Genre

Sapphic Romance

/ˈsæf.ɪk roʊˈmæns/ noun
IN ONE SENTENCE

Romance centered on love between women or women-aligned characters, spanning all subgenres and heat levels.

Definition

Sapphic romance features a love story between women or women-aligned characters (including nonbinary people who align with womanhood). The term has become the preferred umbrella because it's more inclusive than 'lesbian romance' and centers the relationship rather than the identity label. Sapphic romance exists across every subgenre: contemporary, fantasy, historical, sci-fi, paranormal, and everything in between.

Why It Matters

Sapphic romance is one of the fastest-growing categories in romance publishing, driven by reader demand for diverse representation. If you're writing sapphic romance, understanding the community's preferences (own-voices expectations, trope popularity, what readers celebrate and what they critique) helps you reach your audience authentically.

Famous Examples

The Priory of the Orange Tree — Samantha Shannon

Epic fantasy with a sapphic love story woven into the world-saving plot.

One Last Stop — Casey McQuiston

A time-displaced woman on a New York subway and the romance that defies temporal logic.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo — Taylor Jenkins Reid

A Hollywood icon's life story revealing the great love she hid for decades, sapphic romance as historical emotional epic.

Try It Yourself

Quick Exercise

Write a scene where two women share a charged moment that neither acknowledges out loud. The tension should come from what isn't said: the way one watches the other, a gesture that lingers too long, a silence that means something. Write the subtext as clearly as the text.

CONTINUE LEARNING
Writing the Draft
Sapphic romance benefits from reading widely within the category to understand its specific conventions and reader expectations.