Magic at Any Age
Paranormal romance has long been seen by the general public as the province of the young. For those of us in our mid-thirties and below, Twilight was a staple of bookshelves the world over. Published in 2005, Stephanie Meyer’s young adult paranormal romance hooked readers immediately.
It is the twelfth highest grossing novel of all time, only upstaged by the Harry Potter novels, Fifty Shades of Grey (another romance, go figure) and Dan Brown’s DaVinci Code. Love it or hate it, the sales speak for themselves. Twilight was a pioneer book that broke all sales expectations. Paranormal, post-apocalyptic, and fantasy romance novels all had an enormous surge in sales in the early twenty-first century, largely due to the success of Meyer’s series.
However, most of these were aimed at the younger demographic. Publishers flooded the market with young adult and new adult PNR novels, making it one of the highest grossing romance sub-genres. In fact, from 2005-2008, you were more likely to be published when writing PNR than you were writing rom-com or romantic suspense.
Young and new adults were inherently drawn to a fantasy world where there was the guarantee of a HEA for their heroine. Similarly, the ‘fated’ aspect touted acceptance for even the most awkward of teen. Yet as people aged, so did the target market of the PNR author.
Young women (and men) who had grown attached to the idea of a fated love looked for more adult content that was glossed over in young adult novels. The adult market for PNR was not necessarily sexier than their YA counterparts’, but dealt with issues that were closer to the heart of the target demographic. The search for the perfect partner was still an imperative aspect, but themes such as suburban loneliness, dissatisfaction with work/life balance and reclaiming lost fire became more prevalent.
And yes, love scenes frequently became more graphic and explored the taboo. PNR authors were quite forward in their support of ménage, BDSM and reverse harem relationships. It provided hope for those still single, an escape for those bogged down in the exhaustion of raising a young family.
In the age of the divorce and broken families, many people are finding themselves in the market for romance again, despite some having previously dismissed it as frivolous. And many of these are former Twilight, Buffy and Charmed fans. ‘Seasoned’ romance (still not sure if I like this term, makes me think of chicken wings) found paranormal romance.
Many brilliant novels have been published exploring love and magic, both during the child raising period and post-kids. There is reassurance that yes, we are still attractive with our parent bods, and that even if our marriage has slipped into ‘comfortable’, all is not lost. Books like Elizabeth Hunter’s Suddenly Psychic and Nora Roberts’ Blue Dahlia speak to the soul and bring magic to the mundane.
So, whatever your age, gender, warp of life, you can bet there’s a PNR out there to hook you. Why not take a risk and bring some magic into your life?
