In her introduction to Best New Paranormal Romance (2006), a collection of contemporary tales that explore the intersection of romance and fantasy, editor Paula Guran establishes a distinction between “paranormal romance” and “paranormal Romance”: “I contend that although some twenty-first century paranormal romance is still definitional Romance, another type of ‘paranormal romance’ has emerged that is not Romance. Perhaps it is time to acknowledge this duality or at least explore the idea” (8). Using Pamela Regis’ definition of romance—from A Natural History of the Romance Novel (2003)—as the foundation of her argument, Guran suggests that “the betrothal,” which signifies “happily ever after” at the conclusion of the conventional romance narrative, is one of the definitive elements that distinguishes “paranormal Romance” from “paranormal romance.” (204)
and so, the novels to be discussed are classified as "paranormal romance" of the kind that is "not Romance":
I would argue that it is more fruitful to read the paranormal romance’s nearly universal rejection of marriage—and reproduction—as a reflection of particular cultural fantasies about limitless consumption and flexibility, even in the development of romantic relationships. I hope to justify the inclusion of the paranormal romance in academic romance criticism, despite its significant deviations from the popular romance code, because it suggests a cultural shift in dominant ideas about identity and intimacy. If an acknowledgement of this shift leads writers and readers of romance to interrogate constructions of love, marriage, and reproduction as stable and permanent concepts, then new analyses of women’s subjectivity in the context of patriarchal and economic realities may become possible. (205)
There's a bit of a problem with parts of the argument, though, which I discuss here and are the result of Young writing about series which were not completed at the time this essay was published. Dr. Hannah Priest also contributed some thoughts with respect to female werewolves.
Young begins with some definitions:
and so, the novels to be discussed are classified as "paranormal romance" of the kind that is "not Romance":
There's a bit of a problem with parts of the argument, though, which I discuss here and are the result of Young writing about series which were not completed at the time this essay was published. Dr. Hannah Priest also contributed some thoughts with respect to female werewolves.