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!
The could have been. The almost there. The one that got away. This trope makes the characters nostalgic and fills them with unresolved feelings. It’s that person who maybe once upon a time could have been more, could have been their future. If they have tried a relationship, if they have tried to stay, if they have tried to work it out, maybe they could have achieved something greater. But destiny works in mysterious ways so that person leaves and “maybe this and maybe that” stops. Though it’s when they return that things gets interesting.
When the one that got away makes a comeback, our protagonist’s world shifts completely. That person takes a place in their lives where they see it as inconclusive. Unresolved feelings appear and they have to take a look at what could have been. Most of the time this ends up being a relationship of benefits because “of course they are only doing this to satisfy their needs and scratch an itch” right? But our poor naive protagonists don’t know what’s coming for them and we love to see the falling in love part.