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, science fiction, and horror. Paranormal romance range from traditional romances with a paranormal setting to stories with a science fiction or fantasy-based plot with a romantic subplot included. Romantic relationships between humans and vampires, shapeshifters, ghosts, and other entities of a fantastic or otherworldly nature are common.

Beyond the more prevalent themes involving vampires, shapeshifters, ghosts, or time travel, paranormal romances can also include books featuring characters with psychic abilities, such as telekinesis or telepathy. Paranormal romance's most recent revival has been spurred by turn of the 21st century technology; for example, the internet and electronic publishing.^{[citation needed]} Paranormal romances are one of the fastest-growing trends in the romance genre.

Examples of authors specializing in this genre include Dani Harper, Nalini Singh, Jessica Bird, Kresley Cole, Christine Feehan, Kelley Armstrong,^[1] and Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight series. According to 2013 statistics by the fantasy publisher Tor Books, among writers of urban fantasy or paranormal romance, 57% are women and 43% are men, whereas men outnumber women by about two to one in writing historical, epic, or high fantasy. The same statistics describe men outnumbering women by four to one in writing Science Fiction and that men write 83% of Horror.^[2]