The romance genre is dominating not only books but screens too, with the two latest adaptations, Heated Rivalry and People We Meet On Vacation, racking up huge viewership.
The world has gone crazy for Heated Rivalry, a show based on two closeted NHL players as their love story unfolds over the course of a decade. During its debut week on HBO Max, it amassed roughly 30 million streaming minutes, and its success has secured the show a second season.
Online communities have also exploded for People We Meet on Vacation (PWMOV), a film that follows characters Poppy and Alex falling in love over ten years on various trips. In its debut weekend, it became Netflix’s number one film in the English language top 10 movie list and was watched by 17.2 million viewers.
Both of these productions have more in common than being love stories; they’ve been adapted from books. Written by Rachel Reid and Emily Henry, respectively, the books were hugely popular upon their release.
Since the show’s premiere, Heated Rivalry has become the number one romance book in the US, while PWMOV has returned to the New York Times Bestseller list, despite being originally published in 2021.
In general, the romance genre in TV, films and books is hugely popular. Print sales of romance fiction have doubled in the US in the last five years. In the UK, the annual £20m made in the romance and sagas genre skyrocketed to £69m in 2024. The growth of the romantic novel was also examined by Artefact a few weeks ago.
Over the last few years, there have been several hugely popular romance book-to-screen adaptations, including The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han, with 70 million viewers in its first 70 days of streaming Season 3 on Amazon Prime Video.
And, there are several more to come as five more of Emily Henry’s books are to be adapted into films, as well as the highly anticipated The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood receiving its own movie.
Because of the popularity of the romance fiction genre, romance adaptations already have a built-in audience. There are established readerships, online communities and often emotional investment in characters. Loyal readers will scrutinise the adaptations, eager to see whether their favourite moment made the cut.
“I’m very apprehensive of them [screen adaptations],” said Annabelle, whose main book genre used to be romance. “I never used to be, but since reading more, I’m very protective of the book, and I don’t like when movies get it wrong.”
However, there are differing opinions on this topic. “I always love a screen adaptation, it’s usually more accessible than books,” Ellis, who predominantly reads romance books, told me. “It’s nice to be able to have shows that represent me.”
“I enjoy that love is such a subjective emotion. Lots of the romance books and films I’ve watched or read present love and romance in so many different ways.”
Hannah Prestwood
Films allow for a more immersive experience and let the reader ‘meet’ their favourite characters. It can also be rewarding to see characters or storylines brought to life, particularly those that touch on underrepresented groups, such as Heated Rivalry does for the LGBTQ+ community.
“I’ve seen Heated Rivalry and loved it,” Ellis told me, “Seeing queer spaces being made in the sporting world is huge to me as someone who left sports behind because of my queerness.”
Book communities also help in the popularity of their adaptations. Online spaces like Goodreads and Reddit amass huge members, with the Heated Rivalry subreddit having 200,000 members. There’s a place online for every book, and now people meet in person, not only to read but to have ‘watch parties’ for the series or film.
One of the biggest and fastest-growing communities is ‘BookTok’. Based on TikTok, users share reviews of books or their reading experiences. It is a hugely influential space, and in many cases has been the reason for a book’s rise in popularity.
Many booksellers have devoted sections for ‘BookTok Reads’, with Waterstones even stating on their website, “It is no exaggeration to say that BookTok has revolutionised the way many of us consume literature.” Often, publishers reach out to the most popular BookTokers in order to promote new books.
“I love apps like Goodreads, Fable, and Substack, and I do watch a lot of BookTok content,” Hannah, who has consumed romance books and films, told me, “I also watch YouTubers do book reviews.”
Despite this, online hype can only take the adaptation so far. What ultimately keeps readers hooked is the emotional intensity of the story.
Both Heated Rivalry and PWMOV are what’s known as ‘slow burns’. In this, the characters fall in love over a long period of time, their tension building slowly and keeping readers and watchers hooked. Viewers feel gratified by the emotional payoff of finally seeing a couple get together.
Furthermore, for many, it can be a way to escape reality and fully immerse themselves in the lives of other people. For the most part, romance offers a guaranteed happy ending, and that can be much needed in the current state of the world.
“I enjoy that love is such a subjective emotion,” Hannah explained. “Lots of the romance books and films I’ve watched or read present love and romance in so many different ways.”
Ultimately, the success of these books and adaptations reflects a wider cultural shift in how the romance genre is viewed. It was once, and still can be, dismissed as trivial, predictable or too feminine.
“I like how much it annoys men to like the romance genre,” Annabelle said. “It’s as if women are having to ‘reclaim’ it from when it was ‘too feminine’ to read and apparently had no substance.”
However, the successful adaptations on major streaming platforms, like Netflix, show that these stories can no longer be confined to the page.
All images by Emilia Birch