So… in case you didn’t know… Tuesday is Valentine’s Day!
Today on the Book Club I thought we could talk about favorite tropes in romance books. For instance, do you love reading about best friends who fall in love? Or maybe you’re a fan of marriage-of-convenience stories – I am too! (In fact, stay tuned on Tuesday for a list of my fave books in this trope.) Perhaps your fave trope is a mistaken identity storyline. Or maybe you love my most-hated love triangles! (It’s ok. I’ll forgive you.)
Maybe your fave is one of these:
- accidental pregnancy (not as common in Christian fiction but there are some great ones!)
- falling in love with best friend’s brother/sister
- starcrossed romance (a la Romeo and Juliet)
- enemies who fall in love
- fake engagement/marriage (another fave of mine!)
- guardian/ward
- hero/heroine in disguise
- opposites attract
- being in love with deceased best friend’s spouse
- stranded together (another personal fave!)
- unrequited love
- hero/heroine in peril
Or perhaps you have a fave that I haven’t mentioned yet. So, now it’s your turn! What are your favorite romance tropes to read about? (And what are some of your fave books that cover them?)
I’m going to have to say my favorites are marriage of convenience,
opposites attract, unrequited love, and hero/heroine in peril!
i love those too!! Especially when the unrequited love finally takes root – all the feels!!
D) All of the above. ?
LOL! i hear ya
Hmmm…they are all so good but my faves is opposite attracts, heroine/hero in peril, stranded together and relying on each other for survival – sigh.
ooo yes – there is something so swoony about relying on each other for survival, isn’t there?
I do have another’n, they grew up as friends and then one day…
I give you a bit from my current WIP – it is 1902, plantation and there is a seven year age difference and he realized his affection for her much earlier than she did…
I didn’t know at the time the depth of my affection for him. He was a friend to me, and a brother. The attraction that grew between us was natural of course, but at eleven and twelve years of age, it was foreign to me.
When I turned fifteen, Mikal came to celebrate my birthday as he always did. It was chilly and windy, the end of octobre, and the first winter winds were blowing. Still, there was cake and a celebration outdoors.
Mikal brought me a plate with my cake on it. Our hands touched and I felt it for the first time. That lightening that kindles the attraction, the love between a man and a woman. I met his eyes and my breath became shallow. My lips parted and I was suddenly parched. My heart raced, pounding so loud I was sure everyone could hear me.
The dark gray of his eyes deepened to pools of purple coal. My head tilted—and so did my plate—and I sank into the depths. His lips—I had never noticed his lips. Suddenly I was drawn to them, fascinated with the softness of them. The color of early watermelon, I wanted to taste them.
My eyes traveled back to his gaze and I was lost to his embrace and he hadn’t even touched me save for the incidental graze of our fingers.
Words swirled in my mind but did not find my voice. I knew at that moment I was in love with him.
“Your cake, Ce.” He cleared his throat—and the surge of emotion and hormones. He tried but didn’t save my cake. It hit the ground and was immediately wolfed down by Buffalo, the bulldog.
We burst out laughing, a new understanding between us. He reached his hand to mine and for the barest moment, twined his fingers with mine before seeking Eddie to play ball.
love it!
I love opposites attracting, although a great romance can take many forms. One of my favorite love stories of all times is Tamera Alexander’s “Remembered”. Talk about opposites; lovely, petite, proper Veronique vs. handsome,rugged, mountain freighter Jack Brennan. I cannot tell you how many times I have read that story.
If you haven’t read it, please do. Their conversations are hilarious.
oh that is a great one! I love that whole series by her – one of my faves.
Hero/heroine in disguise. I also love the misunderstood hero/heroine where they each have it all wrong about each other!
I like that one too! Though it can become rather frustrating if carried on too long lol
I like the meet cute in so many of these stories. Melissa Tagg is especially good at those 🙂
oooo yeah! those are always fun!!
Opposites attract is a good one. Then they discover that they have lots in common, only it wasn’t obvious at the start. One of my Kindle short read ebooks springs to mind. In Snow Song, the new curate falls for a pop princess. I had a lot of fun with that one!
lol that does sound fun!
I love marriage of convenience ones.
A couple you haven’t mentioned, but which are my favorites, too:
amnesiac doesn’t remember true love and has to be won back
one party hurts the other deeply and leaves for an extended period of time and then comes back changed, finally appreciating what s/he left and trying to win the other back
Or (somewhat related) one party leaves for the good of the other party but the other sees it as rejection until the first party comes back and wins him/her back.
There may be others. I mostly just like HEAs. No triangles though. 😛
i will occasionally tolerate a triangle if done well (Sara Ella’s Unblemished comes to mind) but ohhhh I typically loathe them LOL
And yes!!!! Amnesiac stories! I do love those too!
If I may make a shameless plug, I wrote an amnesiac story a few years ago called Second Time Around. To make it even more fun, it’s written 90% in the hero’s POV. 🙂 Blessings, and enjoyed this blog post. Romance writers (who are also readers) love to lurk when romance in books is being discussed. 🙂
oh fun!!
Best friends to more, opposites attract, enemies to lovers – they’re probably my faves, but a romance is a romance, so I’m not picky! ?
indeed!
I love marriage of convenience, mail order bride, mistaken identity, and memory loss storylines – but I’m open to being surprised into liking other tropes.
those are some of my faves too!
Ummm…all of the above?? 😀 Hahaha, I love basically any romance story–though historical setting definitely is my preference.
LOL yes – all of the above is an acceptable answer 😉
Oh gosh!!! It really depends on the story. One scenario I will love in one book, bit not care for in another. Love triangles are probably my least favorite. I love mistaken identity, best friends falling in love, and “enemies” the most I think.
i love all of those too! (except of course for the love triangles lol)
Why are you making me pick a favorite?! I do love marriage of convenience stories. I’m excited to see what you have for Tuesday! One of my favs is A Bride Most Begrudging by Deanne Gist.
I’m also a huge fan of unrequited love when it’s from a long-established friendship (like Denise Hunter’s Just a Kiss or The Bound Heart by Dawn Crandall).
One book I LOVED that used the “pregnancy” trope was Denise Hunter’s Dancing with Fireflies. Talk about a neat way to apply that! Now I’m curious: what books have you enjoyed, Carrie, that use this trope in Christian fiction?
the pregnancy trope? Dancing with Fireflies is definitely one I was thinking of… Some other faves are Beyond This Moment by Tamera Alexander, The Painter’s Daughter by Julie Klassen, The Thorn Keeper by Pepper Basham… i know there are more. I’m off to find them LOL
I think I must answer “all of the above”, because I’m not too particular as long as it has a HEA.
amen, my friend 😀
My favorites are the marriages of convenience and the stories when best friends fall in love. But I’ll read almost all of the above as long as it’s a clean romance! <3
me too! 😀
Childhood friends. Not many examples are coming to mind right now except for Blue Columbine.
oh i love that one! I think Becky Wade’s A Love Like Ours is an example of that too.
Yes! I just thought of that too.
Definitely all of the above plus Divorced – End up back together and Oops, We aren’t divorced what do we do now?
LOL i like that one too! Forgot about it but it’s always a good one 😀