Why I Believe Deck of Cards is a Genre Breaker

I believe the publication process for Deck of Cards was probably more difficult than writing the book. Unlike Cordia's Will, which has been written slowly and painfully over the last ten years or so, Deck of Cards practically wrote itself. (I'll explain that more in later posts. )  But, when it came time to actually make the book available on Kindle, that's when I really ran into some brick walls.
First of all, I'm not completely convinced Deck of Cards is a romance novel. It certainly has elements of romance, especially considering there are at least two--possibly three-"blush worthy" scenes.  This content was one of the reasons I decided to go ahead and place it in the romance category.  Another consideration is that one of the primary driving forces of the novel is Katey's search for true love.  This, in my opinion, is romance in it's purest form. I think we often let the word "romance" mean "sex" and, in real life, those two words are not interchangeable.  So why should they be in text? This is definitely not a romance novel filled primarily with scenes of love-making. However, I strived to create a piece that centers around the idea that romantic love can overcome all obstacles. Though some reader may be disappointed in the sheer numbers of explicit scenes, I hope more readers will be enthralled by Katey's pursuit of love and that, in the end, both categories of readers will walk away appreciating the outcome.

This picture perfectly sums up Katey's journey.  She's lost in a dark forest, searching for love. She sees the light in the distance but she can't quite get there without an arduous journey.  You can buy Deck of Cards here.

Another issue I ran into is that Deck of Cards isn't quite historical fiction either. For a true categorization of historical fiction, the setting has to be real. Clearly, none of the places in Deck of Cards ever really existed. Though the setting is realistic and nothing fantastic happens within the story that would call for a "fantasy" listing, without that crucial piece, it wasn't quite right to say it was historical fiction either. Yet, the setting and plot closely align with medieval history.  The reader can certainly imagine that these events could have truly happened in a real kingdom that existed during that time period. So, for those reasons, I chose to list it as historical fiction as well.
These are difficult decisions an author has to make and it's not always easy to find guidance, especially when self-publishing.  In the end, my hope is that Deck of Cards will be discovered and remembered for being an amazing well-told story, regardless of what labels we want to apply.
As a reader, when you choose a book, how do you decide which one to read?  Do you choose by genre or just keep looking until you read a description that you find captivating?