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Originally Posted by meeera
You seem to be using "standard romance" to only mean the subgenre of Category Romance, which even then does not always have the romance as the sole story thread. Category Romances are the short, pared-down (usually novella-short novel length) romances in a clearly delineated series format with similar cover livery, often numbered, like Harlequin Blaze and Harlequin SuperRomance.
Single-title romances (those which are not category romance) are a huge part of the genre and come in a wide variety of subgenres, like fantasy/paranormal romance (with lots of subsubgenres, like shifter romance), SF romance, romantic suspense/thriller, rom-com, historical romance (of which Regency is a major subsubgenre, but by no means the only one - there's Highlander, time-travel, pirate, Viking, etc etc), contemporary romance, small-town romance, YA romance, inspirational/religious romance, medical romance, sports romance, erotic fiction, Australian rural romance, western/cowboy romance etc etc etc. (And various of these can combine, of course.)
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I haven't read much in the romance line since I spend a couple of months in hospital when I was a kid and 80% of the books in their collection were Harlequin doctor/nurse romances. Hmmm... I think I just dated myself. I suspect that those books still define what I think of as romance.
The last "science fiction" romance I looked at was one my wife was reading and I managed to get about half-way through it. To me, making your shifters aliens does not make the book science fiction. And a plot depending on humans and aliens being able to cross-breed? That goes well past the boundaries of science fiction into the uncharted depths of fantasy. I did have to admire the amount of handwavium used in the chapters I read.
Quote:
Originally Posted by meeera
Virtually all of these will have subplots and side plots and even major plot threads that may include the romance but aren't limited to it, minor characters (some of which turn into major characters in future books in a series), etc etc.
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I'm tempted to recommend the Grantville Gazette's 87 issues to date which give that chance for the smaller characters to have their time in the spotlight. The text version of a soap opera.