I know cheating is a huge no-no in romance, but

Good point by Marissa. Maybe just a contemporary piece or something?

I think that the reasons your characters are making the choices they are need to be more realistic. Relationships are complicated and long ones in particular will have a history that will make readers more sympathetic to cheating. Look at The Bridges of Madison County.

I don't think cheating should be a no-no, If it happens in real life, why not in books too?

Elenitsa said:

I don't think cheating should be a no-no, If it happens in real life, why not in books too?

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Of course it can happen in books. But it depends on how you label that book. Genre books have reader expectations for that genre, and breaking those expectations will annoy readers and hurt your ability to sell future books in that genre. From what I have observed, romance readers don't like protagonists who cheat on each other, and they will stop reading a book that contains a cheating protagonist and stop buying that author's books. So if the OP really wants to write a story in which one of the protagonists cheats on the other, that's fine--but that story probably shouldn't be labeled as a romance.

Elenitsa said:

I don't think cheating should be a no-no, If it happens in real life, why not in books too?

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In real life, couples divorce or one person dies, but try ending a romance this way and see what happens.

Likewise, cheating. I won't say it should never be done, but it's not easy to pull off. So any writer who wants to have readers sympathize with cheating characters in a romance should study how it's been done before (in romance novels, not in films).

This is probably a good thread to argue why the story should come first, then figure out what genre you have. The Bridges of Madison county was considered a love story and the author wrote three other bestsellers in the genre, so presumably he didnt anger his fan base too much. But I totally agree, it has to be done right. Look at Outlander - that one was a hard sell, but she pulled it off.

Proserpina said:

This is probably a good thread to argue why the story should come first, then figure out what genre you have. The Bridges of Madison county was considered a love story and the author wrote three other bestsellers in the genre, so presumably he didnt anger his fan base too much.

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Love story =/= romance. Call a novel a love story and I won't pick it up expecting what the romance genre provides - an ultimately feelgood experience with the couple alive and happy and together.

Marissa D has a good point. You can write the story and make it a big hit - Sydney Sheldon made a lot of money writing about everyone sleeping with everyone else behind their lovers' backs - but it's not best to market it as a romance.