I completely get where you're coming from, but trust me, you're just reading the wrong ones. There are a lot of really great romance manga!
These are just random recs from some random person whose taste you don't know anything about, so I wouldn't blame you for ignoring them, but I'd recommend:
Houkago Kitaku Biyori
Boku no Kokoro no Yabai Yatsu
Chikan Otoko
Skip to Loafer
Sakamichi no Apollon
Kimi wa Houkago Insomnia
Koe no Katachi
And these last two, especially the second, have the tag but are interesting mostly for other reasons. They're the best two here though:
Spirit Circle
20th Century Boys