OMG, mea culpa! I was so excited to learn that BL rolled out a group-like feature so quickly that I created the group but forgot some starter threads. TBT, not much may happen here until there more functionality to this feature. But for now, welcome! Please feel free to use this thread to chat with fellow members. :)

Hello KB and new BL PNR/UF devotees. I'm a GR refugee and, like most of you, I'm riding the BL learning curve. I know I've read a ton of what's considered PNR and possibly UF but I'm a little shaky on the precise definitions. Any help would be appreciated.

Reply to post #2 (show post):
Hey, Georgiana :)

There seems to be general consensus that in PNR (paranormal romance, as opposed to regular paranormal), the romance/relationship between the MCs takes front & center, with a side of suspense, some conflict, etc & HEA ending. Examples of some PNR series: Kresley Cole's IAD, Chloe Neill's Chicagoland Vampires, Gena Showalter's Lords of the Underworld, Tina Folsom's Scanguard Vampires.

OTOH, UF has a primarily non-romance storyline (usually mystery/suspense), with a side of romance sometimes (e.g., by way of a romantic interest). Examples of some UF series: Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, Keri Arthur's Riley Jenson, Karen Chance's Cassandra Palmer & Dorina Basarab; Patricia Briggs's Mercy Thompson, as well as Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse (notwithstanding what some others might claim ^.^).

I suppose that 'paranormal' and UF can be used interchangeably most of the time but technically, UF is specifically for a paranormal story in an urban setting.

It would be great to hear other people's thoughts on this. :)

Reply to post #3 (show post):
I've always thought of the PNR as more the ones that have a new couple for each book like BDB, IAD, DH, ect. Although there is some romance in a series like Mercy Thompson I never think of it as PNR. Lately it seems like the lines between the two cross and I am confused what to shelf them. I've thought of making a romance shelf and just using that with UF, lol.

Reply to post #3 (show post):
Thanks to both of you. As I thought, I've read a lot from both sides of the spectrum. I would have thought that anything with vampires and werewolves was PNR but now I see the 'amount of romance' distinction. For ex., I'm guessing the Fever series and Kane's Downside Ghosts are safely in UF. (?) Regardless, I won't be trying to categorize with any hope of precision unless it becomes necessary for some reason. : ) Thanks again.

Reply to post #5 (show post):
Georgiana, I would for sure put Fever as UF. Downside Ghosts go both ways since there's Terrible in most of the books but personally I'd say UF since the characters stay the same and there's a lot more going on than just them. :)

I'm a relative neophyte to UF/PNR, so these distinctions help. Though it looks like I should go retag my Chicagoland series as PNR... do you guys think that Merit's romance is really the main story in those books?

Reply to post #8 (show post):
No, no, Murder (do you mind if I shorten? ^.^). My inclusion of Chicagoland series as PNR was complete mistake so thanks for pointing out. :) I have it shelved as 'para-super' or 'para-alt-reality-or-uf' (depending on whether or not I got around to checking it since importing to BL >.

Reply to post #9 (show post):
Shorten away! I came up with MbD when I thought BL was just going to be about blogging. :)

Happy to hear that I was on the right track then, with my UF vs. PNR classifications. I'm not a huge 'romance' fan when it's the main theme of the book, but I *love* the ones that pop up as secondary story lines - like Merit and Ethan, Sookie and Eric, Mercy and Adam, etc. etc.

Yup. I also like to mix up reads so to not get bored (or sometimes, irritated) by some of the common themes/tropes prevalent in any genre.

BTW, I should've noted this earlier when I learned about it. Any DR member can start a thread so if anyone wants to chat about a particular topic, feel free to create a new thread. :)