In the last few decades, writing about romance has become big business -- from Fabio-adorned paperbacks in the 90’s, to self-published e-books like “50 Shades of Gray” in the early 2000s, to more than 39 million print copies of romance novels sold in 2023 alone. Even Portland public libraries said they’ve seen the number of romance novels being checked out double since 2018.

OPB’s Crystal Ligori talked with Lily Chu, author of “The Takedown,” and Katelyn Doyle, author of “Just Some Stupid Love Story,” at the 2024 Portland Book Festival.