past vs. present tense for romance writers

Should a particular romance novel, novella, or story be written in the past or present tense? (Should romance in general be written in the past or present tense?) Well ...

Some romance writers know with absolute certainty that a particular story has to be told in the past tense or in the present tense. Some people only write in one or the other, in which case: Problem solved, carry on!

But a bunch of other people get really stuck on the question of the storytelling tense--when is the story being told? during or after the narrated events? Sometimes this is a stressful decision when a writer is just beginning to play with a sparkling new idea. Sometimes it comes up when someone's trying to get a handle on a draft that just does not feel right.
 
Here's my own (informed, yet personal) take on present vs. past tense for romance fiction:

• Past tense (in third or first person: She ran down the stairs or I ran down the stairs) is the default and the safest bet. If you do not care, maybe try this path first.
• Present tense (She runs down the stairs, I run down the stairs) is a legitimate and viable option if the writer A) has a stylistic/artistic/thematic/narrative reason for choosing it for a particular story or B) simply prefers reading and writing narrative in the present tense. On a really basic level, if you hate writing in past tense, you shouldn’t do it!

Why present tense?

Readers who love present-tense narration typically say they like the immediacy, urgency, or immersiveness it creates for them. They like feeling that they’re experiencing events with the POV character, right as those events unfold.
 
Some readers, writers, and editors feel that the present tense works better for stories with a high level of action and/or emotional intensity throughout.

Why past tense?

For other readers, present-tense narration is a noticeable enough style choice that it’s actually distancing, taking them out of the story. That experience might involve thinking “huh, this is in the present tense, weird: I wonder why the author did that” instead of “ooh these characters are real to me, I'm all in.” To some people, present-tense narration reads like a script, documentary narration, a synopsis, or commentary on a story rather than a story.
 
That seems to be because people are most used to stories being told in the past tense, both in conversation and in writing. It’s the most familiar convention for many of us. Because of that life experience, past-tense narration is usually invisible to readers, meaning that it does not even register for us; we're just accessing the story without noticing the verb tense as an authorial choice. Present-tense narration is less omnipresent culturally and therefore more obtrusive for many readers.
 
Some people feel that the present tense is less effective for stories that include a lot of description, scene-setting, reflection, or exposition—or that are just quieter or less fast-paced. Memories and backstory can also be less awkward to integrate into a story that's written in the past tense.

Some readers actively hate present-tense storytelling. They may outright refuse to buy or read a book written that way. Or they’ll read it but apply much higher standards to it: In other words, they might go for a really excellent novel that handles the present tense flawlessly, even though they see the tense choice as a mark against it. This doesn’t really seem to cut both ways; I don't know anyone who refuses to read books written in the past tense, or who leaves negative reviews because of that tense choice.
 
However, if your heart is with the present tense, go for it. My observation is that some people who say they flat-out won't read present tense literally don't notice it if it's done well in a book that suits them in all the other ways, and will simply remember the book as having been written in the past tense—because it was so smooth that their brain didn't trip over it as unfamiliar, artificial, or awkward. And maybe past-tense-only people are simply not your target readership!

changes afoot?

Present-tense narration, mostly in the first person but sometimes in third, is showing up more often than it used to in romance. It seems to have become a lot more common in YA first (perhaps post-Hunger-Games?) and also may be coming from fan fiction (from which romance has gotten lots of writers and readers). This all makes me wonder whether younger romance readers may be more comfortable with present-tense storytelling and less likely to notice or object to it.
 
More broadly, like literally every narrative choice, the present tense will be more or less well received depending on a book’s target audience.

play around and see what you find

That’s all a bit abstract, though I think it’s helpful context.

But you need to find out what you think, especially in the context of a specific piece of writing, with its specific themes, tone, energy, characters, and heartbeat! Try this:
 
Rewrite two or three whole scenes from your current manuscript in the past tense if they’re currently present, or present if you’ve been writing in past. Or, if you’re in the planning stages, write the same couple scenes or interactions in both past and present. Try to choose scenes that have different levels of emotional intensity and different amounts of action vs. description, exposition, and reflection.
 
Read them. What do you think? What do you feel?

Happy writing!!