Romantic Fantasy vs Fantasy Romance: What is the Difference?

Romantic fantasy and fantasy romance are not synonyms.

"Excuse me?" you might be asking.

I know. I was confused about the two terms at first as well.

The quick way to tell how they differ is to look at the last word. It tells us what the genre is.

The first word tells us the subgenre.

Yes, it is honestly that simple. Let me grab a few examples that show what I mean.

Arthurian Fantasy

Dark Fantasy

Epic Fantasy

Fairytale Fantasy

Low Fantasy

Portal Fantasy

Sword and Sorcery Fantasy

Urban Fantasy

When we read these terms, we automatically understand that all these subgenres belong within the fantasy umbrella.

Romantic Fantasy does as well.

This means that romantic fantasy stories and novels focus on the fantasy more than the romance, though the relationships are still significant.

However, fantasy romance stories and novels feature the romance within a fantasy setting. The romance is the most important part of the plot, though the fantasy world is still important.

Let's look at a few more examples to help all of this sink in.

Contemporary Romance

Dark Romance

Historical Romance

Paranormal Romance

Regency Romance

Western Romance

Here, we can easily recognize that all these subgenres belong to the romance umbrella, and fantasy romance is no exception.

To summarize:

Romantic Fantasy is a fantasy story with romance in it.

Fantasy Romance is a romance story in a fantasy setting.

There you go! Hopefully, that makes sense!