GenresFiction
Romance
Two people, a barrier, a satisfying ending.
Romance is the genre where the relationship is the plot, and the reader has usually bought the book because they want to watch two people find their way to each other. They are not foolish for knowing the ending. The pleasure is in the delay, and in feeling that the delay was caused by something real: a life that won't easily bend, a fear that isn't going to vanish because someone is attractive, a duty, a town, a past that still has a claim.
The people have to be specific. A job, a sense of humour, a way of being difficult that the other person eventually understands rather than sandpapers away. Heat is welcome, and so is quiet, but the emotional bargain should be clear by the last chapter. If you take the promise of a satisfying ending off the table, you may still have a good novel, though you might not be writing romance anymore, and your reader will feel the difference.
The kinds of book inside it
Contemporary
The obstacles are modern ones, work and family and timing, and the world should feel lived in rather than staged for the meet-cute.
Historical
The period supplies rules the couple have to negotiate, and the research should serve the romance instead of pausing it.
Romantic comedy
The book is allowed to be funny, but the joke shouldn't make either person look too silly to be loved by the end.
Romantic suspense
Danger and desire share the plot, and both need to matter, or one of them will feel stuck on as an afterthought.
Paranormal
The supernatural element should change what love costs, not just give you a handsome reason for the hero to be unusually strong.
Dark romance
The relationship is intense and often morally uneasy, so you need to be honest about power, and clear about what the book is actually offering.
Romantasy
A fantasy plot and a central romance are both doing full jobs, which means the magic has rules and the relationship has consequences.
Second chance
The couple already know each other, so the book is about what changed, and whether the old reasons for leaving still hold.
Slow burn
The attraction is early and the admission is late, and the pages in between have to be full of reasons, not just waiting.
When you want a first sketch, Storywell can draft a story summary in this vein. You are still the one who writes the book. Compose an idea.