Forefather described by romance story (8)
I believe the answer is:
ancestor
'forefather' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'described by romance story' is the wordplay.
'described by' indicates a hidden word.
'ANCESTOR' is hidden in the letters of 'romance story'.
(Other definitions for ancestor that I've seen before include "Adam was our first one" , "not being of the modern generation" , "Antecedent, forebear" , "An escort (anag.)" , "Predecessor" .)