Happy Monday! Today I’ll be talking about my all time favorite romance novel tropes!
The English major in me is coming through on this topic because I love to analyze all things plot, character, patterns, and rhetorical choices.
Since I’ve started reading the romance genre, I’ve noticed several of the stories following similar patterns.
Some people hate this predictability and possible cheesiness. However, there is just something about these three tropes that will get me giggling like an idiot over fictional characters (No shame in the lovey-dovey game).
There is an interesting expectation for authors to deliver certain elements of romance tropes for their audiences, but also put enough of an original spin on the trope that the story does not become stale. This is tough to do!
- Second-chance Romance
I’m not sure why, but there is something so appealing about the idea of two people who have history running into each other and dealing with their past. Whether the protagonists succeed in their second chance or not is a whole other story.
One of my favorite stories with this particular trope is “Happy Place” by Emily Henry. I had no idea from looking at the hot pink cover that this story would break my heart and sew it back together in three-hundred-eighty pages.
Although authors utilize this trope constantly, the use of it in this story felt incredibly real and not cheesy or overdone in the slightest.
Wyn and Harriet dated throughout college and into early adulthood, and have the same friend group. The group reunites every so often at a cottage. This time, Wyn and Harriet’s friends do not know they actually broke up five months before.
They decide to fake that their relationship is happy and strong to keep the peace among the group.
Their rekindling takes forever, almost so long that I wondered if they would ever get back together. So many factors kept them away and none felt unrealistic. It was a completely raw story about two people who struggle with their own identities and lives.
- Enemies to Lovers
This trope is a fun one because it spices things up a bit. Two characters start out disliking or really hating each other, then end up falling in love. I have seen this get a bit cheesy or unrealistic in some stories, but I’ve read some great ones.
A few examples that come to mind are “The Spanish Love Deception” by Elena Armas, “The UnHoneymooners” by Christina Lauren, and “Red, White, and Royal Blue” by Casey McQuiston.
“The UnHoneymooners” was a fun read that always sticks out to me, but there were some details that made me question the cheesiness of it. For example, the main character, Olive, and her “enemy” are the only two people of several who do not get food poisoning at Olive’s twin sisters’ wedding rehearsal dinner. This felt a bit unrealistic, but I let it slide.
So, Olive and Ethan take her sister’s honeymoon trip for her. This also brings in a little bit of the forced proximity trope, which is also another good one.
Another favorite enemies to lovers example is “Better than the Movies” by Lynn Painter! This is a young adult romance which features two highschoolers who grew up strongly disliking each other. In their senior year, a bunch of events take place that push them further towards romantic feelings.
It takes a while for them to admit their feelings and there is all kinds of trouble in between for them, but I loved their story.
There is just something about two people with a hatred for each other changing their minds and ending up together!
- Friends to Lovers
My love of this trope is simply the hopeless romantic in me speaking. This trope is your classic friends who maybe grew up in the same town or school. The characters eventually grow closer romantically and end up falling in love.
I’m not sure why, but this trope seems like one of the more simple to write. However, there has to be a lot of complicated factors or the two characters that get in their way because things can get boring if not.
Some books with this trope are also called a “slow burn” because it takes a while for the feelings to surface and be reciprocated.
One of my favorite examples of a friends to lovers story is “Picking Daisies on Sundays” by Liana Cincotti. This author, by the way, is extremely impressive because she published this book almost 100% on her own!
The beginning of this story was heartbreaking because Daisy falls in love with her childhood best friend, Levi, in highschool, but at the prom they have a huge misunderstanding that leads them to separate for almost all four years of college.
Their reunion and path from friendship to lovers is the cutest thing ever.
I hope you enjoyed reading about my top 3 favorite tropes in romance literature!