When is a book a love story but not a "romance"?

I'm sure this has been asked somewhere else, but I've seen various posters in various threads refer to one or another book that I would think of as a romantic novel as "not a romance." So here's my question for you all: what makes a book a romance? What keeps it from being a romance and turns it into something else with "romantic elements"? What about romantic suspense, or paranormals, or erotica?

Any and all opinions are encouraged here. I have my own opinions, of course, but would like to know what others think.

I think the most recent person to use that description was BookLizard about Flowers From the Storm by Laura Kinsale. She said that it was better thought of as a love story, rather than a romance. At the time, and remembering the story, I took it to mean that the focus of the story wasn't necessarily the romance, though that's an essential piece of the plot line. (I do actually consider Flowers from the Storm to be a romance, which shows what a variation there can be.)

For me, a romance novel's focus is the relationship between the hero and heroine. It may have other elements -- paranormal, suspense, etc -- but those are not the focus. I think of paranormals as romance if they're relationship-focused, but not if the focus is the world-building and the relationship is secondary. The same with romantic suspense.

It's a fine line, of course...

I have discussed this ad nauseam with various folks and to me, for a book to be considered a "romance" or one of the various romance subgenres (like romantic suspense as opposed to suspense with romantic elements, or paranormal romance rather than urban fantasy with romantic elements), the most important thing is that if you remove the romance, the story itself is fundamentally harmed and cannot work.

That is, let's say you have a thriller where a couple fall in love while on the run from a sadistic killer. No problem. Can be either romantic suspense or thriller with a romantic element. Now, let's say that the reason the killer has focused on them is that he *was* focused on the man, but the more he notices the man falling in love with the woman, the more he realizes that the best way to punish the man is to kill her instead of him. Now, the guy's feelings are conflicted--he's pretty sure he's going to hurt her by keeping her close, but he also can't let her go. More angst, higher energy, more focus on the relationship. If he *doesn't* love her, he can send her away--end of story (or at least, different end of story)--it's a thriller. If he can't, if the focus remains equally on the relationship and the mystery, it's a romantic suspense.

In my opinion, true romantic suspense is one of the hardest genres to write well, by the way. Both of those storylines--the romance and the thriller--have to be kept going, fueling one another, right to the end of the book.

(For fun, if you want to test the genre of a book you're reading--or writing--you can check out this post: http://criminalbrief.com/?p=8204 )

>3 Too funny, adeptmagic!

Diva-
Isn't that post hilarious? I liked his description of romantic suspense :D And gothic.

In my opinion, a romance novel focuses on the relationship between the main characters and has a happy ending.

2> I agree that Flowers from the Storm is ultimately a romance, but it's not your average romance. In most romances, when the couple meets, sparks fly, because they're attracted to each other, hate each other, or both! I don't want to give too much away about Flowers from the Storm, but the hero is not your typical hero and the heroine really does heal him with her love. From what I remember, the action was more psychological than physical. I didn't like it when I was reading it because it didn't fit my expectations for a romance novel. That's why I said to think of it as a love story - so you're not disappointed when it doesn't follow the usual "formula."

5> That was a great post. I had to LOL at the vampire novel.

adeptmagic - Very cute article! Thanks for sharing :-)

6> I agree completely about Flowers from the Storm. I was so mad at first when I realized it wasn't going in the direction I expected. I had to force myself to keep reading, but I'm so glad I did.

Great article!