romance glossary
Welcome to our Love On Demand Romance Glossary! Whether you’re new to romance books or a seasoned reader, this guide will help you navigate the unique terminology of the romance community. Consider this your decoder ring for all those terms you see flying around BookTok, Bookstagram, and at romance events
author terms
Plotter: Writing style authors use when mapping out their entire storyline in advance
Pantser: Writing style where they write the entire first draft of a story, start to finish as they see it in their heads without pause
character types
FMC: Female Main Character
Black Cat FMC: Female Main Character that is more reserved and guarded for a reason
Cinnamon Roll MMC: A super sweet Male Main Character
Golden Retriever MMC: A Male Main Character who is always at your service
Morally Gray: Someone who does the wrong things but for all the right reasons
Alpha: Someone who leads (gives off top behavior)
Book Boyfriend/Book Girlfriend: Your current fictional partner
popular tropes
Age Gap: Main Characters that aren’t close in age
Workplace Romance: Romance that blossoms in the workplace
Forced Proximity: Main Characters that are forced to live/work in the same space
One Bed: Extreme forced proximity 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Grumpy Sunshine: A grumpy, pessimistic character finds love with a bubbly, optimistic partner
Enemies to Lovers: Rival main characters that find resolution and fall in love
Friends to Lovers: Friendship that turns into something more
Mates: Lovers assigned by destiny
Why Choose: More than one person lusting over you and you like both of them so why choose?
Reverse Harem: One FMC that is pursued or in a relationship with multiple men
Omegaverse: Books that categorize characters by species: alphas, betas, and omegas
Knotting: When an alphas p@n!s swells inside an omega for breeding
Harem: The opposite of a reverse harem
romance genres
Historical Romance: Taking place in historical time periods, typically before 1940’s
Historical Regency Romance: Set during British Regency periods in upper-class social interactions
Dark Romance: Explores darker themes like control, fetishes, kidnapping, and crime
Small Town: Takes place in a small town where everyone knows everything
Rockstar: One or more main characters is a musician or rockstar
Sports: Focal point on College and Professional athletes as main characters
Contemporary: Romance that takes place in the modern world (now)
Paranormal: Romance that includes supernatural elements
Smut: A romance genre where the sex comes before the plot
Poly: Having multiple recurring partners
YA: Young adult, safe to read for young readers
Open Door: Details the spicy scenes and sexual encounters
Closed Door: Eludes to spicy content but doesn’t go into detail
reader lingo
TBR: To be read, the never ending stack of books that you have in mind to read next
DNF: Did not finish, you weren’t vibing with the book and decided to not finish the story
POV: Point of view
KU: Kindle Unlimited
NSFW: Not safe for work
HEA: Happily ever after
Trope: Theme or character type
PB: Paperback
HC: Hardcover book
Pre-order: Ordering a book before it is available to the public (usually have to wait a while before it comes)
Red Flag: Something/someone who you want to stay away from
Mood Reading: Choosing a book to read based off of your current mood
Roman Empire: A book that you have read/listened to that you just cannot stop referring back to or thinking about
Book Recs: Book recommendations
Spice Level: How naughty are we getting in the book?
ARC Team/ARC Reader: A person who reads a book pre-publication and posts a review
Beta Reader: A test reader of an unreleased work or writing
social media terms
Bookstagram: Book readers on Instagram
Booktube: Book readers on YouTube
BookTok: Book readers on TikTok
Shelfie: Picture of your book collection
DOB: Your current drink, outfit, and book of the day
DOBA: Your current drink, outfit, book, and audiobook of the day
popular book series abbreviations
ACOTAR: A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas
TOG: Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas
IPB: Ice Planet Barbarian series by Ruby Dixon
FBAA: From Blood & Ash by Jennifer Armentrout
FW/IF/OS: Fourth Wing, Iron Flame & Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
spicy terms
DTF: Down to f@#k
Lopsided Smile: That stupid hot smile people do when they know they’re hot
Member: Otherwise known as a d!ck
Top: On top during sex
Bottom: On bottom during sex
Voyeur: Someone who gets pleasure by watching others have sex
Girth: The circumference of a penis
Kink: Sexual fantasies or particular sexual acts that are preferred
Vanilla: Basic
Pillow Princess: Someone who does none of the work during sexy time