What was your gateway book to fantasy romance?
I can't remember mine. Much like Mr. Darcy falling for Elizabeth Bennet, I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.
So I'm always interested in hearing how other people found this genre and felt the spark.
When I asked the question last month, Rebekah emailed me back with this delightful memory:
My fantasy romance origin story: in 1992 my sixth grade teacher handed me a copy of Beauty by Robin McKinley and with a somewhat intense look in her eyes said "I REALLY think you'll like this book." I did, and went on to read all of McKinley's books.
I love it when a book recommendation is utterly perfect.
Anyway, this conversation got me wondering: What gateway books to fantasy romance did fantasy romance authors have?
So I asked a bunch.
Hey, I'm nosy.
That set off a flood of nostalgic recollections, because if there's anything writers like to talk about, it's books. Among the ones that sucked people in: Magic to the Bone by Devon Monk, the Heralds of Valdemar series by Mercedes Lackey, Crown Duel and Court Duel by Sherwood Smith, Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley. (Oh, and Beauty. You're not the only person who found that formative as a teenager, Rebekah.)
Some of the gateway books that authors mentioned are not, in fact, fantasy romance. They're fantasy. As Juliette Caruso points out, "I was just living off the romance subplots." Casey Blair replied, "I was also always reading fantasy wishing things had more romance."
Be the change you wish to see in the world: A generation of authors who loved fantasy and romance and wanted to see more books with both went out and wrote them.
By the way, when I asked you last month what your gateway book was, I wasn't fishing for anybody to name one of mine. It simply didn't occur to me that could be the case. #AuthorGoals and all that, but I figured that people find me through other fantasy romance books.
Charya completely made my day by writing in to say that Subversive is "my fantasy romance origin story."
"Needless to say," Charya added, "I immediately fell in love with the genre."
My face: 🥹
P.S. A bunch of fantasy romance authors put together a very fun fantasy romance magazine, e.g. a magazine written from the perspective of people living in fantasy romance settings. The cover alone made me laugh out loud, and you can get the whole thing free here. (Look for the illustrated scandal sheet for a reference to Subversive.)
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