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 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!
Joey and Pacey are one of my all-time favorite couples in television. We don’t even get them until season 3!!! But every single interaction they have fills me up with joy. They start out as sort of acquaintances because of Dawson. I mean, both of them are Dawson’s best friends so they have to be together a lot of the time. They can be together in the same room, but you can bet they will be bickering all day long. They have known each other since they were kids and they have stayed in each other’s lives the whole time. It isn’t until season 3 where these two actually develop something. (I want to say that beginning in season 2 we see them actually talk to each other and spend time together as friends). When Dawson tells Pacey to take care of Joey, man oh man… that’s where everything starts.
The tropes you can find in this couple are many. But the most notorious to me is “class clown falls for his childhood friend”. I’ll also include books with childhood enemies, year-long crushes and any other trope that fits them. We know that there aren’t books featuring ships exactly like Joey and Pacey, so I’ll do my best to show you books that have the same feeling and trope-ish goodness as them.
Chloe and Jeremy have known each other for a very long time, since they were teenagers. Both have harbored crushes for that same amount of time. But Jeremy jokes around a lot, making Chloe not really believe anything of what he says. When Chloe finally tells him that whenever he is ready to be serious, she is there for him. But that same night, he disappeared. Three years later and he’s back with a plan: He wants to make Chloe his wife.
I read this so long ago, but I remember loving it. Our characters are the class clown and the vice president of the Student Council. He’s the school mascot and parties a lot. She has her whole life mapped out. These two couldn’t be more different, but guess what? They both are voted Perfect Couple That Never Was by their classmates and Kaye’s life changes forever.
I think this is the most Joey and Pacey book you will ever find? Opposites attract, childhood classmates, everyone seems to think these two are perfect together, etc.
Melissa is the daughter of a Catholic school principal, so she has always lived up to the model student 24/7 image. But she is kinda tired and wants to have a little rebellious phase. She definitely, though, shouldn’t get involved with her bad-boy classmate. They’ve known each other since they were 7 years old!!! Expect lots of pranks, swoony moments, and the greatest high school experience.
This is a YA novel where two academic rivals need to team up in order to beat this scavenger hunt that will take them all around Seattle. This book? IS BEAUTIFUL. I have no words to say how much I love the story of Rowan and Neil, two classmates who hated each other throughout all their high school lives.
Of course, while doing the scavenger hunt, they realize that there is more underneath their perfect academic personas. That there are real people inside, and maybe, those people are very interesting. And sweet. And cute. And perfect for them. Teaming up and getting to know each other on the last day of high school opens up their world.
Who doesn’t love pining? Beary Christmas, Baby is the story of polar bear shifter Liev and dragon shifter Sira, who have been crushing on each other for a very long time. Finally, fate is on their side and puts them in a very interesting situation (THEY GET SNOWED-IN!!!) where they find themselves unable to stop themselves from voicing out these feelings.
Why not feature another paranormal romance, right? This one is just so great. A grim reaper and a Hellhound need to be paired up to discover who is murdering people in their Realm and stealing their souls. Overall, chaos is happening and they don’t want that.
Razor, our hero, has had a crush on Sasha for… ever. But Sasha has been burned before and she doesn’t want to get near anything that screams love complications. But when these two pair up to work together, things definitely take a turn. For the better.
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