Romance in the sense of "romantic fiction" is a dramatic developing emotional relationship between two characters.

A romantic relationship develops linearly beginning with physical properties; the appearance of characters is immediately apparent. Physical attraction, ambivalence, or repulsion may be instantly established to aide or hinder future relational growth. Over time more depth will be revealed about less superficial character traits by observing what sort of hard choices the characters make when faced with conflicts. These exhibited character traits will either be favorable, enhancing the relationship, or they will be disfavorable, posing obstacles to the relationship. As with any conflict, a romantic conflict is one where the character is faced with a decision that must be made, and that will have lasting consequences of some type regardless of which way the choice is made. These hard choices both arise from, and expose and reinforce contradictions that are inherent in the character. We are unsure what the character will do, because he is kind, yet insensitive, or because she is eloquent yet self-conscious.

In a romantic relationship, these contradictions often lead to an emotional desire to care for the object of affection vs. an intellectual knowledge of sacrifices that must be made to do so. Romantic emotions are terribly strong: Not mere desire, but longing! Not mere pain, but torture! Not mere loss, but desolation! Strong emotions require desperate situations and lead to extreme choices.
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