The boom in romantic literature

“Romance” sections appear in Quebec bookstores. Some writers of this genre find themselves at the top of the sales charts. And a publishing house specializing in the field has even just emerged in Quebec. Portrait of a phenomenon in three stages.

The editor

Jessyca David was in Switzerland in 2023 when she came up with the idea. “I have had a maternity and children’s clothing company, Nin9 Clothing, for about ten years,” explains the Quebec entrepreneur. “I’ve done a lot of modern marketing. I noticed that publishing in Quebec is out of step with what we find on social networks. With my business partner, we had the idea of ​​a publishing house green romance. »

Thus was born Kairos, a publishing house specializing in romance launched in August. “Kairos means synchronicity,” explains M.^me David. Kairos specializes in green romance. “It comes in opposition to red flags [drapeaux rouges]toxic behaviors. »

These toxic behaviors are more present in gender dark romancedemocratized by Fifty Shades of Grey. “In the dark romance, we play on the limit of consent, says M^me David. Personally, it’s very important to make consent a sexy thing. We have so much difficulty understanding what a healthy relationship is. »

Consent is also important in another very popular genre, romance. It’s a genre that appeared when fans of Harry Potter or Sarah J. Maas’s novels (the Throne of Glass and A Court of Thorns and Roses series) wanted something more romantic, believes M.^me David. “In romanticism, there is magic, fantastic characters. But here too, the heroine is always in control. »

“I learned to read from Harry Potter,” said M.^me David. As I grew up, I fell into New Adult literature. When I reached my thirties, I wanted something else. There are a lot of us like that, which explains the popularity of romance literature. »

As an example of New Adult literature, M^me David cites authors Colleen Hoover, Morgane Moncomble, Penelope Douglas, Lauren Asher and, in Quebec, Alexandra Larochelle. M^me David herself wrote New Adult with The broken note et When you fell.

The bookseller

The romance boom is reflected physically in bookstores. “Before, there was often no romance section in bookstores,” emphasizes M.^me David. Now there are more and more. »

“We started the romance section in 2022,” says Alexia Giroux, of the Carcajou bookstore in Rosemère. “We had two bookcases, we added half a table, and now we have a full table for the genre. And we recently added romance subsections, with a small table for romance. » Before, romance titles were scattered, some ending up in an “erotic” section, she points out.

Carcajou has requests for specific romance titles “every day”. “The influence of social networks is quite marked,” continues Alexia Giroux. Often people come with their phones, they show photos of a cover on social media. Sometimes, these are titles published in France, but not yet here. » In the United States, bookstores specializing in romance are even emerging. THE New York Times identified around twenty in a recent article.

The moderator

Romance also has its Quebec Facebook group called Readers of Romance. “It’s been three years since we left,” explains moderator Marie-Chantal Angers, from Verchères, who also writes novels (Game Night, Break the ice). “I saw European and American romance groups. With some friends, we said to ourselves that we should start one. Before, it was a bit taboo to say that you read romance. »

The group now has over 6,000 subscribers. “It’s less than for the detective, there is a Quebec group which has more than 20,000 members,” says M^me Angers. But we have new members every day. »

The origin of M’s passion^me Angers dates back to Anne of Green Gables, a series read at age 9. “Since then, I have needed a love story that captivates me. » She is now 38 years old and links the current craze for romance to the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer and Outlander by Anna Gabaldon.