Tips Corner

Making Your Readers Fall In Love With Your Love Interest

Making Your Readers Fall In Love With Your Love Interest

Every romance writer dreams of creating that love interest.

You know the one...

The character readers immediately claim as their fictional spouse. The one who floods comment sections with heart emojis. The one who has readers saying, "If they hurt him, I'm rioting."

And yet, when we sit down to write a love interest, our first instinct is often to make them ridiculously attractive.

Tall. Handsome. Rich. Mysterious.

Unfortunately, readers don't fall in love with a jawline.

At least not for long.

Give Them Something More Interesting Than Perfection

If your love interest has no flaws, congratulations-you've accidentally created a decorative lamp.

Readers connect with characters who feel human. Maybe they're stubborn. Maybe they overthink everything. Maybe they can face a dragon but panic when they have to talk about their feelings.

Imperfections make characters memorable because they give readers something to latch onto beyond "wow, they're hot."

Let Them Notice Things

Want readers to swoon? Forget the grand gestures for a second.

Have your love interest remember that the protagonist hates tomatoes. Let them notice when they're having a bad day before anyone else does. Let them quietly save the last cookie because they know it's their favorite.

The little things hit harder because they show attention.

And attention is romantic.

Make Them Good at Loving This Specific Person

One mistake writers make is creating a love interest who could realistically be paired with anyone.

Instead, think about why they're perfect for your protagonist.

Maybe they challenge them. Maybe they calm them down. Maybe they're the only person who sees through the protagonist's carefully constructed walls.

Readers don't just want to know why a character is lovable. They want to know why these two people belong together.

Give Them a Life Outside the Romance

Nobody wants to date a cardboard cutout. Your love interest should have goals, hobbies, friendships, and problems that don't revolve around the protagonist.

Ironically, the more independent they feel, the more attractive they become.

Readers love characters who feel like they could walk right off the page and continue living their lives.

Let Them Earn Their Romantic Moments

A confession scene can be beautiful.

A first kiss can be magical.

But neither works if readers haven't seen the groundwork.

The reason certain romantic moments make readers scream into their pillows isn't because the scene itself is special. It's because of everything that came before it.

The teasing. The longing. The stolen glances.

The accidental hand touches that somehow cause more emotional damage than an actual kiss.

Build the anticipation, and readers will do half the work for you.

Remember: Readers Fall in Love Through Actions

You can tell readers your love interest is kind or you can show them helping someone when nobody is watching.

You can tell readers they're loyal or you can show them staying when leaving would be easier.

One of those creates information. The other creates feelings and readers don't fall in love with information.

They fall in love with moments.

So if you're trying to create a love interest readers will adore, don't focus on making them perfect.

Focus on making them memorable.

After all, nobody closes a romance novel thinking, "Wow, what excellent cheekbones."

They remember the character who made them feel something.

At the end of the day, sometimes readers don't fall in love with a love interest because they're six-foot-two, devastatingly handsome, or capable of brooding in the rain. They fall in love because the character feels real. Because they care. Because they make the protagonist and the reader feel something.

So the next time you're crafting a love interest, ask yourself: would readers miss them if they disappeared from the story?

If the answer is yes, you're probably on the right track.