I'm in the middle of a lot of series right now that are long, ongoing, or both, so I'd like to take a break and read something enjoyable that I can actually finish fairly quickly. Under 30 chapters is even better!

Genres: anything except for seinen (can't get into the style) and shounen ai/yaoi (I read too much of this already)

Preferences: I'm not too picky, but I'm most attracted to the characters in a story - anything where I'll become attached to them and watch them/their relationships grow

My favorite shoujo are Skip Beat! and Lovely Complex and my favorite shounen are Black Cat and Noragami so that might give you an idea of my tastes?

Let's see......no seinen or yaoi/shounen ai, ones that are complete, actually good, and less than 30ish chapters or so, eh? Just to name a few, I'd suggest Annarasumanara, Choku!, Coda, Eensy-Weensy Monster, Full Dozer, Gokinjo Monogatari and Shounen Princess - Putri Harimau Nao.

Good luck finding something to read