They are different.
Really. I’m not kidding. Believe me, because it makes up most of my reading.
Jane‘s picked my brain clean, so I picked Heppi’s brain and this is what he said:
- Fantasy vs Paranormal is like Magic vs Ghosts.
- Urban fantasy can have no otherworldly elements and paranormal can have no magic.
Then there’s the feel thing. A paranormal romance reads different from an urban fantasy novel.
You can have an urban fantasy with a developing romance inside. Danny Valentine and Japhrimel, or Joanne Baldwin and David. It doesn’t make them a paranormal romance.
You can have a paranormal romance with an urban fantasy feel–see Jeanie London’s Retrieval. But the plot, IMHO, puts in more in paranormal romance.
I have no idea whether this makes any sense. Poor Jane got a looooooooong sermon. Betcha she regrets emailing me now.
Now, if I find something to say, I’ll write about erotica versus erotic romance on Saturday.
Oh and since Jennifer writes YA… I see Golden as a paranormal, but Holly Black’s Valiant and Tithe as urban fantasy.