4/7/2019 1 Comment Romance Novel Tropes
1. Best Friend's SiblingWhether it's a girl falling in love with her brother's best friend or a man falling for his sister's friend, this trope is always a winner with me and my all time favourite. I just love the tension between both the siblings and the friends, as well as the fact that there may be history between the couple who fall in love. Some of my favourite Best Friend's Siblings books include Wayward Heart by Cathryn Hein, I Only Have Eyes for You by Bella Andre, and Savour the Moment by Nora Roberts. I have written two Best Friend's Sibling manuscripts in my rural romantic suspense series. In the first, my lovable hero has always loved his little sister's best friend and in the second, my feisty heroine who doesn't want a man suddenly finds herself falling for the seductions of her older brother's super sexy best friend. 2. Friends to LoversWith a clearly established friendship, I find it very endearing when two good friends realise want more from each other. Whether they've recently discovered their feelings and are caught up in the conflict of whether to pursue the feelings or not, or they've harvested feelings for years and desire is burning strong, I am always cheering for the friends to get it on. Dear Banjo by Sasha Wasley is one of the best Friends-to-Lovers stories I've read recently. I was drawn to Rachel Bailey's The Finn Factor and Rachael Johns' Outback Dreams because of this trope and one of my all time favourite books is Where Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern. My category-length romance is a Friends-to-Lovers story where my characters grew up on neighbouring vineyards and have therefore known each other their whole lives. Then I have one manuscript in my rural romantic suspense series in which two best friends finally decide to stop mucking about and accept their love for each other. 3. Enemies to LoversI love the tension in these books. There is nothing better than two people getting over their differences and fighting their mutual attraction to finally fall in love. Whether it's just something about the other that the character finds irritating or the lovers are on opposite sides of opposing goals, this trope is always a winner for me. Escaping Mr Right by Avril Tremayne is a great Enemies to Lovers book and I love Boundary Lines by Nora Roberts. Pride and Prejudice is also a classic example of an enemies to lovers story. One of the first book series I wrote was an Enemies to Lovers story in which my heroine was completely in love with a man she couldn't stand. I still love their story today as they were always fun to write. My manuscript Rivenhall Manor, which features three romances, also has an Enemies to Lovers story. Feedback from competitions tells me that readers find it their favourite of the three romances. 4. ReunionI love a good, happy reunion romance because in most cases there is an underlying form of forgiveness in these stories. And forgiveness is often something hard to give. But whether internal or external forces caused the characters to separate, I enjoy reading about them overcoming their differences and reigniting their love because it's usually quite an emotional journey. My all time favourite reunion romance is definitely Nora Roberts' Birthright - it's full of classic banter between ex-spouses Callie and Jake. I also really liked the reunion romance in Barbara Hannay's Claiming his Family and Rachael Johns' debut novel Jilted. One of my rural romantic suspense manuscripts is a reunion romance in which my character rekindles her secret relationship with her ex-boyfriend and it's one of my all time favourites. 5. FlingI like to read a good fling story, when two people decide to have a bit of no-strings-attached sex because, after all, they're in a romance novel and therefore are going to fall in love. And I enjoy watching feelings develop in these relationships as there are so many ways the characters can realise they're in love. Who will realise it first? How will they realise it? Will the other be resistant? Will they both realise but be afraid to tell the other? No matter how it happens, I always enjoy reading this trope.
My two favourite fling books are two of Nora Roberts' romantic suspenses - The Villa and Northern Lights. As for my own work, one of the other romances in Rivenhall Manor is a fling. It was lots of fun to write and full of very conflicting emotions when feelings finally come into play.
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10/11/2023 08:00:12 pm
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AuthorRachel is a writer of romance fiction with vast interests in travel, theatre, sport, and everything books. This blog is a fun feed where Rachel lists her Top 5 of whatever inspires her. Archives
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