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Opinions, please.
To be successful/acceptable/saleable, does a story have to include a romantic/sexual relationship between (either) major or minor characters?
It depends on the genre and on the story. Romance novels obviously require them, and romantic subplots are pretty common in many other genres. They often show up in fantasy and SF where the story takes place over enough time for characters to plausibly develop such attachments. Some writers (Joe Abercrombie and George RR Martin) put a twist on the trope by having the relationships end badly more often than not. I suspect that romantic arcs can feel forced in some kinds of stories. For instance, a romance might feel forced and out of place in a tightly paced stories that take place over a few hours during some kind of crisis, or stories that take place mostly in a single-gender environment where same-sex romances are taboo (and not desired by the target reader demographic).
Personally, I love romantic arcs and don't come up with ideas for novels that don't contain at least one such subplot very often (I tend to prefer plots that take place over longer periods of time, and my experience with humans is that they tend to develop romantic attachments when given half a chance, and romance creates interesting stakes and tension, and also provides an avenue for personal growth and happiness for characters of all genders and orientations), but I've certainly read plenty of SFF novels where other kinds of relationships are the main focus. CJ Cherryh, for instance, wrote SF novels where no one got involved with anyone "on camera." Other kinds of relationships can be interesting aspects of character development too.
So no, I don't think they're always required for a novel to be sold or successful, and they might even be forced in some kinds of stories, but their absence would be more conspicuous in some situations than others.
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