I have a seed of an idea that feels a bit coming-of-age, but I also want to focus more on the romance element of the story eventually. The overall idea is that a young man sees a prostitute who has a daughter. She's basically dragging this child along with her everywhere and exposing her to less than ideal living conditions. The young man maybe sort of kidnaps this child and takes care of her. They live nomadically for a while, but due to unforeseen circumstances, the man has to leave the girl with a family he trusts so that she can have a safe and stable home environment. Years later when the girl is a woman, the two of them are reunited, and they begin to develop romantic feelings for one another.
Should it simply be a coming-of-age? It will most likely be told from the girl's pov. There's definitely no romance early in the story (cringe), but it becomes that later. I feel like if it was multiple books and one contained the early journey and struggles of the pair, then that would without a doubt be a coming-of-age. But then if a sequel contained later years, it would be primarily a romance. However, that could be jarring and confusing to have a sequel in a different genre, so it might be better to condense it into one story, in which case it would be weird to categorize it as anything romantic when the primary characters aren't even at an acceptable age at the start of the story. I just talked myself into a circle. I maybe even answered my own question. What the hell, what do you guys think?
Should it simply be a coming-of-age? It will most likely be told from the girl's pov. There's definitely no romance early in the story (cringe), but it becomes that later. I feel like if it was multiple books and one contained the early journey and struggles of the pair, then that would without a doubt be a coming-of-age. But then if a sequel contained later years, it would be primarily a romance. However, that could be jarring and confusing to have a sequel in a different genre, so it might be better to condense it into one story, in which case it would be weird to categorize it as anything romantic when the primary characters aren't even at an acceptable age at the start of the story. I just talked myself into a circle. I maybe even answered my own question. What the hell, what do you guys think?