I love to have good romance in games, especially how it was done in FF8 and ToS2. Love done in stories can make characters grow a lot!
However, I usually don't care for the side quest romances in games like Mass Effect and Dragon Age (even though I loved the games themselves) because they don't feel like an actual part of the story. True endings and canon are usually the main reason for that opinion.
If I know the ending wasn't intended, I can never actually complete the story in my mind with an optional ending package. I still do however enjoy romantic interactions, even if I know they weren't "canon".
Romance can be a bad thing for me too- I didn't care for the FF13 romance with Snow and his fiancee, since it started before the story even really began.
A game with a complete lack of romance is very boring for me though. I like to watch love bloom, even it is subtle or scarce, but not forced like how it was done in Star Ocean 4.
My opinions are a bit mixed, I know! Romance is definitely a challenging concept to deliver well.