.png)
Paranormal romance. It's everywhere, especially at this time of year. But while all paranormal romances are connected by what defines the sub-genre—romances set in a world similar to our own but with key supernatural/paranormal-related differences—the worlds themselves can be split into three main categories, and each is associated with a particular type of story and group of tropes.
Learning about these will make your paranormal romance world-building and plotting faster, because you know from the get-go just how different your world needs to be ours.
Creatures in one corner, humans in another
This world is one where there are supernatural and paranormal creatures, but they exist in places and communities separate from humans and with different hierarchical and social structures—omegaverse, for example—, so they don't mix (usually), and humans aren't aware of their existence. This is often where you'll find a lot of werewolf, vampire, and shifter romances, with the creatures living in packs that don't interact with humans or, often, each other. And because of that separation, these worlds are perfect for fish out of water, opposites attract, and forbidden love romance novels between shifters and the humans they fall for against their community's wishes.
You'll also find plenty of creature-creature romances that explore the chosen one, fated mate, rejected mate, rivals, forbidden love, and enemies to lovers tropes in this type of paranormal world. Fated mate, rejected mate, and rivals romance novels in this type of world often focus on creatures from the same pack/faction/coven/insert collective noun, but enemies to lovers romance novels usually center relationships between creatures from opposing/warring groups, increasing the tension of an already angsty trope.
And though the relationship and character trope options in this type of world are fewer—you're not going to find many billionaires, mafia bosses, or rockstars here—the ones you do have, like those listed above, are great for building internal conflict and developing your character's personality, emotional wounds, goals, and motivations, making it easier to create complex, layered characters readers can relate to and invest in.
Only some humans are in-the-know
This world is one where humans and supernatural/paranormal creatures occupy the same society, but humans don't know that they're best friend or boyfriend is supernatural/paranormal unless they're told. It's basically an "if you know, you know" world, and usually, supernatural/paranormal creatures keep their powers secret to protect themselves from prejudice, danger, violence, or historical attitudes toward their kind (think: the Salem witch trials).
This type of world is where you'll find a lot of small town witchy paranormal romance novels, where the witches often use their magic to secretly help the community without their knowledge. You'll also find other supernatural/paranormal creatures represented in this type of world, but witches really rule here.
Opposites attract and forbidden love are big tropes in this type of world, because the supernatural/paranormal creatures are positioned as inherently different from humans, and often are part of covens or packs who view creature-human relationships as verboten. Most other relationship tropes will work here, though some of the more contemporary tropes, like fake dating, boss/secretary, and instalove, don't show up much.
Creatures and humans mingle (mostly) freely
This world is one where humans and supernatural/paranormal creatures occupy the same society, and humans are aware that their neighbors are supernatural/paranormal, but there might be some tension, both between different creature communities, and between creature and human communities.
This type of world is where you'll get lots of the very popular small town paranormal romances about magical places where werewolves, witches, vampires, demons, and humans share the same sidewalk and coffee shops. Because the many different communities have to co-exist at least somewhat peacefully for society to tick over, these books are usually lower in angst, without the interspecies wars.
You've got nearly every trope under the sun at your disposal in this type of world, from fake dating to golden retriever, and readers really like seeing authors take creative liberty in this type of world, so take advantage of that and try out some unique combinations. Softboi devil and ice queen witch, for example.
Now that you know the three different types of paranormal romance worlds, you're ready to start building your own! If you need more writing inspiration, check out these writing prompts.
And until next blog post, happy reading and writing!