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Home > Ideas > Believe it or not, romance novels are more popular than ever
Podcast: Ideas
Episode:

Believe it or not, romance novels are more popular than ever

Category: Society & Culture
Duration: 00:54:08
Publish Date: 2026-05-13 21:10:00
Description:

Heated Rivalry, Love is Blind or Boyfriend on Demand all underline the global appetite for passionate swooning. But let’s not forget the source for all of it: the romance novel. It may have a reputation problem but sales in 2023 reached 39 million copies or romance fiction globally — ringing in at $1.5 billion dollars. The books and readership continue to evolve as popularity increases. What is it about romance novels that women are drawn to? Is it unhealthy escapism, harmless fun or a kind of opiate? IDEAS looks back to a 1992 episode called Paperback Love to understand the enduring acclaim of romance novels.

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