances. They seem to be written for men, but may pull in quite a few female readers and writers.
 
NotWise said:
There are stories written and marketed in other genres that are essentially romances, but are more appealing to men; some westerns, adventures, and historical novels come to mind.
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We ought to start new category for Bromance novels. Lonesome Dove, for example, is a bromance novel.
 
NotWise said:
Romance stories are normally written by and for women and marketed to women. Men do read romances, but we're probably pretty negligible in the romance market.
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Gargle for romance novel readership statistics and find What You Need to Know About Romance Fiction Genre.
The Audience

The core audience of regular romance readers numbers a whopping 29 million and the extended audience of those who occasionally pick up a romance novel is likely much greater.

84% of romance novel readers are women.

Romance fiction buyers span all age ranges but the largest segment (41%) is between 30 and 54 years old.
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Also see this infographic.
 
Hypoxia said:
Gargle for romance novel readership statistics and find What You Need to Know About Romance Fiction Genre. Also see this infographic.
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I thought this (from "The Business of Romance Novels in the U.S. and the World") was interesting:

"Women write and read romance heroes to examine, subvert, discuss, revel in, and reject patriarchal constructions of masculinity,”―Sarah Frantz Lyons
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If this is true, then it might explain a lot. I personally like the "patriarchal construction of masculinity" and I suspect (based on comments in this thread) that I'm not alone among men. It's my impression that a large number of women like it, too.
 
romance novels for men, hmmmmmm some existing ideas.....



Hammers Slammers series of novels

Sharpes Rifles

Blade Runner series of novels.

Honor Harrington Universe Stories.

Bolo Novels

Get the idea? military fiction, is what gets us purring. Give us an average looking 6 foot tall private in powered body armor who uses a 3 man crewed rail gun as a sub machine gun, and were fucking hard and ready to go.

Or give us a 400 ton intelligent AI tank with psychotic tendencies and a wise ass anti social human pilot..... oohh yeah.

Or give us good historical fiction. What MAN doesn't love a good fuck after dissembowling someone with a rusty dagger in the streets of paris?
 
If the story is about the development of a love relationship, and finishes with a happy ever after or happy for now, it's a romance.

If there is no HEA or HFN, it's a love story, and you may have pissed off a load of your readers. :D
 
I quoted this earlier in the thread and I've been thinking about it since.

"Women write and read romance heroes to examine, subvert, discuss, revel in, and reject patriarchal constructions of masculinity,”―Sarah Frantz Lyons
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Is this true? I've always thought that romance heroes were just foils for the female protagonist. Do romance readers really want male characters who are that substantial?
 
NotWise said:
I quoted this earlier in the thread and I've been thinking about it since.



Is this true? I've always thought that romance heroes were just foils for the female protagonist. Do romance readers really want male characters who are that substantial?
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most traditional romance novels use the male love interest as a poignard for the female lead. Typically as Marshall Dillon was used for Miss Kitty's poignard.

Part foil, but for the most part traditionally and in more modern romances marshall Dillon is supposed to provide the stalward masculine stoic wisdom. And enough softness to keep Kitty feeling like a woman.

But above all when things get tough for Kitty and she needs help, Marshall Dillon is always there to sweep in with his six gun and save the day.
 
MelissaBaby said:
I think there is such a thing, but they aren't marketed as romance. A lot of historical fiction fits the description, I think.

For example, Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain. A wounded Civil War soldier struggles to get home to be with the woman he loves. Sounds like a romance to me.
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Didn’t read the book, but big romance didn’t shout at me when I watched the movie...easily could be me. On the other hand, Legends of the Fall had it all.

Pocketshaver...war books you cited as romance? The Sharpe series was excellent and had some love interests, but I don’t see it as in any way a romance...unless you mean between a man and war. Same with Harrington series..****** navy...I liked the early books but not so much the latter ones.
 
Pocketshaver said:
...

Or give us good historical fiction. What MAN doesn't love a good fuck after dissembowling someone with a rusty dagger in the streets of paris?
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LOL, I’m rewatching GOT before the final season and this is actually verbalized in season one.
 
Pocketshaver said:
most traditional romance novels use the male love interest as a poignard for the female lead. Typically as Marshall Dillon was used for Miss Kitty's poignard.
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The Gunsmoke series was not a romance, at least not using definition for a modern romance. It was just a western.
 
jomar said:
Didn’t read the book, but big romance didn’t shout at me when I watched the movie...easily could be me. On the other hand, Legends of the Fall had it all.
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The movie is crap. Renee Zellweger is in the wrong line of work.
 
NotWise said:
The Gunsmoke series was not a romance, at least not using definition for a modern romance. It was just a western.
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Horse opera, soap opera, space opera, rock opera -- does any drama of love and lust qualify if it ends happily? X meets Y and maybe Z. They interact. Much stuff happens. Hearts throb. Some players combine somehow, with or without talking to a horse or shrink or lawyer. Sweet music as they roll into the sunset.

Exchange Gunsmoke's horses for Harleys and the stories stay the same.
 
Hypoxia said:
Horse opera, soap opera, space opera, rock opera -- does any drama of love and lust qualify if it ends happily? X meets Y and maybe Z.
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A man and woman meet and find they have mutual attraction and interest. They struggle through obstacles to build a relationship, and in the end they live together happily ever after (or happily for now).

The formula probably can't be tweaked much before it's out of the romance market. The Romance category on Lit accepts variations, but readers usually need to identify with the characters, and a warm and fuzzy feeling at the end is pretty important.

Horse opera, soap opera, space opera, rock opera... I don't know that the definition really excludes any of those, but writing them so the reader can identify with the characters might be challenging.
 
NotWise said:
The Gunsmoke series was not a romance, at least not using definition for a modern romance. It was just a western.
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western is a romance, a true romance.


You do know the "modern romance" bracket merely started in the early 90s when Fabio appeared on covers
 
Pocketshaver said:
western is a romance, a true romance.
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You're makin' shit up. It's just a western. If you were to add a romance to a western, then it would be a romance.

Pocketshaver said:
You do know the "modern romance" bracket merely started in the early 90s when Fabio appeared on covers
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This isn't true. Harlequin has been publishing romance novels since the fifties. Mills and Boon in the UK started publishing them in the 30's. I think they started getting more attention with the Fabio covers, but that isn't how or when it started.
 
MelissaBaby said:
We ought to start new category for Bromance novels. Lonesome Dove, for example, is a bromance novel.
Click to expand...

It is partly that, but if you marketed it that way and created a special category for it, the number of readers would plummet. Most men don't want to think of it that way.
 
NotWise said:
I thought this (from "The Business of Romance Novels in the U.S. and the World") was interesting:



If this is true, then it might explain a lot. I personally like the "patriarchal construction of masculinity" and I suspect (based on comments in this thread) that I'm not alone among men. It's my impression that a large number of women like it, too.
Click to expand...

That's my impression, too.

I don't get the notion that women read romance novels to reject patriarchal constructions of masculinity. I think they read them to embrace them. It's not PC to say it, but most people, male and female, IMO, like traditional masculine-feminine roles, at least to a certain point. Romance novels cater to women's yearning for that.
 
Pocketshaver said:
romance novels f
Or give us good historical fiction. What MAN doesn't love a good fuck after dissembowling someone with a rusty dagger in the streets of paris?
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So you like John Ringo’s Kildar series? True romance for guys.
 
NotWise said:
You're makin' shit up. It's just a western. If you were to add a romance to a western, then it would be a romance.



This isn't true. Harlequin has been publishing romance novels since the fifties. Mills and Boon in the UK started publishing them in the 30's. I think they started getting more attention with the Fabio covers, but that isn't how or when it started.
Click to expand...

Romance had a start with the dime novels back in the later 1800's.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dime_novel

I just published a story based on the dime novels and the distorted perceptions they left with the public. Even had a foreword regarding their history.
https://www.literotica.com/s/the-gunfighter
 
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