Since the 1970s, romance novels have surpassed all other genres in terms of popularity in the United States, accounting for half of all mass market paperbacks sold and driving the digital publishing revolution. Romance Fiction and American Culture brings together scholars from the humanities, social sciences, and publishing to explore American romance fiction from the late eighteenth to the early twenty-first century. Essays on interracial, inspirational, and LGBTQ romance attend to the diversity of the genre, while new areas of inquiry are suggested in contextual and interdisciplinary examinations of romance authorship, readership, and publishing history, of pleasure and respectability in African American romance fiction, and of the dynamic tension between the genre and second wave feminism. As it situates romance fiction among other instances of American love culture, from Civil War diaries to Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks, Romance Fiction and American Culture confirms the complexity and enduring importance of this most contested of genres.

“You are the only one who can save him.” Princess Isabelle of the small Mediterranean kingdom of San Piedro throws aside her pride to beg her former lover and now millionaire entrepreneur Paolo Caretti to save her nephew, the new king. It has been ten years since the world’s most famous and beautiful princess was forced to separate from her first love due to their class differences. Even after all this time, her heart still flutters for the gorgeous Italian man, but she has to marry a nobleman to save her country. Paolo, whose heart was broken by Isabelle’s harsh words in the past, still cannot forget the princess and agrees to help her under one condition—she has to become his lover!

This fascinating historical account follows the fortunes of the Stapelton family of Yorkshire, England, from the 11th century to the present day. With a focus on the family's role in local and national politics, it is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of England and its noble families. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.