Falling in Love with Romance Merchandise

IPs tied to romance books are expanding their footprint in the licensing business. Licensees and retailers, particularly bookstores, have been asking for merchandise to reach these books’ loyal and large fan bases.

New partners for romance properties include a growing list of traditional licensing-business manufacturers and retailers, in addition to marketers of “bookish” merchandise. The latter, which tailor their product ranges specifically to avid readers and sell them through subscription boxes, online, and occasionally in physical stores, have had a presence in this space for some time. There is also a lot of unofficial merchandise online. 

Most series with broader licensing potential fall into the romantasy (romance plus fantasy) sector, which we first covered in October 2025. But other romance categories are represented as well. The IPs tend to appeal to adult female readers, although several extend down to high school–aged fans. New merchandise debuts are usually pegged to the publication of the author’s latest book. 

Here are some of the authors and series that have been the focus of new licensing activity over the past six months: 

• The Empyrean Series by Rebecca Yarros, which includes Fourth Wing, Onyx Storm, and Iron Flame, was all over last month’s New York Toy Fair, with licensees including Hasbro, Ravensburger, The Noble Collection, and Goliath Games, among others, showing product. Other partners include Hot Topic for a range of apparel and Scentbird for fragrances, as well as many licensees in the bookish merchandise space. 

• Navessa Allen, author of Lights Out, Caught Up, and Game On (classified as dark romance) is working with Moxie & Co. on a licensing program that has nine licensees to date, including Funko, Con*Quest Journals, and several partners for ancillary publishing categories (e.g., cookbooks and coloring books). Moxie also represents Lauren Roberts and her Powerless romantasy series for young adult readers, which counts Funko and Insight Editions among its licensees. Books-A-Million is a retail partner for both properties, with more to come.

• Holly Black’s Folk of the Air series, including The Cruel Prince, The Wicked King, and The Queen of Nothing, is a political fantasy series for young adults that is often categorized as romantasy or romantasy-adjacent because of its strong (but not too spicy) romantic subplots. It has recently been the focus of deals with Funko and Running Press, the latter for a tarot deck and guidebook, coloring postcards, and a puzzle. The Folk of the Air series, along with some of Black’s other books, takes place in the world of Elfhame. 

• Three series by Sarah J. Maas — A Crown of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR), Throne of Glass, and Crescent City) were recently licensed to PopSockets, for PopGrips and other device accessories; Throne of Glass items were released first, with products tied to the other two series following later this year. Youtooz is another recent licensee, for plush. Maas signed a representation deal with IMG for all three IPs last year; her partners to date include a large collection with Hot Topic and Her Universe, Con*Quest Journals, and a variety of bookish marketers. The sixth and seventh books in the ACOTAR series are coming out in 2026 and 2027, respectively. 

As noted, many other romance authors have deals with small licensees focused exclusively on items closely tied to a cozy reading experience, like candles, bookmarks, pillows, throws, and journals, as well as social expressions like mugs, t-shirts, and device cases. A few of the many series associated with such bookish merchandise include Sarah A. Parker’s Moonfall, Victoria Aveline’s The Clecanian Series, Rina Kent’s Legacy of Gods, and Cassandra Clare’s The Shadowhunter Chronicles.

Not all romance properties, especially those outside of the romantasy segment, have content or themes that lend themselves to wide licensing programs. Therefore, the smaller specialist licensees who have built close connections with avid fans are likely to remain the foundation of licensing in this segment. These companies continue as part of the mix even for authors like those listed above who are starting to attract larger, more mainstream licensees into the fold.