it's always so dicey trying to do any kind of critique of contemporary romance novels On Here because the denizens of tumblr, like many people, love to reduce any take the humble romance novel to confirmation that the entire genre is Bad, and I don't like to encourage that take because I like romance novels and I do think the casual disdain for the genre gets into really misogynistic territory real quick. and that makes it really annoying to voice informed opinions as someone who's been slamming a romance or two a month every months for several years.
all of which is preface to me being kind of a mean little hater and saying that some romance novels have this very distinctive style that I call Heckin Valid that's soooo annoying because you can Tell the authors are coming from a place of really well-meaning but pretty shallow 2010s internet-style #diversity rhetoric. some of the hallmarks of Heckin Valid style, to me, include:
main characters have Identities that they often feel the need to mention often and frequently Explain, even in their own internal narration.
there is often a Trans Friend. if the Trans Friend cannot be readily identified by using they/them pronouns, their trans status will either be dropped gracelessly in the narration OR the Trans Friend will verbally identify as such by saying something akin to "now, speaking as your Trans Friend..."
this may also be done with a Fat Friend. the Fat Friend is almost universally a woman, and it will always be emphasized that she is Very Beautiful because it is important to remember that fat women can be hot.
the narration is very invested in identifying the racial identity of every non-white character, regardless of how minor they are.
before engaging in sex the main couple will dutifully report to each other that they have both recently gotten tested for STIs and do not have any.
getting characters into therapy is an integral part of the Happily Ever After, if they were not in therapy to begin with.
