If it's important for the reader to know any background information or if the location is to be important, introduce it after you've hooked the reader on your romance. Consider the following two examples:

Example One
It was a cold, winter's day. The sky was dark, no sunlight warmed the sidewalks and the biting wind whistled between the buildings. Everyone was hunkered down far inside their coats and hats. Only the foolish were brave enough to venture outside without gloves and woolen socks. Frost-bite was stalking the town and searching for victims.

Melissa shivered, sitting at her desk on the top floor of the town's newest high-rise office building and faced the giant window that ran the complete width of her office. From all looks of it, the weather was only going to worsen. She wanted to go home but there were two more interviews to get through. She buzzed Carla, her secretary, to bring in the last of the resumes.

This is not an effective introduction to a first chapter of a Romance novel. In this example, the scene is set first. It is more important than the character and would be geared more toward general fiction where plot and location has more emphasis. In general fiction the characters react to their surroundings and the plot grows from there. We get to know the characters slowly.

Publishing houses have readers who evaluate a manuscript before it ever reaches an editor. This manuscript would likely be chunked and not make it past the first paragraph for it doesn't demonstrate evidence the writer knows the romance genre.

Example Two

"You're nose is red. You look like Rudolph." Melissa glanced up at her secretary who'd just come back from lunch.

"Yeah, and my fingers are blue and I could break off my toes and use them as ice cubes. I left my gloves home." Carla had a sheaf of papers tucked under her arm and she frantically rubbed her hands together.

Melissa laughed. Carla had a tendency toward dramatics, but she was the best assistant in the building. She'd been lucky to get her. Shuffling the resumes piled high on her desk she asked, "So how many more applicants are left? So far, the pickings have been pretty slim."

"Just one. Garret Archer. "

" Well, maybe I can hurry him through and we can get out of here early. Looks like it's only going to get worse out there." The wind whistled through the big window at her back.

"Umm, you'll want to take your time with this one."

"Impressive resume?"

"Impressive buns." Her secretary plopped the headshot

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