Very few authors can pride themselves on being widely acknowledged for changing a literary genre forever. And as it turns out, one of this selected club’s contemporary members is prolific author Nora Roberts.

Nora Roberts is often deemed the still-reigning Queen of Romance, her crown forged through ink and paper. It’s not a title without merit—the best Nora Roberts books set in stone some of the tropes that would later become staples in contemporary romance novels.