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. I adore some of 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.
Last week’s Trope Tuesday was snowbound romances, but they were not necessarily holiday romances as well. This time around I’m actually going to center this Trope Tuesday to holiday-only romances because we’re almost to December and December means lots and lots of holidays. I love the parties and the celebrations and this means that there will be lots of food, don’t you love that?
Most of the time in romances, we get holiday stories as novellas or short stories. It’s weird to see it as a full novel but sometimes it can definitely happen. I think most of the titles I will mentioning today will be novellas so they are perfect! Because maybe you don’t have lots of time this holiday season, you got stuff to do, buy some presents, be with family, but you also need that reading time, even a small amount of time for reading a feel-good romance story. I got your back. You can read them all and not spend such a long time doing it and yet you get such fun love stories.
Some things you can find on holiday romances that create so much amazing content: family gatherings, fun creative dates, a lot of food, the holiday spirit, and a beautiful romance in between. I hope you have such a good holiday season this year.
A Season for Wishes by Lydia San Andres
Lydia writes beautiful historical romances, and this holiday-themed one is no exception! This is the short synopsis from Amazon:
“Alba Reyes has returned to Arroyo Blanco after six long years away—and so has Marcos Ramirez. Though the circumstances surrounding their parting were more bitter than sweet, their reunion promises to be more agreeable than they expected when a holiday game brings them together and shows them that all they’ve ever wished for is each other.”
I love that it takes in a fictional island in the Caribbean, because we don’t get lots of historical romances outside US or UK. And I love love the tropes inside this holiday romance. Lydia San Andres is one author to watch, I’m in love with all her titles.
A Wedding One Christmas by Therese Beharrie
Therese Beharrie released two holiday romances this year. Yes, TWO!!!! Therese is amazing, wow, really. I’m mentioning A Wedding One Christmas today but definitely check out the other one (and all her books!)
This book is the most fun you’ll ever have: 24-hour meeting, mistaken identities, weddings, holidays, fake boyfriend, both hero and heroine hate weddings, etc. I really think you will all have so much fun and have a good time, Therese really writes the greatest romances out there.
Christmas at the Palace by Jeevani Charika
For the ones who also love some royalty romances, Christmas at the Palace is perfect for you. This year with the Royal Wedding, the royal romances went wild and everyone was releasing one (which was perfect because I love them all). This time we have a holiday and royal romance, all together wrapped up in a nice little bow. This is the modern woman meets prince kind of romance and it sounds really amazing.
Holiday Temptation by Donna Hill, Farrah Rochon and K.M. Jackson
I won’t be forgetting the awesome, festive anthologies you can also get for this holiday season. Donna Hill, Farrah Rochon and K.M. Jackson have one out and let me tell you: it’s amazing. So worth it. You get three stories from three of the greatest storytellers out there in one little bundle of romantic joy. Drama teachers, baristas, photographers, Istanbul, rich business mogul heroes, cruises, some food love, chefs, and lots more you can find in these three fabulous stories.
This sounds really so fun; our heroine is a videographer that travels around the world, but this winter season, she’s returning home, to her family’s estate. There is a new veterinarian in town and one night the heroine needs his help… as you can already foresee, sparks really fly this time.
But she is someone who always puts her hometown behind and instead loves traveling, so their romance might not be such a good idea.
Hearts Alight by Elliot Cooper
Dave hates the consumerism that surrounds his family’s Hanukkah celebrations. But if it means he can bring some happiness to his long-time crush Amit, he’s on. He can withstand some festive mood just to bring some joy to Amit’s life.
Then he finds out Amit’s family secret: Amit is a golem. He needs a Hanukkah miracle before all comes crashing down.
Santa Baby! By Té Russ
Such a big fan of Té Russ that I couldn’t not mention this title. Synopsis grabbed from Amazon:
“Holly’s perspective on the holidays has become jaded…so much so that her sister refers to her as Miss Scrooge behind her back. Logan is determined to change her outlook on the holidays and remind her what the season is truly about.”
Who doesn’t love Miss I-hate-Christmas and Mr. Love-Christmas kind of romances?!!!
12 Months of Romance by Ysa Arcangel, Marian Tee, Miel Sava, Catherine Dellosa, Ella Banta, Elizabeth Galit, Yeyet Soriano, Johanna Lee, Kit Salazar and Cindy Dela Cruz
Yes indeed this is a holiday anthology, so lots and lots to read. But it has a plus side which is they are all mini novellas so you can definitely read them in any order you like or if you feel like reading that one first and the other one later, that’s totally fine. This is why I love anthologies so muuuuch. You can take your time, grab some fine cocoa, and read each little story the way you feel like doing it.
This anthology has 24 stories, all surrounding holidays. Amazon: “And if you’re in the market for new book boyfriends, this holiday collection will make you swoon for a racy social worker, an irresistible alpha male, a hot office-mate, a smoldering doctor on holiday duty and a sexy single dad!”
A Tiara Under the Tree by Carolyn Hector
She’s a former beauty queen, but after a meme goes viral and leaves her feeling so embarrassed she doesn’t want to show her face ever again. But fate brings her together with bad boy turned business mogul Dominic. He wants to sponsor in this new pageant scheduled for Christmas. She will really want this new relationship to be all about business and nothing about pleasure, but what can you do when the electric reactions are there?
