Writing can be full of surprises even after planning everything out. Did any of you have this happen? I've started off with one vision for my couples but things turned out completely different as the story went on ....

Hello all! I have big dreams of writing my first novel, and I really enjoy fun, light-hearted romance. I’m hoping someone could tell me honestly if my main characters feel believable and if their feelings for each other come through properly.

I’m afraid that I’m “too close” to these characters, and that my perception of what is and isn’t working is skewed. Thanks in advance!

Here’s the chapter link: “Drunk Lucas” draft chapter

Here’s the plot description for context:

When former elite gymnast Juliet VanderHoff spends the summer with her aunt in Minnesota lake country, the last thing she expects is to fall for Lucas Smith, the guarded California firefighter temporarily living in the guest house next door. What begins as an attraction neither intends to keep becomes a summer romance with one very clear rule: when summer ends, so do they. But as temporary jobs, borrowed rooms, and casual feelings quietly become something permanent, Juliet decides some things are worth loving even when you know you’ll lose them—while Lucas assumes the woman who has become his home already knows he has no intention of leaving her.

Hello. I'm writing a political intrugue and Gothic story featuring someone who will have four supporters for their bid to become leader of their community.

All four of their supporters are portrayed as good matches, without anyone being thrown under the bus as too dumb, arrogant, weak-willed, hot-heated, incompatible, or secretly a villain. I'm not interested in writing true love, soulmates, childhood best friends who don't realize that they've known each other all along, or people falling in love because they are the only decent people in the plot.

I'm writing a political marriage of convenience between friends and compatriots as they are rebuilding their country after a disaster.

It's a three book series and the first book will focus entirely on their friendships as they campaign, with the main character considering the idea of marrying one of them. In the second book, the main character will intentionally discuss a political marriage with the two compatriots they look to as advisors the most often. And it's only after the couple has been selected and they've become engage will I explore romantic interest between them in the third book.

I've spoken to other people about this idea and they said that they wouldn't enjoy it because they would want to know who the endgame couple is from the beginning. And when I asked them functionally speaking what they consider the purpose of love rivals in a story if they never have any real chance of being in the couple, the conversation always kind of faltered and dissipated without much of a follow-up on what people enjoy about secondary characters in a romance story. What do they enjoy about slow burns. What do they enjoy about same-sex friendships and rivalries.

Other people have told me that if I'm really writing all four of these people as decent and hardworking good people, that they would hate to see two and then three of them disappear from the story. I've pointed out that they are still the political allies and that the actual plot of the story will continue on and they will still be there, but writing good decent people who are friends doesn't mean that I'm trying to end the story as a polycule. I'm also not writing Switzerland, which has a council of executive leaders who take turns being the President each year. I'm writing about the formation of a new political family and two people who will be leaders of a country.

So, I'm looking for feedback from other romance writers....

If this story would be more palatable to people if I include the foregone conclusion of who the endgame couple is going to be, then so be it, but it doesn't really change the fact that I want to actually write about secondary characters with a little bit of dignity instead of having them be terrible people just to make the main couple look good.

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I'm working on a New Adult/College Romance called We Are Into This.

This is my second novel after publishing my first one, and I'm trying to improve my synopsis before moving further with the book.

I'd really appreciate honest feedback—especially:

- Does the synopsis make you curious about the story?

- Would you want to read the first chapter after reading this?

- Does the romance hook feel strong enough?

- Does anything feel cliché or confusing?

- What would make you more interested in reading it?

Synopsis:

Dan had everything figured out—college, parties, girls, and a life with no room for anything serious.

Then one night gets him expelled from Kingsley University for a crime he didn't commit.

Forced to start over at Lookwood University, Dan expects nothing more than a new campus and a fresh supply of trouble.

Then he meets Kelly.

She isn't impressed by his charm. He isn't prepared for her attitude. And neither of them expects a reckless dare to turn into something neither can walk away from.

What starts as a game soon becomes dangerously real.

Because sometimes the person you never planned to fall for becomes the one you can't afford to lose.

Some stories begin with a dare and end with forever.

I'd appreciate any honest feedback, even if it's harsh. Thanks!

Hi all,

I have started querying my romantic suspense (with a little bit of a chick lit lean) with literary agents.

I posted my query letter (under another account) on pubtips and no one seemed to have any critique or find any issues. I've had some people I know read it. I've had my partner who is an MFA read through the first 50 pages and provide honest feedback.

I am struggling to understand what isn't working in the package because I'm not getting any feedback from agents so far. I know it could be anything in the package, but I also suspect that it could be where the novel is set (not US or UK based) and it could also be that its not right for the current market, which is very rom com or romantasy adjacent.

I have nothing against those sub genres (all are worthy!) but I don't personally like to read them, so I wrote something that sits more within my own taste.

My book is very much peak Nora Roberts vibes. Think 'The Obsession' but instead of a serial killer element, its a commentary on an abusive ex using a defamation suit to destroy the FMC's new life. She falls in love with the mysterious and troubled lawyer representing her pro bono.

I did present some comps (like Bourbon and Lies by Victoria Wilder) where there is a mix of spice and a mystery with a feminist bent. But I'm getting no traction.

Is anyone dealing with the same? Did you end up shelving the work or self publishing? I honestly don't think I can get it to a better place by myself, I've done all I can do as a writer on this one.

Of course, romances require a HEA/HFN ending, and for the romance development to be the main focus of the plot.

However, very often, another, more external plot exists that pushes the relationship along, and it is hard to disentangle the plots from one another.

How do you draw the line?

What to expect:

Sadie Bennett has come second to hockey her entire life. All she wants is stability, permanence and a life away from the game. Jake Vanders is an ECHL player with the raw talent to move up, but not the consistency to get there. When Sadie needs to be married to get the inheritance to buy a house and Jake needs to learn how to stay if he wants to advance his career, a marriage of convenience gives them both what they need.

This story includes:

• Dual POV
• Moderate spice
• Found family
• Marriage of convenience
• Third person narrative
• Low Drama
• Adult Contemporary
• Approximately 81K words

What I'm looking for:

I'm looking for 3-5 Beta readers to give reader reactions and big picture feedback on the plot and character development. No line editing or proofreading. I'll provide the first chapter along with more specifics so you can see if it's a good fit. I prefer betas who enjoy quieter, adult contemporary romance. I am not interested in paid betas or editing services.

I am happy to do a trade, but my schedule only allows for so many possible trades. Timeline: about a month to complete. Please DM me if interested and I'll send along an interest form.

I am currently writing a book set in the Caribbean during the Golden age of piracy.

My FMC is a mixed race former slave who got caught up in a kidnapping of a very powerful man daughter.

The MMC is a charming and over confident pirate captain hell bent on carving out a place for himself.

The two fell in love and have to navigate being together while the world and Navy is trying to rip them apart.

I have add things about pirates that I like:

The crude humor

The fighting

But I wanted to see if there was anything else that attracts them to pirate stories?

Can you guys give me some advice? I am writing a dark romance. The romance is the focus, and the horror is the subplot and not the main focus, but important. I'm scared that I'm going to lead readers to suspend their belief that the romance is real, or I'm gonna take it too far and make it too toxic. I don't know where the line is, because the story I'm thinking of could get pretty dark.  How do I avoid that? Also, when I think of a happy ending I think of marriage but that's not really possible in my story so I'm so worried about that.

Sometimes an entire story starts with one scene you cannot stop thinking about. What was the scene that made you realize that you needed to write a whole scene around it?

Specifically what might make something dark romance??

For context I'm writing a period drama, set in 1920s New Orleans. It's one man's blood soaked, bootlegging fall then rise to fame.

It's been called a dark romance three times now because the MC is assaulted by his manager at the climax of the book then is forced into a nonconsensual relationship with him that he's forced to pretend to consensual for a variety of reasons.

He also has relationships with a lot of other people. He has a love interest that he's forced to bid farewell but there's more, it's a complex web of psychotics, drunks and broken men who all want something from the MC.

Feels like a pretty cut and dry period drama to me. But now I'm not so sure.

I'm trying to decide if I should just give up and market it as dark romance.

Now weekly!

Blurbs can be the bane of an author's existence - both for self-published authors, who have to come up with an enticing hook all by themselves, as well as for authors seeking traditional publishing, as they are usually included in queries.

We want to help! Post your blurb draft and let the community help shape it into the perfect snippet of info.

To participate, please comment on this thread with the following info:

• The title or working title of your WIP
• The romance subgenre of said WIP
• The draft of your blurb you've got so far
• Any content warnings and additional info you deem necessary!

Anyone who wants to help can then reply to your comment to workshop your blurb.

Happy crafting!

Hello!

I'm about 2 weeks away from sending off my second book baby to beta readers. Title "Our Blooming Resonance" and its sci-fantasy alien romance with an inspiration from Ancient Egyptian mtyhos. It follows a coffee barista and the next Pharaoh-to-be after he lands on earth as part of his pilgrimage to find her.

The question I have is about how to position a book that is very much sweet/soft/cozy on the romance -- There are a couple angstier moments, but its far from enemies to lovers or anything like that. Its all very sweet, and the MMC is basically a flag so neon green its a fault.

The stakes are higher, there are politics and economic backgrounds, but the focus is definitely the romance. That being said there are 2 points where it DOES get a little dark.

1. Is when the MMC finds out what happened to his best friend who goes missing at the begining of the book. Its... not pretty. Think US government inhumane experiments.

and

1. A suicide bombing close to the end of the book, though we know the character its nobody "main" but it is rather sad.

Neither are described in excruciating detail, and are blips compared to the rest of the narrative which is more soft romance + some politcs/philosophy. I do think, however, they are necessery. The first is a big portion of the mystery for the first 2/3s of the book and the second is basically the realization of the threat that the book promises the whole time. Without either, the narrative has no teeth. It ends up setting up stakes that just never pay off. (Source, earlier versions of the story)

So what I'm wondering:

- How to position this to readers? I don't want someone one coming for star-crossed-lovers romance and getting put off by the dark even if it is brief

- Do I include trigger warnings? I did with my debut but that work is MUCH darker story so it felt more justified. I fear adding trigger warning may cause the opposite issue of people coming for the dark, and ending up in tooth-rotting-fluff-land for most of the book.

- Am I over thinking? Is just positioning it as a general "scifi romance" enough and the expectation is that its not going to be cozy-cozy but not brutal either?

- Anyone else has published/written/read something like this, and what worked for marketing and signaling?

- Any other thoughts welcome!

Thanks in advance for any help and advice :)

Edit: Thank you so much, everyone, for your valuable suggestions and insights. I’ve received plenty of helpful ideas to work with, so I’m all set for now. I really appreciate everyone who took the time to share their thoughts, but there’s no need to go through the trouble of commenting anymore. Thank you again! ❤️

Hello everyone, I also posted in r/novelwriting for advice but long story short, I need help in developing the 3rd Act of my story.

I initially thought of misunderstanding as the main conflict, but now it's not making sense to me anymore.

For context:

I've been working on this story for a while now. It's a South Asian slow-burn romance.... arranged marriage, two deeply wounded people, and a love that builds through restraint and patience.

The male lead, Abhi, is the kind of man I've literally fallen for myself. He's patient, caring, respectful. He learns after marriage that his wife, Nayra, has touch trauma. So on their wedding night, when he first learns about this, he's shocked yet he makes a promise to her that never touch you without your permission. And he keeps it. For years. He shows his love through small things (tucking her hair, feeding her when she's sick, kneeling to fix her saree pleats, buying her white lilies instead of red roses because he knows she loves them.)

Nayra is quiet, brilliant, guarded. But she is has too much self-respect, and hates to be a burden, hyper-independent sort of. She loves him back in her own way, through silence and small gestures. They understand each other without words.

This was my vision. This soft, aching, safe love story. The kind of story I'd want to read.

But now I've hit a wall.

See my Abhi has abandonement issue (anxious attachment), his ex had left him so now he overcompensates to the point of even losing his own health cuz he fears if he's not enough, people will leave him (people pleaser).

I tried to add conflict. I planned a misunderstanding which was inevitable cuz the seeds would be sowed since beginning, cuz they both were silent lovers, understanding each other not needing to say anything. But Nayra being academically brilliant and starting studying again after marriage, there comes a time when Abhi thinks Nayra is getting too close to her professor. In a heated argument, it becomes such that Abhi pleads her to refute his doubts, but she being heartbroken and her guards up, snaps back at him.

But I realised, it's cheap misunderstanding and melodrama.

I wrote these characters as two people who understand each other without speaking. They don't fight like that. Their silence is their love language. Abhi would never doubt her like that. Nayra would never cut him like that.]

But then I think—if I remove the misunderstanding, what's left? Two people being nice to each other for 300 pages? That's boring. That's not a story. That's a novella about saints.

So now I'm stuck.

Do I ditch this story? Do I force the misunderstanding even if it feels cheap? Or is there a third way?

What would you want to see in a story like this? What would make you care about a love story that's built on patience and restraint instead of drama?

I need help. I don't want to give up on this. But I also don't want to write something that feels dead on the page.

Yall I have this story idea BUT I think its kinda..controversial? I wanna see what yall stance r on this

Basically, the premise of my story is the MC, falling for his childhood best friend who is, also his unrequited crush’s husband. 😶‍🌫️ After her death, they bonded through their shared grief where eventually their relationship romantically evolve…slowburn style

As I reflect on it, maybe it could be seen as controversial. Bcos she died and then her childhood Best Friend and her Husband got together 🫢 is that bad? BTW i dont mean that its bad because the husband is actually bisexual or like sudden sexuality identity crisis like that (I hope u get me 😭) But as in like a stigma like is this act betraying their friendship?

Btw for more context of my story, I thought it would be more interesting if its in a mafia setting…yep..so cliche 🤣

Like the ML is secretlyyyy a mafia. He is the SON of the head of the mafia. 🥀 He wnts to leave but he cant cos hes the heir to The Family lmaoo but he doesnt want it so he rebelled and defected😭 (its CHEESY but its my cheese 😭) I imagine him to have a personality of a puppy top! Extroverted and kind but..he got two sides…😭

And then the MC is a homebody and a videogame nerd. (wait a min..is this a reflection..of myself..😭)

The childhood friend is a cool girl. I imagine her to be the kinda girl I wished I was! 😭 The MC looks up to her very much and cherishes their friendship. He actually nvr had the chance to confess his feelings for her. So yes he is jealous of the ML! 🙂‍↕️ guys i eat up rival x rival all. the. time. 😮‍💨

She never found out about the ML identity. BUT she has her suspicions.. Of course her death is SUSPICIOUS. Is it The Family hunting him down OR is it someone obsess with the ML? (Psycho side character for extra sauce 🙂‍↕️)

The ML and her also have a daughter together. The MC gets sad whenever he sees their daughter because she reminds him of her mother. 😭

So I imagine the plot to begin first as a typical romance then co parenting between two grieving individuals household story and then thriller mafia drama 💁‍♀️

I have the wholeeee story planned out and have tons of characters in it BUT im a lazy and hv no energy to upskill

Maybe id get the motivation after I read yalls opinion on this…would u read this? 🧐 And what are your stance on having a relationship with your bestfriend’s husband after they died?

As a romance reader turned writer, for me it's the little things that can make characters feel real.

I love when writers make their characters feel like distinct, unique, real people that you may know someone like in real life.

What's your favorite way to accomplish this goal?

Hi everyone

So I am currently working on a surprise baby romance and I am wanting a time skip, however, I don't particularly want to do the the Six Months Later... which is a way I know I can do it but I personality don't like.

So what are the ways you do time skips, or do you avoid them all together, would you put something in those months?

Thank you for any advice given!!

Hey everyone, I recently started writing again after a really long time and honestly I'm still trying to figure out what I'm doing lol 😭

I'm writing a romance story about a girl who moves to New York after going through some difficult things in her past. She meets a group of friends, starts getting close to a guy, and slowly the story gets into love, friendship, heartbreak and healing.

I'm trying not to make the romance the thing that magically fixes everything for her. I want her to actually deal with her past and grow as a person too.

For people who read/write romance, what makes a slow-burn relationship actually feel real to you?

Like, what makes you care about the couple instead of just waiting for them to get together?

Let's talk about the dynamic you opted for between your characters.

What made you pick the chemistry, dynamic, conflict that you chose between the main character and their love interest? You can also share the general inspiration if it was that.

I know in romance and its sub-genres the expectation is that the couple is HEA or HFN at the end of the book, but I feel like my story's ending is towing the line and I can't decide which way to position it.

The book ends with the couple separated. The MMC gets sent back to his home planet while the FMC remains behind. In terms of the series, this is a temporary separation (EDIT: to add I plan on them coming back together early on in the second book), but at the end of the first book neither character actually knows they'll see each other again, though they are hopeful that they will.

It's not really a HFN, but it's also not a complete heartbreak either. I'm at a loss for marketing. Should I simply rework the ending to say that the MMC will be back, but that he simply doesn't know when so it's less ambiguous and more marketable toward romance? Or does them being separated remove the book from the sci-fi romance sub-genre altogether?

Any advice you have would be appreciated!

Does anyone have thoughts or metrics (from a sales boost, or engagement boost, for example) on whether or not character art is a worthwhile expense for a self published novel?

For reference, this is my debut novel and is a Romantasy. Im trying to build a social media presence while it’s with an editor, and looking at all other expenses things are really adding up! I’m just wondering if the character art is a big thing to not skip or not.

Now weekly!

Blurbs can be the bane of an author's existence - both for self-published authors, who have to come up with an enticing hook all by themselves, as well as for authors seeking traditional publishing, as they are usually included in queries.

We want to help! Post your blurb draft and let the community help shape it into the perfect snippet of info.

To participate, please comment on this thread with the following info:

• The title or working title of your WIP
• The romance subgenre of said WIP
• The draft of your blurb you've got so far
• Any content warnings and additional info you deem necessary!

Anyone who wants to help can then reply to your comment to workshop your blurb.

Happy crafting!