The Perfect Love Interest

First of all let me start of by apologising for the long break between posts (I know it's not long by some standards but since I'm trying to update this fairly regularly I felt very guilty about it). I've been a bit caught up in my real-world happenings this week; particularly due to the fact that - according to my birth certificate anyway - I am now legally an adult and have spent the past few days celebrating that fact (surprisingly with very little input of alcohol - never really been my thing). I am now supposedly meant to be more mature and responsible, though that in no way means I plan to actually be so.

But back to my current topic of thought, which is: why are love interests in books always perfect?
Believe me I love reading a good romance as much as anyone and when the male character happens to be extremely charming, good looking, witty and always says the right thing it's all the better. I always manage to get shivers from a good bout of flirting and it's one of the things I most enjoy reading. But why does every time have to be so strikingly similar? When you think about it, how many guys do you know who have no faults whatsoever? Not every guy can be a good flirt and certainly not everyone is a complete dream to look at. It's simply reality. So why do authors always feel the need to emphasise how gorgeous all of their characters are - and not just the potentially romantic ones.

So, why is this? I know we want the readers to like the person our character falls in love with but it seems to me that we're trying too hard and it can make things a bit boring. I rather like the idea of a story where the two lovebirds hate each other to begin with but are forced together and end up liking each other in the end or manage to work through their differences, or else aren't really aware of each other until about halfway through the story, then they hit it off.

One final point: do all stories have to have a romance?
I know we all enjoy it and it adds an extra flavour to the story, but is it necessary? And is there a risk of it taking over the whole plot? I have read some books where the story turns from an adventure to just endless speculation about whether two characters will get their happy ending or not, rather than the main adventure plot with the romance as a main subplot.

I have decided in my story to leave the romance out for now and add it later if I feel the story is missing something. I still have the potential partner planned out and ready to go but I'm not necessarily going to include them yet - maybe I'll even save them for a sequel! But I'm keeping my main story main and trying not to distract from it too much.

What do you think? Can love interests become over-the-top perfect? Should the romance take precedence over the story?

Hope you enjoyed this little rant. Don't worry, it's over now.
Bye
W-O