I love romance stories. I almost exclusively watch only romance dramas but I don’t read romance novels.
The romance feels to transactional.
“He saved me so I love him”
” He is smart so I love him “
You can reverse the gender and its the same.
It is usually very prominent in regression novels like Medical Return.
A woman who didn’t even register the protagonist’s existence in the previous life is so much in love with him because he is top in the class.
It shows that if he protagonist lost his gift or cheat, the love will not exist.
Authors try to retcon the shallow romance down the line but it is not really salvageable.
It’s just pathetic.