I offer a definition of “the romance novel,” namely, that it is “a work of prose fiction that tells the story of the courtship and betrothal of one or more protagonists” (19)[3]
[3] “Protagonists” replaces “heroines” in my original definition, to include m/m, f/f, and ménage romance novels.
Eric Murphy Selinger reviewed this in 2007 for Contemporary Literature. In 2013 the Journal of Popular Romance Studies (issue 3.2) published a number of reflections on the book, on its tenth anniversary. These are:
Note that Regis's “What Do Critics Owe the Romance? Keynote Address at the Second Annual Conference of the International Association for the Study of Popular Romance” (2011) contains an update to part of Regis's definition of romance:
Eric Murphy Selinger reviewed this in 2007 for Contemporary Literature. In 2013 the Journal of Popular Romance Studies (issue 3.2) published a number of reflections on the book, on its tenth anniversary. These are:
Ten Years After A Natural History of the Romance Novel: Thinking Back, Looking Forward
by Pamela Regis
Rebooting the Romance: The Impact of A Natural History of the Romance Novel
by Eric Murphy Selinger
A Natural History of the Romance Novel’s Enduring Romance with Popular Romance Studies
by An Goris
How to Tame a Dragon: Ten years after A Natural History of the Romance Novel
by Jayashree Kamble
On the Tenth Anniversary of Pamela Regis’s A Natural History of the Romance Novel
by Sarah S. G. Frantz
Reading the Regis Roundtable: An Outsider’s Perspective
by Jonathan A. Allan