The romance genre has been around for centuries. It has spanned decades of writing from Jane Austen’s novels to Julia Quinn’s “Bridgerton” series. The romance genre has produced many tropes as a result of its history. Many of these tropes are familiar to us, such as enemies to lovers, and include more unfamiliar ones such as sports rivals to lovers. However, there are some romance tropes that are, in my opinion, downright awful and are almost never done right. Below, I’ve rated a few popular romance tropes based on how correctly they are done along with a few examples.
- Enemies to Lovers
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Enemies to lovers is the most popular trope in my opinion. I can see the appreciation for it; many people love the tension and hate between the two love interests which makes their story all the more interesting. I love this trope as well, but I have felt in recent years that many writers fail to execute this trope perfectly. For enemies to lovers to work, there has to be a sort of alliance and trust between the love interest before it develops into love. Even before that, the enemies have to become friends first before they reach the big realization that they love each other.
Many writers ignore the gap between hate and love and jump straight into love as if the love interests weren’t trying to kill each other two chapters ago. In addition, there are some instances where the enemies need to stay enemies. For these reasons, enemies to lovers is a hard second on my list of romance tropes. This does not mean that the trope itself is awful, it just has to be executed perfectly and realistically.
A few examples of the enemies to lovers trope done right are “Six of Crows” by Leigh Bardugo, the “Sands of Arawiya” by Hafsah Faizal, “Pride and Prejudice,” and “She-Ra.”Â
Rating: 9/10
- Second Chance RomanceÂ
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Second chance romance is a tricky trope. Sometimes, it is not needed and can be unnecessary especially if one of the love interests has completely moved on with a new partner. Other times, it can be executed perfectly if both love interests have changed as people and are ready to try again. I love the second chance romance trope if it involves two people who knew each other from childhood reuniting again in their small hometown after so many years. This is a very specific scenario that makes second-chance romance beautiful.Â
I have not read a lot of novels that include this trope due to my fear of it being done incorrectly. However, there is something sweet about two people finding their way back to each other again.
An example of this trope is the “Summer I Turned Pretty” series and “People We Meet on Vacation.”
Rating: 6/10
- Right Person, Wrong Time
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I love this trope because it destroys me every time. I love how heartbreaking it is because there is some force that has to separate the two love interests and the unfairness of it all kills you. It hurts to ponder over the potential between love interests. It is especially heartbreaking when it’s the right person but there’s not enough time. Now, that’s heartbreaking. This trope can also be realistic because it can be applied to real life. Luckily, you are not alone if you’ve experienced this trope.
An example of this trope can be found in “Me Before You,” “Outlander” (this takes the wrong time part literally), and the “Clockwork Princess” series by Cassandra Clare.Â
Rating: 8/10
- Academic Rivals to Lovers
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This is a trope that I find very underrated. It is definitely tamer than enemies to lovers and requires the love interests to treat each other as equals in regards to intelligence. I find this trope to be very entertaining, and the rivalry aspect does not have to extend to academics. It can be a rivalry between anything from sports to the workplace. However, a requirement for this trope has to be good banter. This trope does not work if one of the love interests is straight-up mean because they are actually competitive and not in love with their rival.Â
An example of this trope can be found in “Today, Tonight, Tomorrow” by Rachel Lynn Solomon, “Never Have I Ever,” and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.”Â
Rating: 9/10
- Childhood Best Friends to Lovers
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Now, this may be controversial, but this is number one on my romance tropes list. I know that not every friendship has to turn romantic and I agree with that. However, I have always stuck with the belief that the best relationships form out of friendships. When you first choose to be friends with someone simply because you like being around them and then having those feelings naturally develop into something more is peak romance for me.
I love the childhood best friends to lovers trope simply because the other person has known everything about you forever. I know that the negativity to this trope is the fact that the whole friendship could fall apart if the other does not reciprocate. But since this is fiction, I am going to ignore that and assume it will be a happily-ever-after ending.Â
This trope can be found in “Shadow and Bone,” “Better Than the Movies” by Lynn Painter, and “The Summer I Turned Pretty” series.