Time-travel romance is a

subgenre Genre () is any form or type 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 novel or romantic novel generally refers to a type of genre fiction novel which places its primary focus on the relationship and Romance (love), romantic love between two people, and usually has an "emotionally satisfying and optimis ...

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, blending together themes from the speculative fiction ...

. Time-travel romance focuses on

romantic love Romance or romantic love is a feeling of love for, or a strong attraction towards another person, and the courtship behaviors undertaken by an individual to express those overall feelings and resultant emotions. The ''Wiley Blackwell Ency ...

and includes an element of

time travel Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is 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 almost everything turns out for the best for the main protagonists and their sidekicks, while the main villains/antagonists are dead/defeated. In storylines where the protago ...

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'' 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 is an American author. Many of her novels have appeared on the ''New York Times'' Bestseller List with ''Shadowfever'' reaching the number one position on multiple national best sellers lists. She is a winner of the prestigio ...

. 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. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, 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 (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

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, known for the ''Outlander'' series of novels. Her books merge multiple genres, featuring elements of historical fiction, romance, mystery, adventure and science fiction/fantas ...

, 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'' is a 1948 American fantasy film based on the 1940 novella by Robert Nathan. The film was directed by William Dieterle and produced by David O. Selznick. It stars Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten. At the 21st Academy A ...

'' 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, Locus and British SF Awards. Two print editions appeared in 1979 and 1993. A third, continu ...

, 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