Like every other genre of fiction, romance is crafted with the reader's expectations in mind. To write a good romance novel, you need to know what these expectations are and strive to meet them. There are five fundamental promises every romance is supposed to fulfill. They need a sympathetic heroine, an attractive hero, an intense emotional conflict, a logical plot, and a happy ending.

1. A Sympathetic Heroine. The success of a romance rests heavily on the back of the heroine. She is very crucial to the narrative. Your readers need to strongly identify with her for them to be captivated by her story. She needs to be sympathetic, strong but not too hard, vulnerable but not weak, intelligent, respectful and intriguing. She is capable but still imperfect. You have to make these virtues real and natural to your character without creating a cliche or stereotypical personality. She needs to be the woman your readers want to see, the picture of who they imagine themselves to be regardless of geographic and occupational or even age difference.

2. An Attractive Hero. Your romantic hero has to be attractive to your heroine and your readers. Readers need to root for the union of their favorite heroine with the hero; they need to deem him worthy of her heart. How endearing he is will determine the success of your romance. He needs to show strength (even a good, muscular fighter) but not overbearing or borderline abusive. He needs to be charming in his personality traits, as with his looks. Intelligent, ethical, funny, romantic and fascinating. But don't overdo it; he isn't perfect, has a good share of flaws and humanity that makes readers aware he is a human just like most good men they know.

3. An Intense Emotional Conflict. At the core of every successful romance is an intense emotional conflict that keeps the heroine and hero apart from each other. There have to be serious obstacles standing in the way of their love story. It could be family, a love triangle, legal issues, or social conventions. Your sources of tension need to be compelling, complex and believable. Let these obstacles stem naturally from the nature and status of the people your main characters are. Then effectively display your characters wrestling with these issues throughout the story.

4. A Logical, Lovely Plot. The plot of your romance novel, like every other genre, needs to be mind-blowing yet believable. Readers still need an extraordinary love story that's refreshing and intriguing, and your plot needs to offer just that, but with a dash of consistency with the facts of your story world, so that their suspension of disbelief will not be in jeopardy. Readers need to get lost in your love story, deeply rooted and rooting for their favorite heroine and hero. They don't need the distraction of illogical elements and plot points.

5. A Happy Ending. Romance readers want that fairytale ending, a happily ever after. The heroine and the hero need to end up together, committing to a lifelong future together, always and forever. They could rekindle the old flame in the dwindling romantic relationship of their marriage. Or the handsome, well-mannered, single business executive finally wins the heart of the hardworking, independent female entrepreneur. In a romance, this happy ending is a crucial part of the promise.