Romantic suspense has been my favorite subgenre since I discovered it forty years ago. It’s also the main subgenre I write in. Even when my stories have paranormal aspects, I still consider them suspense. I’ve mentioned before that I write romance because I believe in hope, and I don’t think the world has enough happy endings. So, I write both. Some readers have shied away from my dystopian romantic suspense. If they read the last page, they would see the final word in book one is “hope.”
Like many readers of fiction, I enjoy the escape a suspense story offers. Maybe I don’t know who the villain is, but I follow the clues the author gives. I like to be surprised, but only if there were clues, otherwise I consider it a “convenience.” This is often the place for a twist or a reveal. I like many of the tropes in romance (friends to lovers, close proximity, found family, etc.). I’m not into drama, so I tend not to enjoy contemporary romance. I prefer my characters to thwart danger, to outsmart the villain, and to overcome their biggest obstacle so they can be happy at the end of the story.
Last month, I participated in a romantic suspense giveaway. Compared to a couple of decades ago, where many traditionally published authors wrote in the subgenre of romantic suspense, this giveaway contained only 14 of us. During a presentation given by a hybrid author I admire (and have read all of her books–thank you Tee O’Fallon for writing great stories!), she told me that her agent said selling romantic suspense to publishers these days was very hard. This month I’m running my own promotion on another platform. So far, there are only 9 of us romantic suspense authors who have added our books.
Does this mean that romantic suspense is dead? I don’t want to believe that. I think other subgenres are crowding the selves at stores and libraries. Contemporary romance, romantasy, paranormal romance, and everything of the cozy variety. Maybe readers are tired of the danger on the pages because with the internet and TV shows, video is more graphic. Or perhaps readers want something comforting instead of something confrontational. I hope the decline in romantic suspense isn’t due to people giving up on happy endings or hope. Without those, the world would be dire.
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