Gothic romance can´t be great Gothic romance without this:
A: Historical time period, especially foggy gaslit London of Victorian or Edwardian times,
or
B: Gothic (old mansion, castle etc.) as setting.
And it would help if
1. villain is not fat, nerdy, balding, ugly etc. to show "ugly people are bad people!" Gothic Romances should not be polluted by such shallow thinking.
2. Heroine is not "strong and intelligent" (read: foul-tempered, spoiled, whiney Scarlett O´Hara).
A: Historical time period, especially foggy gaslit London of Victorian or Edwardian times,
or
B: Gothic (old mansion, castle etc.) as setting.
And it would help if
1. villain is not fat, nerdy, balding, ugly etc. to show "ugly people are bad people!" Gothic Romances should not be polluted by such shallow thinking.
2. Heroine is not "strong and intelligent" (read: foul-tempered, spoiled, whiney Scarlett O´Hara).
