Need advice from authors who write in the romance genre

Hey all,

I’m a published middle grade author, but I want to branch out and write for older audiences as well, so I’m currently trying my hand at writing a romantasy.

I’ve written in the fantasy genre all my life, often with romance as a subplot. But this particular novel is definitely a romance with some fantasy action elements rather than a fantasy with some romance elements.

I also have just come to the realization that the male love interest makes a MUCH better main character than my female lead does. So I’m considering switching their roles. But I’ve actually never read a romance novel with a male MC before… as a reader I would love something like that. But I want to publish traditionally so I want to make sure I’m not breaking some important convention. I get that romance readers are primarily women, but as a woman I quite enjoy stories from a male POV, and I also prefer writing male POVs, for some reason. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Also if anyone has any resources they recommend for brushing up on writing romance as a genre, I’m all ears!

Also I should clarify that this is what would probably be termed a “low spice” romance. I don’t know yet whether it will be explicitly Christian fiction or just a clean romance. It’s set in the early medieval era so the Church plays a role and my characters are Christian but that isn’t the focus of the story. Generally I prefer writing in the secular market so that my stories will reach more than just Christian readers.

Thanks!