My Venus sign is exalted in Pisces, so why does my love life suck?

Your love life doesn’t suck because of giant gas balls, it sucks because of you.

Do you have Venus/Chiron aspects, or Venus/Saturn aspects? If either, especially if it’s a hard aspect then that could be it.

FIRST consideration is HOW your Venus functions in Pisces.

Pisces has the potential for both constructive effective action, but also for dysfunctional action.

How YOUR Venus (need to relate) works with the REST of your personality depends not on the Sign Venus is in, but on the "aspects" between Venus and any of your other 9 planets.

Squares and oppositions create an inner stress between your Venus-need and the need of whatever planet(s) squares/oppositions your Venus. And this brings out the negative style/behaviors of Venus in Pisces.  Not having a strong sense of self, you would get into relationships that don't work, that make you a victim.  Having ideals that are stronger than your sense of clarity, reality, you would over-idealize someone only to find out that they were not good people and you would end up disillusioned and/or bitter. Not seeing them realistically, you would have a difficult time working through relationship problems (and since no one is perfect, ALL relationships end up with problems).

On the other hand, sextile and trine aspects create innner harmony between your Venus-need and the need of whatever planet(s) sextile or trine your Venus. This creates an inner harmony that brings out the positive style of Pisces behaviors when you relate to others ... empathy, compassion, gentleness, kindness. And the ability to not always require YOUR way of doing things (all relationships require our ability to accept and our ability to compromise).

ALSO .. you need to look at Moon .. your automatic emotional reactions.  Since all relationships involve our emotional reactions.  Again, look at the aspects FIRST, to see what side of your Moon Sign you tend to express.

And Mars .. since that is how we take action and how we go after whatever it is that we want, including our assertion and aggressive urges.  Also how we respond to frustration (how we handle our anger).

Mercury is how we communicate to others, so it matters. Uranus is how independent we are, and how well we can/cannot compromise. Neptune is about illusion and idealism.  Jupiter is about generosity. Saturn is about loyalty (badly-aspected, about self-doubt). Pluto about how we use our inner power (either to be pushy or to change ourselves).

So EVERY planet is PART of how you relate to others. And the aspects are where you make sense out of it.

Also the 5th house is your general approach to infatuation (romantic love) .. and the 7th is your general approach to committed partnerships (including marriage). The 5th and the 7th are NOT the same kind of love.  

Regarding your 5th House being empty ... this is not a big deal. Each planet represents a different inner need. Whatever House a planet is in, that is the area of life that we pursue in an attempt to meet that particular need.  So if you have no planets IN the 5th House, this merely means that none of your inner needs seek fulfillment THROUGH infatuation, children, or creativity. And Virgo describes your approach to these 5th House areas ... a practical discriminating approach that tries to be helpful and useful.  BUT in the context of the ENTIRE chart .. influenced by having Venus in Pisces which is not practical and is far more idealistic .. but, like Virgo, it tries to help.  Just in a sacrificing/Pisces way, rather than the practical helpful style of Virgo.  So you have BOTH potentials.

I do not include Jupiter in the 1st, since this is more about the social mask you where when you are in uncomfortable social situations .. and not particularly applicable to your romantic relationships or love lie.

Comment on Venus-Saturn .. depends on whether or not the aspects is a square/opposition, or a sextile/trine/conjunction. Venus-Saturn CAN be very loyal.  The square/opposition tends to produce feelings of being unworthy and the person may be afraid of relationships or may be so sensitive that they screw things up .. BUT I've seen those with this "hard aspect" outgrow that and go on to have life-long marriages.  SO it is NOT the kiss of death. Your chart just shows how you will likely be IF you do nothing to change or grow.

As for Venus Retrograde ... the influence of retrograde planets is SO subtle, that we rarely take it into account. Focus on the major strong influences and look for repeating patterns.

Pray .

Maybe you have Venus/Saturn aspect in your birth chart, this aspect sucks so bad, or maybe you were born during Venus Retrograde (the shadow period gives similar efffects). If you are really curious about it, you have to give your complete date of birth (including the year), your birth time, and birth place.

Each planet is exalted in one sign.  Venus is exalted in Pisces. Exaltation has a sense of exaggeration about it, and that is a double edged sword.  While it is generally considered a good, a lot depends on the ruling planet Jupiter and an awful lot depends on the house placement.  Your love life is more likely to be represented by the 5th house and its ruler. If Venus has nothing to do with your love life, and she might not, then you have to look elsewhere to find out why your love life sucks.  For example if the ruler of the first is in adverse relationship to the ruler of the fifth might be one indication. It's more than just sign placement.

Some astrologers use what are called general significators.  Venus is the general significator of relationships, but if she is well placed, and your love life sucks then there is something else going on in the chart.  Maybe you exaggerate Venus characteristics to the point where it's a turnoff. When we have personal problems the best place to start looking is in the mirror. 

Because astrology has no actual bearing over anything. It is an ancient, meaningless pseudoscience that should be taken with a pinch of salt.