Time-travel romance is a

subgenre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

romantic fiction A romance or romantic novel is a genre fiction novel that primarily focuses on the relationship and romantic love between two people, typically with an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending. Authors who have contributed to the developme ...

associated with

paranormal romance Paranormal romance is a subgenre of both romantic fiction and speculative fiction. Paranormal romance focuses on romantic love and includes elements beyond the range of scientific explanation, from the speculative fiction genres of fantasy, scien ...

. Time-travel romance focuses on

romantic love Romance or romantic love is a feeling of love for, or a Interpersonal attraction, strong attraction towards another person, and the Courtship, courtship behaviors undertaken by an individual to express those overall feelings and resultant ...

and includes an element of

time travel Time travel is the hypothetical activity of traveling into the past or future. Time travel is a concept in philosophy and fiction, particularly science fiction. In fiction, time travel is typically achieved through the use of a device known a ...

. Time-travel romance stories may or may not have a

happy ending A happy ending is an ending of the plot of a work of fiction in which there is a positive outcome for the protagonist or protagonists, and in which this is to be considered a favourable outcome. In storylines where the protagonists are in phy ...

Jude Deveraux Jude Deveraux (born September 20, 1947; née Jude Gilliam) is an American author of historical romances. Deveraux has written over 40 novels, many of which have been on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list, including such titles as ''A Knight ...

's ''

A Knight in Shining Armor Jude Deveraux (born September 20, 1947; née Jude Gilliam) is an American author of historical romances. Deveraux has written over 40 novels, many of which have been on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list, including such titles as ''A Knight ...

'' is one of the best known time-travel romance novels, famous for the lack of a happy ending. Time-travel romances feature at least one character transported to a time period which is unfamiliar to them. A recurring theme is the conflict of falling in love and subsequently the character must decide to stay in the alternate time or return to the time he or she came from. Time-travel romance settings may vary, from a present-day character sent back to the past, as in ''Binding Vows'' by Catherine Bybee, or with a character from the past sent forward to the future, as in several books in the '' Highlander'' series by

Karen Marie Moning Karen Marie Moning (born November 1, 1964) is an American author. Many of her novels have appeared on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list with ''Shadowfever'' reaching the number one position on multiple national best sellers lists. She is a ...

. A common location theme in time-travel romance is

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, such as in the popular '' Outlander'' series. Although the focus of time-travel romance is the love story between the characters, there is always some mechanism of

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

magic Magic or magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces ** ''Magick'' (with ''-ck'') can specifically refer to ceremonial magic * Magic (illusion), also known as sta ...

involved to facilitate travel through time. Enchanted stones, magical jewelry, and time machines are all methods employed to send the character to the destination time period. Examples of authors specializing in this genre include

Diana Gabaldon Diana J. Gabaldon (; born January 11, 1952) is an American author and television writer. She is best known for the book series ''Outlander''. Her books merge multiple genres, featuring elements of historical fiction, romance, mystery, adventu ...

, Catherine Bybee,

, and

Susanna Kearsley Susanna Kearsley (born January 17, 1966) is a ''New York Times'' best-selling Canadian novelist of historical fiction and mystery, as well as thrillers under the pen name Emma Cole. In 2014, she received Romance Writers of America's RITA Award ...

. The term "timeslip romance" is sometimes used for a relational, if perhaps more focused on nostalgia than romance, genre with examples of that form including ''

Portrait of Jennie ''Portrait of Jennie'' (also released under the title ''Tidal Wave'') is a 1948 American supernatural film directed by William Dieterle, produced by David O. Selznick, and starring Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Ethel Barrymore, and Lillian ...

'' and '' Time and Again'',

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (''SFE'') is an English language reference work on science fiction, first published in 1979. It has won the Hugo Award, Hugo, Locus Award, Locus and BSFA Award, British SF Awards. Two print editions appea ...

, pg 1227 although some definitions of timeslip romance do not require a romantic aspect.

References

External links

* {{Romance novel Fantasy genres Fiction about time travel Fiction by genre Literary genres Romance genres Speculative fiction