A book trope is a theme, plot or character type that is common in a particular book genre.
Tropes are important to consider when writing you novel because they provide a sense of familiarity and expectation to readers. The trick is to add a unique twist to the trope, which is where your creativity comes in.
If you’re about to start writing a romance novel, in this article, we’ve included 22 romance book tropes to give you some ideas for your book.
Friends
1. Best friends fall in love.
Probably the most popular romance trope, the friends-turned-lovers story usually begins with one character having unrequited romantic feelings for the other. Once those feelings of love are returned, the story becomes about them working on their romantic relationship without damaging their friendship.
2. A fake relationship turns into real love.
This trope begins with a reason the pair have decided to pretend to be together: they are trying to make other people jealous, or they need a date for an event they must attend. The story is about how the trials and tribulations of pretending to be in love becomes real love by the end.
3. The matchmaker becomes the matched.
A matchmaker is hired to help a character find love, only to fall in love with the character themselves. The story becomes about whether the matchmaker will confess their feelings or help the character find a different, more suitable partner.
4. Long-distance lovers unite.
At the start of this storyline, the lovers often don’t know each other very well but throughout the story, their love grows through what they write to each other long-distance. The lovers unite in person at the end and discover their love is true.
5. Working together means playing together.
Coworkers who spend a lot of time together at work on a project or in general end up falling in love. For some extra drama, they could have other partners at the start and struggle with deciding how to end their previous relationships to pursue this one.
6. Two is company; three is a crowd.
Love triangles are another play on the friends-turned-lovers storyline: the main character meets and falls for someone but also has a best friend who loves them (often without the main character’s knowledge). The story becomes about what the two potential lovers do to woo the main character and who they will choose.
Danger and Past Mistakes
7. Love can grow from the darkest battlefield.
Similar to the ‘coworkers’ trope, two soldiers could find themselves stranded in battle together for a long time. They fall in love despite the pain and suffering happening around them.
8. Love blossoms in the safety of a rescue.
A version of the ‘forced proximity’ trope, the storyline for this trope relies on one character being a police officer and the other a civilian. During the rescue of the civilian from danger, all the high adrenaline action that comes with the rescue forces love to grow between them by the end.
9. Trapped in travel means love gets to bloom.
Another ‘forced proximity’ trope, two strangers forced to travel together because their transportation has been hijacked or somehow gone awry fall in love. The story ends with them deciding how to proceed after they are free to go.
10. A dark past challenges a current love.
For this storyline, the consequences of one of the lover’s actions has come back to hurt them both. Maybe the character committed crimes before meeting their new love or they were escaping blame for something horrible. Either way, the story is about the couple maintaining their love while they deal with the problems arising.
11. An ex-partner comes back to stake their claim.
Two characters fall in love when an ex-partner returns and tries to do whatever they can to break up the couple. This could include putting the new partner in mortal danger. The story is about ridding them of the ex-partner while keeping each other safe.
Opposites
12. Enemies discover their loathing is actually loving.
At the beginning, the lovers hate each other for some reason. The story shows how that extreme passion for hate slowly turns into an equal passion for love by the end.
13. Age has no bearing on love.
The characters are in a classic ‘May-December’ relationship: one is in their twenties and the other is middle-aged. The story is about them dealing with the societal prejudices that come with such large age gaps between lovers.
14. Competing co-workers become loyal lovers.
A twist on the enemies-become-lovers trope, the two main characters are fighting for the same promotion or project at work. Their dislike turns to respect, which in turn becomes love by the end.
15. Love knows no class boundaries.
Made popular by writers like Emily Bronte and Jane Austen, this romance story relies on one character being from the upper class and the other from a lower class. The story is about the couple falling in love and dealing with the repercussions of disregarding the established class systems of society.
16. Unlike attracts unlike.
This is the class ‘opposites attract’ storyline where two characters who are completely different fall in love. Maybe one character is laid-back while the other is high-strung. Or one character is bookish but awkward while the other character is more street-smart. The story becomes about them trying to understand each other through their love.
Blindsided
17. When there’s nothing familiar, love will find a way.
This the ‘fish-out-of-water’ trope, where the main character is thrown into a world completely different from their own and meets someone who helps them find their way. That help eventually becomes love.
18. When love is forbidden, it only grows more.
In this classic ‘forbidden fruit’ trope, two characters are prevented from being together, often because of their families or societal needs. The story is about what they do to rejoin each other and whether they succeed.
19. Love tends to give second chances.
This is the ‘love returns’ trope and has the main character running into an ex-partner. The story is about the character struggling to decide whether to give the relationship another chance or continue on with the life they have now.
20. Amnesia will never stand in the way of love.
When one character doesn’t remember loving the other one, the pair must learn to love again and build new memories where the others are missing.
21. A relationship bet becomes the real thing.
For this storyline, the main character takes a bet that they lure the often unknown and completely different character who eventually becomes the object of their affection. The story ends with the bet being dissolved in favor of their love.
22. Sometimes arranged marriages become real love.
This is a twist on a ‘forced proximity’ trope in that two strangers learn to love each other after being forced to wed. For extra drama, they could have had other partners before the marriage that they still love at the start.
If you enjoyed this article, you might want to read the following:
How to Write a Slow Burn Romance
How to Write Time Travel Romance
How to Write a Dystopian Romance Novel
How to Write a Contemporary Romance Novel
How to Write a Fantasy Romance Novel