A short step above the young adult romance is the sweet romance - books like Harlequin or Silhouette Romance. Graphic sex is a no-no here. Story lines are simple and usually revolve around issues of courtship.
From there, books gradually become larger and more complex and, yes, contain larger and steamier love scenes. But, beyond these confines, romance has branched out to encompass other genres.
Contemporary indicates stories set in the here and now, books about the sort of people we see every day. They can range from the sweet, discussed above, to varying degrees of sensuality.
Inspirational romances, again light on the love scenes, are books aimed at the Christian market, stories of faith and how it helps couples through difficult periods in their lives.
The fantasy subgenre has become popular over the past few years. These are stories of dragons and wizards, castles and magic kingdoms. They often require the creation of an entire fantasy world. think Harry Potter all grown up.
Futuristic romances are much like the fantasies, only they're set in this world, hundreds or thousands of years in the future. These books need a writer who can take things in this world - travel, weapons, government, etc., and imagine what they will be like in this future world.
Multicultural romances are another new subgenre. These are "romances of color" and have heroes and heroines of Latino, African American or Asian culture. Most have their own trade name, like Kensington's Arabesque and Genesis.
Time travel has several variations. Sometimes a character from the past ends up in the present, or a character from the present goes back to the past. Or, they can travel the other way, with someone from the present journeying into the future or vice versa. To take this to the extreme, how about someone from the future travelling into the past. I believe Star Trek did a segment on this, when Captain Kirk and members of the Enterprise crew traveled back to the old west.
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