Academically put, tropes are “common or overused theme[s] or device[s]," which makes them sound like cliches, which makes them seem like a bad thing. But they’re totally not! Romance novel fans all have their favorite—not to mention least favorite—tropes, from friends to lovers, chick in pants, secret baby, marriage of convenience, opposites attract, May-December, boss-assistant...the list goes on.
Each month, we’ll be picking a romance novel trope and ask you to offer recommendations falling under the trope rubric (again with the academic talk!).
You've known him or her forever—been to the movies, shared French fries, maybe engaged in innocent correspondence. And then, one day, you realize your friend is really kind of hot, and isn't that interesting? At some point, your friend thinks something similar, and then there's all sorts of very friendly action going on, resulting in the friends-to-lovers book.
Some of the books that come to mind for us are:
- Kristan Higgins' Just One of the Guys
- Connie Brockway's As You Desire
- Miranda Kenneally's Catching Jordan
- Lisa Kleypas's Seduce Me at Sunrise
- Stephanie Perkins's Anna and the French Kiss
- Sarah Mayberry's Anything for You
- Shannon McKelden's The Kiss Test
- Julia Quinn's When He Was Wicked
- Diana Gabaldon's Outlander
- Jennifer Crusie's Anyone But You
- Kristin Cashore's Graceling
Do you like this trope? Which are your favorites? Share your recommendations in the comments!
