and it's spawning whole sections in bookstores.

Jeffrey Brown visited the# stacks and talked to author## Rebecca Yarros to see what's driving this trend.

It's part of our arts and culture series, Canvas.

WOMAN: Ninety-second warning!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) and fans couldn't wait to get their hands# on "Iron Flame," the hotly anticipated## second novel in a series that began with# the breakout bestseller "Fourth Wing."

Together, the two books have now sold# more than six million copies worldwide.## Author Rebecca Yarros had been writing and# publishing for 10 years, but had no idea## what would ensue when she turned to a story# that mixes dragons and magic with romance.

REBECCA YARROS, Author, "Iron Flame": It was# shocking, to say the least.

My publisher was## prepared.

I was not.

I was not prepared for# any of it, not recognized or seen out in public.

That completely# shocked me, to say the least.

It's still shocking.

WOMAN: I rated it four stars, which# is saying something considering I'm## not really a fan of romance and fantasy books.

JEFFREY BROWN: Now she and her books are# ev J. Maas, Jennifer Armentrout and others who# create romance dramas in the midst of epic,## fantastical worlds, romance and fantasy, now a# full-blown subgenre with its own name, romantasy.

REBECCA YARROS: It's basically fantasy with --# written in a romance vein, right?

I just think it## speaks in whole to women, and then it also brings# men in, because men love dragons, I'm finding out.

I think it's just the market# is cyclical and it was ready.

LEAH KOCH, Co-Owner, The Ripped# Bodice: We have like all romance.

JEFFREY BROWN: Leah Koch is# co LEAH KOCH: Do you find everything OK?

JEFFREY BROWN: A ro sister first opened in Los Angeles in# 2016 and more recently here in LEAH KOCH: Fantasy romance is sort# of the ultimate escapism.

You have## both the romance element and then# you have a literal different world,## sometimes outer space, sometimes some# sort of kingdom that's been invented.

JEFFREY BROWN: Yes.

people have to pay their taxes and have# a parent dying and do JEFFREY BROWN: This is more likely to have, like,## dragons and -- yes.

(LAU LEAH KOCH: JEFFREY BROWN: In fact, romance-specific bookstores around the country.

How do we define romance novels?

LEAH KOCH: Excellent question.

Basically,## there's only two criteria that you# need, ce JEFFREY BROWN: Central love# story, happy ending, musts.

LEAH KOCH: That's it, yes.

That is one of the# things novels.

It's the comfort of knowing# that everything is going to work out.

JEFFREY BROWN: And these days, romance works out# in a whole lot of ways, includin queer, erotica, fantasy, and still# the traditional historical section.

It's a genre that may once have# occupied a small out-of-the-way## section in a big bookstore and, Koch acknowledges,## had a stigma of light second-rate# literature attached to it.

Now, she says: LEAH KOCH: I think that attitude has# changed a lot throughout my lifetime,## throughout even the amount of time we have been# doing this.

But it definitely still persists.

The thing that I have noticed is people# in general, but especially younger people,## are getting much better at identifying# how things like misogyny, sexism, racism,## homophobia are impacting the stories that they're# being told.

So older generations were told,## this is trashy, this is silly, this is --# should be read under the cover of darkness.

Well, why do you think that?

Like,# who's been telling you this?

Like,## what has led to you having this belief?# Because romance is a huge genre.

JEFFREY BROWN: And it's a genre with a# nearly-100-year mass market publishing## history studied by scholars# such as Jayashree Kamble,## a professor at LaGuardia# Community College in queens.

One area of interest for her, how# romance novels reflect their times.

JAYASHREE KAMBLE, LaGuardia Community# College: I often say that mass market## romance fiction and novels, they c JEFFREY BROWN: Dramatically,# but not traumatically.

JAYASHREE KAMBLE: That's right, yes.

(LAUGHTER) JAYASHREE are popular themes, what kinds of couples,# what kinds of understanding of sexuality,## what kinds of understanding of gender# presentation is sort of valued over time.

So,## as society changes, the genre# sort of changes along with it.

But because it has this stable# core, this hopeful idea that... JEFFREY BROWN: The happy ending.

JEFFREY BROWN: Yes.

Yes.

The latest focus on romantasy, she says, also reflects the way the genre has# come in and out of public JA YASHREE KAMBLE: The house of romance# has many rooms in it and fantasy has## always been one of those rooms, at# least in the American mass market.

So I think there's always these interesting# moments of technological change or a bestseller## suddenly starts to appear in -- because# there's a major P.R.

push around it.

JEFFREY BROWN: And now, of course, we have TikTok.

JAYASHREE KAMBLE: Now we have JE FFREY LEAH KOCH: I cannot deny the tangible financial# impacts that TikTok has had on my business.

JEFFREY BROWN: You feel it?

LEAH KOC JEFFREY BROWN: people talk about a book on TikTok and# then they come and they buy the book.

JEFFREY BROWN: Oh, and you# see the immediate response?

LEAH KOCH: Absolutely.

JEFFREY BROWN: JEFFREY BROWN: Rebecca Yarros credits# BookTok, TikTok's book community,## for the popularity of her series and she# loves the direct connection to readers.

REBECCA YARROS: But by doing them solid black, we# could get this book into your hands by November.

BookTok is why "Fourth Wing" took off, without# a doubt.

I think BookTok is one of the last## areas where readers are really in control# of what's put out there.

Publishers can't## control the marketing or anything they# say.

It's all word of mouth on BookTok.

So, if a BookToker loves a book, they# take it and they make it their own,## and off it goes, and videos go viral.

And# it is really such word of mouth marketing## that you can't get anywhere else, because# it is true just love of books over there.

JEFFREY BROWN: And Yarros thinks romantasy is# speaking to this very specific moment in time,## one she, of course, hopes will last.

REBECCA YARROS: I think you're coming# out of a p think a lot of reading really shot# up during people who are coming into reading# fiction that weren't there before.

And now we have all these wonderful readers# that we get to -- we get to give our stories to.

JEFFREY BROWN: Next up, she's# writing book three of the series,## eagerly awaited by readers here at The# Ripped Bodice and arou For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm# Jeffrey Brown in Brooklyn.