Romance is a very touchy subject for me in life and, by extension, in fiction where the author has free reign over how and where s/he presents it. I'm an idealist at heart who grew up thinking that all things in life should have some sort of romantic aspect to them. But they don't, and learning that reality was a painful process. Being a romantic sets you up for disappointment. I spent much of my youth making an effort to expect the worst so that when anything good happened I would be pleasantly shocked by it. On that note, romance born out of struggle and desperation makes the most sense to me. Anyone can love and wants to be loved in return - that is our nature as social creatures - but when you've been deprived of that and come to need it as a basic survival mechanism, that desire burns very bright and often ends tragically, which peaks my interest.

I'm not sure where I stand on romance's place in fiction. Most things I've read that are generally classified as "romance" alone are too saccharine for my tastes. I don't view romance as a stand-alone genre as much as I do a facet to storytelling craft as a whole. People need to feel a connection with others, and a good writer has the ability to translate that desire (however it manifests itself) over to the characters of their creation in a way that the reader can identify with or at least feel something toward that isn't indifference.