Popular Romance Tropes and How to Use Them
Tropes are a great way to hook readers and for you to play within an existing framework.
Romance is a comfort genre for a lot of people. That means readers are looking to read a familiar story with new characters. The same is true with the tropes within a romance novel. Readers tend to know what they want and often stick to the tropes they like.
Wider culture, and even the dictionary would have you believe tropes are negative. Merriam-Webster states tropes are “overused themes or devices.” (See their definition here.) However, a lot of genre fiction—and romance in particular—use tropes to their advantage. As Mindy Klasky says in a blog post, tropes are “devices that function as building blocks” for novels.
One reason Merriam-Webster might call tropes overused is because they are used enough that they’re easily identifiable. They’re so frequently used, in fact, that most have names. For example, you’ve got grumpy/sunshine, in which one love interest is grumpy and introverted and one is extroverted and friendly, or there’s second-chance romance, where either the main character is looking for love after a hard breakup (hence a second chance at love) or the two love interests dated in the past and it didn’t work out (therefore, there’s a second chance for this couple specifically).
The fact that tropes are frequently used doesn’t actually mean anything except that people like them. People love them so much that reviews often lead with the tropes a book uses. (See example the example to the right.)
Contrary to what the dictionary says, using tropes in your book doesn’t make the trope bad or the book unoriginal! You can take these tropes and use them to give you direction as an author and build your story from there. The key is to know your readers. That way you’ll be able to delight and surprise them in turn.
Why do people love tropes?
Let’s talk about what tropes do that make people turn to them. That will help you, the author, understand your reader better.
We’ve covered that people like tropes because they’re comfortable and predictable. They also bring out dynamics between the main characters that people like. And don’t forget that they provide stability to a couple’s winding path to love.
In a genre where the storylines—generally—follow the same patterns, what makes a book distinct is its characters and its ability to play within the confines of the rules. It’s similar to the way poets play with rhyme and word choice within different poem structures. The fun and challenge of writing a sonnet, for example, for a poet like Shakespeare is in making the poem feel resonant and original within the prescribed meter and rhyme scheme.
Don’t let the haters fool you into thinking you can’t use tropes because people already use them a lot!
What are some of the most common tropes in contemporary romance?
Tropes can vary depending on the subgenre you write (and there are so many in romance!), so let’s talk about the most popular ones in contemporary romance and what people love about them.
1. Enemies to Lovers
What it is:
The main characters start as enemies but end up falling in love.
Why people love it:
People love to see the sparks that fly when the characters hate each other convert to sexual/romantic chemistry. There’s something so satisfying when the hate turns to love and all that negative energy is put toward something else.
Think…
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
2. Friends to Lovers
What it is:
The main characters start as friends and end up as a couple, often one or both of the characters has been pining after the other for years in silence.
Why people love it:
What’s better than someone who already knows you and loves you wanting to be with you forever? There’s something sweet and raw about realizing your best friend is your soulmate.
Think…
The Cheat Sheet by Sarah Adams
3. Forced Proximity
What it is:
The main characters are forced to spend time together and fall in love during that time; often this can take the form of fake dating, fake marriage, being snowed in together, being forced to work together on a project, etc.
Why people love it:
People love watching main characters who don’t know each other or don’t like each other slowly come to terms with each other and begin to see the value in the other person as they help each other through whatever situation they’ve been forced into together.
Think…
The Bride Test by Helen Hoang
4. Only One Bed
What it is:
The main characters are travelling together and expect to have separate beds and/or rooms when they stop for the night but there’s been a mishap and they have to share one bed for the night; this often leads to sexy shenanigans.
Why people love it:
Sometimes, the characters need a push to take their relationship to the next level, and what’s better than the extreme forced proximity of a bed? People love seeing the characters’ willpower crumble and their desire for each other take over.
Think…
The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas
5. Fake Dating
What it is:
The main characters pretend to date and end up real falling in love; this can occur when a character wants to look like they have their life together in front of family or an ex.
Why people love it:
There’s something about watching characters fake it until they make it—or in this case fake it until they realize they’ve actually fallen in love with their fake partner and have to figure out what to do about it. And having both people realize this but think the other is just playing the fake-dating game provides such sweet angst.
Think…
Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall
6. Grumpy/Sunshine
What it is:
One character is grumpy and surly, while the other is happy and friendly. Their differences get on each other’s nerves at the beginning, but they end up loving each other for their differences; often the dynamic is masculine = grumpy and feminine = sunshine; however, grumpy/sunshine is not inherently tied to gender.
Why people love it:
The idea that opposites attract isn’t new, and it’s a classic for a reason. People also love to see the grumpy person slowly open their heart to the sunshine person—extra points if the only person who ever gets to see the soft side of the grump is the sunshine person.
Think…
Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
7. Return to Hometown
What it is:
One character returns to their hometown against their will (maybe for a family emergency or gathering) and they encounter a former partner or someone new. Their new dynamic chafes, but the one who returned eventually falls back in love with their hometown and sometimes their former partner.
Why people love it:
Hometowns can be polarizing—some people had terrible times in their hometowns, while others will talk your ear off about how wonderful their hometown is—but the idea that someone could find the good in their hometown and learn to love it gives people hope. It’s not about rewriting history but about learning to find the good in what is and give something the chance to prove you wrong.
Think…
The Dating Plan by Sara Desai
8. Playboy Finds Love
What it is:
One of the main characters (often a man) is not looking for love and is actively playing the field, while the other partner is looking for love in a more typical fashion. The rake continues to say there is no way a relationship would work because they don’t do love, but eventually, they fall hard for the other main character.
Why people love it:
What people love about a rake in love is the idea that they finally are able to find the right person for them—the one who is finally able to satisfy/match them emotionally and physically.
Note: Let’s be clear, there isn’t anything wrong with not wanting to fall in love or casual sex. If that’s your jam, you do you. The thing about the rake-in-love trope is that the person does want love deep down. If the rake doesn’t want love, there’s no sense trying to change that, and it’s not fair to assume that every person who likes casual sex is waiting for the perfect person.
Think…
Hook, Line, and Sinker by Tessa Bailey
9. Road Trip
What it is:
The main characters are forced to go on a road trip together. This is a specific form of forced proximity where the characters go through trials on the way to get to a final destination. The road trip itself often symbolizes the characters’ whole relationship.
Why people love it:
Road trips can be intense and magical all at once. That’s just a fact. Now, pack together your couple and maybe some extra side characters and you get an extra intense love story where people can’t physically avoid each other and where the road trip itself mirrors the relationship of the people on the journey.
Think…
The Road Trip by Beth O’Leary
10. Sex Lessons
What it is:
One character wants to up their game romantically but feels inadequate sexually for whatever reason. The other character is more experienced and offers to give them sex lessons. The relationship starts out purely sexual, but they fall in love during the process. Often, the sex lessons come about because of a bet or because the more sexually experienced person needs something the less sexually experienced one has (for example, science knowledge that will help them pass their exams).
Why people love it:
Sex lessons, much like fake dating/fake marriage, has all the benefits of diving into the juicy stuff while allowing the feelings to slow burn. The characters probably don’t know each other and maybe don’t like each other but they each have something the other wants, and the reader gets to watch their relationship unfold in the midst of sexy shenanigans. Bonus: the characters realize late that the relationship is more than just physical and have to figure out how to deal with their emotions.
Think…
Line Mates and Study Dates by Eden Finley and Saxon James
How to use tropes effectively?
Choose two to three tropes. Don’t try to cram in a bunch.
Tropes often overlap and there are many that go well together, so choosing a couple works well. However, you don’t want to have too many or you won’t be able to develop the tropes in the way they deserve. That’s when tropes get labeled as “overused”—when they’re simplistic and don’t allow for complexity.
Know the ins and outs of the tropes you’ve chosen.
It’s important to know how other authors use your tropes. Knowing what’s typical allows you to play more within the trope. Ask yourself: What’s normal for this trope? What do people love about it? Once you know the answers to those questions, you can use that to your advantage.
Decide how you want to stick to the trope and where you might want to deviate from it.
Ask yourself: How will your deviation surprise your readers? What more will it bring to the book? Maybe you want your reader to feel each beat of the trope and feel comfort. Maybe you want to subvert an expectation and surprise them. Both of those require you knowing what your reader expects!
Don’t let the tropes take over the story completely.
Tropes are tools—or building blocks—but your characters are the stars of your story. Their struggles and narrative should be at the forefront of the book!
Conclusion: Using tropes hooks your readers!
Romance writer, if you’re not using tropes in your writing, you should start now. Your readers love to know what’s ahead and often come to a book for the tropes! Just don’t forget to use tropes as building blocks and let your characters play within the rules of the trope.
Click on the button below if you want to talk more about how you can create complexity within your chosen tropes and how I can help you get the most out of the tropes you’re using!