52 Romance Story Ideas with Built-in Conflict

Here are enough romance story ideas to write a story a week for a year. I hope you find your spark!
Romance Story Ideas - 52 Love Plots with Built-In Conflict

Romance Worksheets

If you need help developing your romance story ideas, I have a bundle of 11 worksheets you can use.  Click here to download.

Romance worksheets

Write a story about…

  1. Two time-travelling scholars who compete to publish their paper first, but instead turn from enemies to lovers.
  2. A clockmaker who falls in love with a fairy they find in an antique clock.
  3. Two beachcombers who come together when they find two pieces of an ancient artefact.
  4. A bard who falls in love with the monarch by whom they’re employed.
  5. A lexicographer who incites a “manhunt” when they use their unrequited love as the subject for a series of puzzles for a local newspaper.
  6. Two gods from different mythologies who meet after the end of the world.
  7. Two paranoiacs who invent their own secret language to communicate with each other.
  8. A florist who writes notes on behalf of a client, only to find that the recipient has fallen in love with them instead.
  9. A fortune teller who falls in love with a scientist whose future they’ve foreseen.
  10. A philologist who falls in love with an illiterate person who they meet at a book fair.
  11. A librarian who exchanges secret messages with a writer with whom they’re in love, using book spine poetry.
  12. A student who is heartbroken when they meet their hero, but later get to know them anew.
  13. A truck driver who is planning to propose to a ship’s captain when next they meet.
  14. Two space cadets who fall in love during training, but are assigned to work in far-flung galaxies.
  15. A guide who organises travel tours for singles and falls in love with one of the travellers.
  16. A beauty guru who marries themselves.
  17. Two people who expected to go to hell but meet and fall in love in heaven.
  18. A cosplayer who meets another cosplayer at a convention and then goes on a quest to find them.
  19. A frail person who falls in love with their giant robot bodyguard.
  20. An actor who falls in love with a fellow actor in character.
  21. A fashion designer who falls in love with a slob who is touring their house.
  22. An archeologist who discovers an ancient recipe for a love philtre, and sets about trying to concoct it.
  23. A travel writer who decides to settle down when they meet a B&B owner in need of help.
  24. A princess who falls in love with an itinerant wizard who has a long-standing feud with her family.
  25. A werewolf who falls in love with an astronomer who agrees to try to help them.
  26. Two religious leaders of opposing factions who meet incognito at a leadership conference and hit it off.
  27. A ghostwriter who is secretly writing the biography of their famous spouse.
  28. Narcissus before he saw his own reflection.
  29. A sculptor who realises they’ve been recreating the face of an old flame over and over again.
  30. Two nuns who are planning to elope.
  31. An astronaut and a flat-earther who fall in love.
  32. A chauffeur who helps stage an intervention in their employer’s life, but ends up getting a bit too involved.
  33. A character who falls in love with their author.
  34. A gravedigger who loves their dog so much they’re willing to break the law.
  35. A pop star who teams up with a fan to escape their demanding record label.
  36. A stay-at-home parent who forms a crèche in order to meet other parents and find a partner.
  37. A linguist who is trying to create a neurolinguistic love spell.
  38. An architect who tries to win over the person they’re in love with by building them a home.
  39. An electrician who interprets their love affairs through electrical analogies.
  40. A taxidermist who is called in to restore the specimens in an old country house and becomes intrigued by the owner.
  41. A mathematician whose work inspires them to rekindle their love life.
  42. A gossip columnist who finds themselves the subject of their own column when they’re photographed with a celebrity.
  43. A publisher who is infatuated by a pseudonymous author they represent, and goes on a quest to discover the author’s identity.
  44. A tea taster who falls in love with a coffee addict.
  45. Two shamans who meet on the (astral) plane.
  46. A wand-maker who falls in love with a dryad.
  47. Romeo and Juliet in a parallel universe.
  48. A grieving person who falls in love with a candlemaker.
  49. A typewriter repairer who discovers a love letter from the future and sets out to find who will write it.
  50. An artist who falls in love with a picture only to realise that it’s their own self-portrait.
  51. A navigator whose spouse is imprisoned on a planet several lightyears away.
  52. A student who solves mysteries with the help of their deceased boyfriend/girlfriend.

How to Develop Your Romance Story Idea

How to Plot a Novel on One Page for NaNoWriMo & Beyond

If you’d like to learn how to develop your romance story using a simple plotting method, click here to watch this free writing workshop.

Tips for Using Your Romance Story Ideas

  1. Remember that switching the genders of the characters can be a good way to avoid stereotypes and make your love story more interesting.
  2. You can transpose these love storylines into any genre you like.
  3. Changing the era in which the story takes place can generate more conflict.
  4. Here is a great list of romance story generators from author, Darla G. Denton.
  5. Even if you aren’t writing a romance story, you can use these ideas for a romantic subplot.
  6. Combine these with the 100 Story Ideas for even more variations…

Story Ideas - 100+ Story Prompts & Writing IdeasHow to Write a NovellaHow to Write Your Fastest Story EverHow to Grow & Aim Higher As a Writer

Romance story ideas - prompts for writing romance plots or subplots

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