I feel like this will make Elon Musk upset that it wasn’t him.

“We’re number 1! We’re number 1!”

It’s okay to like what you like, and if you don’t like romances that’s okay. There’s also a massive variation in what people think of as romances, from cozy to erotic, historical, contemporary, supernatural, etc.

In general though, romances are highly character driven—the story isn’t about what happens, the story is about how what happens changes the people in the story. It can make it feel like nothing much is happening, because what is happening isn’t the important part.

It may be worthwhile to look at “Women’s Fiction” or “beach reads” rather than outright romance. There’s some great stuff out there. It’s still going to be a large departure from a thriller, but I’d recommend Modern Lovers by Emma Straub or The Arrangement by Sarah Dunn.

You could also try contemporary fiction such as Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, or for something dark and unsettling but in a different way, Room by Emma Donoghue.

When deep space exploration ramps up, it’ll be the corporations that name everything.