
Dark Lover
J.R. Ward · 2005
The book that created the paranormal romance boom and proved the genre could support genuine world-building and emotional complexity. Wrath and Beth's relationship (vampire king and human woman) has real heat and real feeling; Ward writes her heroes as genuinely damaged men who have to heal to deserve love. The founding text of a subgenre.
Romance · the Pro canon
The case for it, the case against, and the rest of the canon open with Pro.