Paranormal Romance is the subgenre of
romance where, instead of being a
Fantasy with a romantic subplot, the relationship is brought to the front and the heroine finds her true love when
supernatural forces are involved.
So instead of the motley cast of misfits heading out on a journey to slay the
Evil Overlord with two characters suffering from
UST, the heroine gets zapped back in time. She's lost, lonely and confused with no known way of getting back. To add to her worries, she doesn't realize she has romantic feelings toward that man standing over there with the top hat and
monocle. Using sci-fi and fantasy to create an exotic location for your romance story is fine, provided that the budding romance between the two lovers is the main plot point. The story can even take place in the
Standard Fantasy Setting.
That being said
Paranormal Romance can be combined with any other genre out there. Stories can blur the line between focusing on the relationship and focusing on the setting, plot, and action.
Common plots include:
- The heroine moves into a Haunted House and falls in love with a ghost.
- The heroine or her true love has ESP and we get to see how having ESP can both help and hinder the path to true love.
- The heroine meets and falls in love with a supernatural creature.
Compare
Urban Fantasy, which is a similar genre but without the focus on romance. Compare
Fantastic Romance.
Examples
Anime
Film
Literature
- The Abandon Trilogy
- The Anita Blake series
- Black Dagger Brotherhood
- Blood and Chocolate
- Bloodsucking Fiends
- The Cavaliers Series
- In The Changeover, the romance is between Laura Chant, a "sensitive", and Sorenson "Sorry" Carlisle, a troubled young man.
- The Cornersville Trace Mythos
- The Dark Hunters
- Dark Carparthians series, a Long Runner with the first book published in the early 90s, makes this a Trope Codifier for paranormal romance.
- Dark Visions series
- The Guardians series
- His Fair Assassin series
- The Host
- The House of Night series
- Hush, Hush
- Immortals After Dark
- 'Immortal Guardians''
- Most Lynn Kurland novels
- The Mediator series
- The Mortal Instruments series
- Nightshade Trilogy
- Night World series
- The Otherworld Series
- Paranormalcy
- The Parasol Protectorate series
- Pretty Dead
- Shifting Elements
- The Silver Kiss
- The Sookie Stackhouse Mysteries
- In Twilight, Bella is a human torn between loving a vampire and a werewolf. Since the series is a huge seller with a devoted fandom, this led to Follow the Leader, making Twilight the Trope Codifier for Young Adult Paranormal Romance.
- Vampire Academy series
- The Vampire Diaries series
- Warm Bodies
- Wicked Lovely
- Wolves of Mercy Falls Series
Live-Action TV
Theater
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