To explain a little about what this post will be about, every Trope Tuesday post starts with the same introduction. In every romance book you read there are tropes or archetypes you find inside its pages. You can also see them in shows, movies, plays, etc. Every type of entertainment and media. Romantic tropes are everywhere, and they are fabulous. I adore them and I always tend to find my favorite ones in romance books so I can enjoy them even more. Trope Tuesday is a weekly column where I share books that I know people will enjoy with a specific central trope.
What is a trope? Urban Dictionary explains it best: “Despite the erroneous definitions already published here, trope on the interwebs really refers to an often overused plot device. It can also be described as another variation on the same theme. TV shows, movies, comics, games, anime’, & books are full of tropes & many rabid fan-sites now name & track said tropes with a self-explanatory title for each one.” We can name a few: accidental pregnancy, best friends to lovers, sibling’s best friend, marriage of convenience, and so many more. Your favorite couples? They probably got a trope too! It’s always so nice to realize or find out your favorite romance trope and keep searching for books with the same theme. So really? I’m just helping you find that new favorite book of yours. If ever you want a post on a trope I haven’t done yet, do drop me a tweet at @thebookvoyagers and let me know!
Something about this trope – academic rivals – just gives me so much joy. It incorporates my all-time favorite trope which is hate to love, but it does it in an academic environment. So these two characters have a rivalry that maybe has to do with grades, being student body president, debate team, being number one at school, etc. It’s so awesome to see them do their best academically and have this great competition with each other. See them give their all to something that means a lot to them, but also that means a lot to their love interest. They tease each other endlessly and grow together, forming a very good romance for us to read.
Misunderstanding Mr. Popular by Dane Luna
This indie YA romance came to me when I saw author Mina V. Esguerra tweeting about it. I instantly gravitated to it when I saw it was a sweet enemies to lovers story. I’m all for that so I got it and I was pleased with what I found inside.
Oli and Sebastian are rivals, because they want to be student body president. Sebastian is very popular and everyone loves him, except Oli. She wants to let the world know he is not the right person for this position, so she and her friends create elaborate plans to expose him. But she starts to realize that maybe Sebastian isn’t that annoying, maybe he is rather cute and sweet…
The Only Thing Worse Than Me is You by Lily Anderson
I seriously reread this book each year. My favorite academic rivals romance, for sure. It has childhood friends, hate to love, and it’s inspired by Much Ado About Nothing! It is also a Young Adult novel and it has one of the most romantic couples I’ve read in my life.
Trixie and Ben hate each other. Forever as #3 and #4 in their class, they are constantly outdoing themselves to try to be better than the other. They can’t stand each other and always banter when they are next to each other at the comic books store. But then their best friends start dating, so they have to spend time together even if they do not want to. Because of that, they find out more about each other and start to (maybe) develop romantic feelings!!!
A Matter of Disagreement by EE Ottoman
Rivals scientists, you say? Yes indeed. You ask and I deliver! A Matter of Disagreement is this little novella of pure enjoyment that you should read, because you will have the best time doing it.
Andrea is a noted scholar of ancient literature, and when the new science of mechanical animation becomes the talk of high society, his world is shaken. Not only that, but also its founder the Marquis de la Marche is not making things easier. These two argue and banter quite a lot but it’s so good to read about it!! When they meet, Andrea can’t believe this guy is so handsome. So definitely many things will rattle his world.
Beach Read by Emily Henry
2020 brought us Beach Read and I won’t ever forget how much it made me feel! I remember crying, laughing, swooning and throwing my Kindle at the wall. Basically. It’s definitely a wild ride that will give you a bit of everything you need in your life. Plus college academic rivals who now are very successful writers in neighboring beach houses.
January’s life is going through so much at the moment. She decides to tackle the easiest problem– her writer’s block. But going to his father’s beach house, the one he left for her after he passed, is hard to swallow at first, but if she doesn’t send this book in three months, things are going to get only worse. The thing is her neighbor is none other than her college rival, Augustus Everett, literary fiction author, and they don’t really like each other.
