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!
I do to-do lists. Many of us have done a list in our lives. Groceries, monthly plans, yearly plans, work-related, etc. Lists make sense and help us when it comes to organizing our future actions. Sometimes they are used to change your life and go a different way, a way that you decided is the best way to continue. In romance novels, this list might be used to do things outside your box. To maybe fall in love. To not fall in love. To kiss strangers in clubs. To travel the world. It might go as planned but it might fail. And if they wrote ‘to never fall in love,’ they always do. It’s fun to see them try to not do it because you know the other main character of this relationship is head over heels in love with them already.
Learning to Fall by Mina V. Esguerra
Learning to Fail is about avid reader Steph who is participating in a monthly blog challenge to Live Like Fiction. This month’s challenge is to go out with a stereotypical romance novel hero WHO ISN’T YOUR TYPE. I found this aspect of the book so fun and when we are introduced to the hero, Grayson, the former co-captain of her university’s rugby team, everything gets really sweet. Steph only needs him for one date so she can blog about it but Grayson is more than that and Steph starts to realize it.
I would also add Mina’s Kiss and Cry because it also has a list! This book has a hockey player and a former ice skating heroine. They once had something when they were young but now ten years later they meet again and they will cross some things off that list!
Get a life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
Next on the list is superstar Talia Hibbert’s Get a Life, Chloe Brown. This feel-good romance will introduce you to Chloe Brown and her amazing list. Enjoy a drunken night, ride a motorcycle, go camping, and do something… bad! But doing something bad isn’t that easy even if she wrote all the guidelines to do it correctly. She plans to find a teacher and she knows the man for the job!
How to Fail at Flirting by Denise Williams
How to Fail at Flirting (Dec. 1st, 2020) is an upcoming romance that will have a fun list to follow and in the end the heroine might just find love on the other side. It’s still miles away, this novel, but I wanted to mention it because I am so very excited for its release. A no-strings-attached hookup? This is about to get really steamy! And when the hero makes her laugh, well that’s a done and done deal to be honest. A guy who makes you laugh beats anything else.
Brazen and the Beast by Sarah MacLean
No surprise I’m mentioning Brazen and the Beast by Sarah MacLean. Hattie, our spinster and heroine, has a five point plan to take her future into her own hands. Her first task? Getting rid of her V-card. But a man, a very sexy man, messes up her plans! They strike a bargain and after that, the story unfolds. Sarah MacLean crafts, as always, a beautiful tale of revenge, romance, and high stakes. You won’t be able to stop laughing, crying and putting the book away for a bit after a very good scene. MacLean will enchant you with Hattie and Beast’s story from the very beginning.
Relationship Goals by Christina C. Jones
And lastly Relationship Goals by Christina C. Jones. Nick and Noah meet unexpectedly at an airport when Nick suddenly kisses Noah out of nowhere. But soon you find out it wasn’t out of nowhere but pulled from a list where it says “kiss a beautiful stranger”. And Nick sure did. Their airport kiss goes viral because both of them are social media famous; Noah is a lifestyle writer while Nick is a hotshot filmmaker. So it’s obvious their kiss is being talked by EVERYONE after it happens. A DM later, they start talking and things go from there. Christina C. Jones is always a good bet for a perfect romance story.
