The books I tend to obsess over, and gush with glee and excitement about the most, have fantastic romances in their story-lines. I’m so hooked on them that I can’t tear my eyes away and stay up way later than I should to read the next swoon-worthy scene. What can I say? Love does it for me. But whether the genre is romance, or the story only has a romance in its subplot, there’s a long list of tropes writers use that can make or break a romance for a reader based on their personal preferences.

Rather than talk about each individual one, I thought it would be fun to react to them.  If you want to play, just copy the list and paste it into the comments with your own responses! I’d love to read about your favorites. Bonus points for including book recommendations, too. Explanations for various tropes can be found here and here.

And in case you are curious, I’ve also noted which tropes appear in the story I am querying.

• Accidental pregnancy: Occasionally. Babies just aren’t my thing. Unless they are cats.
• Alpha hero: Mm, a fav if the alpha isn’t an A-hole.
• Amnesia: Kinda in my story, technically not.
• Arranged marriage: Oo, when it’s enemies-to-lovers especially.
• Athlete: Meh. Doesn’t do anything for me. Unless jousting.
• Band of Brothers/Girl Squad: Bad ass warrior men and women? Intrigued. Would read.
• Best friend’s sibling: I dig this with Game of Thrones fanfic; it’s a niche-like for me. Unpopular opinion: Sansa/Theon (Theon’s best friend being Rob).
• Billionaire: Another niche-GOT-like if it’s Stannis/Sansa. Don’t judge me.
• Blackmail: Nope. Manipulation sounds like a real bad starting point for a relationship.
• Class warfare: Not opposed.
• Consanguinity: Think cousins or step-siblings. GOT, Regency/Victorian AU or bust.
• Cougar: I loved the CW show Significant Mother. It only lasted a season. I don’t know if the world wasn’t ready for a woman to be the significantly older partner, or if it was because she was dating her son’s childhood best friend. Probably the second one. It is hard to buy-in to conceptually, but I thought the show handled it well. Admittedly, I’m glad they didn’t show any childhood flashback scenes. (Or if they did, I’ve conveniently forgotten about them.)
• Cowboy/Cowgirl: This one isn’t literal (although it can be). Basically, it’s whenever the character is out of their comfort zone. Think The Proposal. Sandra Bullock’s NYC corporate exec character goes to the northern wilds of Alaska to meet her fake fiance’s family and has lots of hilariously awkward interactions with Gam-Gam (played by Betty White) who’s thirsty for great-grand-babies. To the windows to the walls. Till the sweat drops down my…
• Cyrano: Not really a draw for me.
• Disguise: Under the right circumstances.
• Enemies to lovers: Favorite.
• Fairytale: Beauty and the Beast is my favorite one to read a retelling of but certainly open to others.
• Fake relationship: And then they fall in love while pretending. Love ’em.
• Firefighter: Special place in my heart when used in AUs of a warrior character in fanfic.
• Fish out of water: Lol, this applies to my story in the literal sense, but not in the spirit of the trope. Cuz mermaids.
• Fling: Sometimes. Prefer a slow-burn.
• Friends to lovers: Not a draw but not opposed.
• Forbidden love: A favorite.
• Gay/straight for you: I don’t know how I feel about this one. I don’t think that’s how that works…
• Guardian/ward: I’m not sure about this one either. It would depend on the context.
• Jilted bride: This one has a ton of potential. If executed a certain way, I think I would love it. There’s a Scottish Highlander GOT AU fanfic with Jon Snow that has this premise and I’m here for it. But it’s a WIP that hasn’t been updated in a while 🙁
• Kidnapped: Hades/Persephone is a serious favorite of mine.
• Love triangle: I hate these. Hard pass.
• Maid: Not for me.
• Mail-order bride: Really enjoyed Helen Hoang’s The Bride Test. This worked for me in that.
• Marriage of convenience: Favorite. OUTLANDER.
• Matchmaker: Kinda like marriage of convenience and arranged marriage.
• May/December: This one IS in my story. Or maybe it’s more like May/late-July. Anyways, I didn’t use to like this trope, but I’m very much on board with it now under the right circumstances.
• Military: Uniforms. Valor. Honor. Sacrifice. Warrior but modern times. Heartstrings. My husband is in the military. Duh, I’m on board.
• Mistaken identity: Oo maybe.
• Office romance: When I’m in the mood. Not when I don’t want to think about work though.
• On the road/boat/plane/trip: Meh. Except Titanic. Or if they get stranded on a desert island.
• On the rocks: Would read, especially to see how the couple works through it and comes out stronger for it.
• Opposites attract: I do like this one.
• Orphan: Heroine in my story is an adult, but this is part of her backstory.
• Parent/childcare worker: Think nanny or governess. Don’t mind this occasionally in fanfic. I need to read Jane Eyre.
• Performer: Sometimes. Depends.
• Playboy: Hard pass.
• Politics: Dave (1993). <3 But generally, no, unless fantasy w/ kings and queens.
• Protector: Interested if the protector is the heroine.
• Redemption: YESSSSSSSS. I have ideas for revamping an old, unfinished fantasy romance of mine. This is inspired by #Reylo for its use of this trope and the enemies-to-lovers one.
• Relationship coach: Meh. It makes me think of The Love Guru, and I just can’t.
• Return to hometown: Hallmark. Blah. Unless there’s a murder.
• Reunion: Meh.
• Revenge: Oooo. Definitely.
• Royalty: With how much I love fantasy, much yes.
• Runaway bride/groom: Has potential for me—like Jilted Bride.
• Scars: Dramione fanfic 101. 10/10 would read again.
• Second chance: Meh.
• Secret baby: Not my cup of tea.
• Secret/lost heir: No opinion.
• Sex worker with a heart of gold: Hate the trope name, but a sex-worker character changing their line of work after finding the love-of-their-life actually works really well in Helen Hoang’s The Kiss Quotient. This is one of my favorite romances.
• Sibling’s ex-spouse: Woof. No. It would have to be out-of-this-world brilliant.
• Stranded: Ooo yes please.
• Sudden baby: No.
• Time travel: OUTLANDER. 1,000 TIMES YES.
• Tortured hero(ine): Mm. Yes.
• Ugly duckling to swan: Makes my heart sad.
• Unrequited love: Maybe. Probably not.
• Virgin: Usually nah. But I love that Jamie in Outlander is and Claire isn’t.
• Widow(er): Not opposed.
• (Wo)man in peril: Woman-only, no. It’s overdone. Man-only, yes. Not overdone. Both rescue each other at one point or another, yes.

Alright! Now you try 😉