To explain a little about what this post will be about, I’m taking the intro I did for the last one: In every romance book you read there are tropes or archetypes. You can also see them in shows, movies, plays, etc. 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 more. I decided to do a sort of Trope Tuesday piece where I will be talking about many tropes and recommend you all some of my favorites that fit.
What is a trope? Urban Dictionary explains it best I think: “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 for sure. 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.
First of January means a new year. New everything. But it also means it’s time to go back to school. Holidays are (almost) over or if not already over, and life is dragging you back. If you’re like me, you’re dreading going back to school because it just means that you’ll have homework, lots of work, you won’t be able to go out with your friends as much as you do it on holidays, and it’s all-around a really tiresome time. Sometimes books share the same feeling and you might want to read a book where you see a main character who also is going back to school or just starting school.
College-set romances are definitely something I can relate to. I am currently on my last year of my degree and I’m hanging in there! I love reading romance stories where they show characters that also feel either lost or found in this world (the college life!). Most of the times we find books that really don’t relate to us because how can these characters have a social life, can go to the gym, be able to do all their homework ON TIME, and even have time to have a part-time job? But either way, I’m pleased when I read these romances because these characters are my age, they are like me and I want to find my own love story so I really get high expectations when I finish reading them, but oh well.
Today I will show you some of my all-time favorite college-set romance titles and hopefully you can relate to them too and can love them just as much as I do.
Last Will and Testament by Dahlia Adler
When her parents are killed in a car crash, Lizzie needs to stop partying and hooking up with the wrong guys. She becomes the guardian to her two little brothers so life gets real for her. Her grades need to get better and as well as everything else because her life just did a complete 360. She decides to go to Connor, her History TA, to help her and while it’s not a secret he isn’t her biggest fan, he agrees and these two start to spend so much time together. It’s so sweet and this whole book is really great. Dahlia has a complete trilogy, all set in college, if you want to keep reading!
Hold Me Down by Sara Taylor Woods
Talia meets Sean at a get together and it begins from there. They’ve got instant connection and flirt/play so much that it’s so cute and you die from the feels. They got this thing with cupcakes and they also have this easy relationship/dynamic going on that it’s not hard for you to just love immediately. Hold Me Down is one of my favorite books and I swear everyone really just needs to read this one.
Bucket List to Love by C.P. Santi
Bucket List to Love also features a tutor and this time all the way to Tokyo. Aya Contreras decides to take an exchange program to Tokyo and to make her stay there more fun, her sisters decide to write her a bucket list. When Ryohei finds the list, he is ready to help her have the best time of her life.
Trade Me by Courtney Milan
When Blake makes an off-hand comment about what it means to be poor, Tina has had it. She tells Blake he couldn’t last a day living her life. They do a trade: she takes his billionaire life, his car, his income, and he does her work hours and send money to her family. But soon, they trade more than their lives, secrets get involved, kisses are shared, and more.
Summer Skin by Kirsty Eagar
It’s all Girl meets Boy, Girl steals from Boy, seduces Boy, ties Boy to a chair and burns Boy’s stuff. Just your typical love story.
Summer Skin is a fun revenge romance story. You have Jess who wants revenge for her best friend. Last year the jocks from another college shamed her friend but this year is different and she and her girl group are going to get even.
But in this wild story, we find Mitch and Jess in the middle and their relationship starts as revenge but soon it develops into friendship, and it’s glorious to see. It’s not a surprise that it develops into something more after that right?
Treasure by Rebekah Weatherspoon
When the stripper of your sister’s bachelorette party shows up in your classroom… This is practically the beginning of their story but there is more than that. Alexis is back home, ready to start classes again after that magical bachelorette party where she met Treasure aka Trisha. Trisha doesn’t have time for any social gatherings or relationships, school and her job takes all her time. But will it change when she meets Alexis again?
