Steel's novels are often classified as romances in bookstores, shelved alongside works by Belva Plain, Nora Roberts, and Jayne Ann Krentz, and like the works of these aforementioned writers, they do share some characteristics of a romance novel. A prototypical romance novel contains a moderately foreseeable plot that develops through an almost ritualistic pattern of love-heartbreak-loss-restoration-new love/new hope.

The characters usually suffer, but the good, deserving characters win in the end and enjoy a happy conclusion. Surely, this pattern is evident in Bittersweet, but there is more to India's journey than just finding new love; she sets out to find a new love of herself. This factor seemingly sets Steel's novel apart from other romances and aligns it with more serious works of fiction by writers such as Edith Wharton and Kate Chopin who often portray heroines awakened to the desire for self-discovery and fulfillment...