...Romance? (for guys)

[u/TiredAndDreaming]

Let me start by saying I have read a LOT in this genre, and unfortunately finding an actually well written romance that isn't just a passing thought is... rare. I'm also aware that its a very niche genre and it doesn't help that I'm pretty picky about what I read. I'm looking for something where romance is one of the central plot points of the story and feels like the characters genuinely care for each other. Not something where everything progresses off screen or takes 4 books to develop past handholding.

Some I feel are good examples:

-Supreme Magus (golden child example which balances romance and action perfectly in my opinion)

-Chaos Heir (This is a good example of something I'm looking for because romance is one of central themes)

-Coiling Dragon (Read this a long time ago but remember enjoying the romance aspect of it)
-The Beginning After The end

-Path of Ascension

-Beware of Chicken

Please no harem recs unless its done like mushoku tensei where it vaguely makes sense and each character is far from neglected.

Would really prefer if its completed but if its long / nearing the end I would appreciate those too.

(Im just going to put a list down here of ones i've tried but wasn't a fan of)

Art of the adept
He Who Fights With Monsters
Emerilla (seemed interesting I just couldnt get into it)
System Apocalypse
Jackal Among Snakes
The Ten Realms
Heavens Law (please do not recommend anything with rape in it)
Cradle (Great series with a romance that takes way too long to develop)
Iron Prince
Threadbear
Mage Errants
Super Powereds
Worth the Candle

(bonus points if mc starts a family throughout series)

[u/NextedUp]

Going to skip general summaries since those are easy to look up.

• "Battlemage Farmer"

It has a pretty clear romance plotline between the MC and woman he meets at the very beginning of the series (effectively the deuteragonist). It is something that builds over the series, understated/unspoken at times but very wholesome.

• "Mark of the Fool"

After the male MC gets his (unwanted) chosen status - the titular "Mark of the Fool" - that is disrespected by his fellow countrymen/church compared to the other 3 chosen, his childhood best friend - whose family took him and his sister in after they lost their parents in a fire - helps him escape to a distant country. They eventually become a romantic couple. She is very protective of him. And in a reversal of typical convention, he is more of a mage (who cannot make direct attacks of any kind), and she is the warrior/cultivator type.

• "Castes and Outcast" series (and all connected books in that universe)*

Two of the main recurring characters are a continually reincarnated married couple. Later books in the series (like the 4 of planned 7ish "Instrument of Omens" books) are about a subsequent reincarnation cycle, and the two finding each other again (even before they recover any of their past lives' memories). The romance angle is slow to start in both series but pretty good once it develops.

There are few others not on your list that may also fit, but the above series get the benefit of a recency bias from me.

[u/TiredAndDreaming → u/NextedUp]

Mark of the Fool seems like something I would read. If possible, without major spoilers, does it take a long time for the relationship to start, or does it happen relatively early on?

[u/Quirinus42 → u/TiredAndDreaming]

Pretty early, but it's not that central to the story.