For every romance novel, there is an attached trope. Here are the seven most popular tropes used, and where I think they fall from worst to best.
7. Pregnancy.
As an avid reader, I believe this trope is truly the worst. Why add babies and pregnancy in an already complicated relationship- it’s not going to make it any easier. This trope shows up in a lot of Colleen Hoover books and I think it ruins the plot, rather than adding anything to it.
6. Love Triangles.
Although love triangles appear in a lot of books (i.e. “The Hunger Games”, “Twilight”, “The Selection”, “A Court of Throne and Roses”, “It Ends With Us”, and so on), it almost never works out nicely. Plus, for all of us indecisive readers, choosing just one love interest is hard (Maxon or Aspen? Team Edward or Team Jacob?)
5. Fake Dating.
Fake dating, where the main character dates the other main character for mutual benefits, until one falls in love (for real) for the other, but there’s some type of miscommunication or conflict that doesn’t let the other character admit they have feelings and so forth. Personally, I think I’ve read the same story in different fonts multiple times (but I’m still a sucker for it everytime).
4. Star Crossed Lovers.
Romeo and Juilet are the original star crossed lovers, but in modern literature you may recognize Marianne and Connell from “Normal People” or Gus and Hazel Grace from “The Fault In Our Stars”. The star crossed lovers trope is amazing, but for the most part, our lovers don’t end up with a happy ending, so it ranks #4 on my list.
3. Sunshine & Grumpy/ Bad Boy & Good Girl.
When they say opposites attract, they weren’t lying. When one character A could care less about the small things and the character B loves the small things, so character A does too because they love character B; I eat it up everytime. I want someone to have a soft spot just for me.
2. Friends To Lovers.
How many times have you imagined you and your friend in a relationship? Where you already know everything about each other and know that you vibe with each other? The slow burn, the angst, the tension that everyone around them can feel but no one says anything in fear or ruining the relationship? I love it and I’m here for it every time.
1. Enemies To Lovers.
Now this one, when done right, can be absolutely toe-curling, throw your book at the wall, good. It’s gotta be nice and slow, with banter that stays throughout the entire book/series. Fantasy and dystopian books are usually the best in this trope because they have multiple books to develop a relationship, but books like “Beach Read” and “Book Lovers” also do it swimmingly.
When I’m on the hunt for my next romance read, I will always look for my favorite tropes, but a romance novel is a romance story, and I will eat it up every time.