hi everyone! welcome to the valentine’s edition of top ten tuesday, where i’ll be talking all about my favorite tropes! pretty sure that my favorite tropes are also everyone’s favorite, so if you don’t have plan to celebrate valentine, you can always grab these books and celebrate with yourself. without further ado, here they are :
1. enemies-to-lovers/hate-to-love
who doesn’t love this trope? i’m 99% sure everyone and their grandmas love this trope. all those frustration and pent-up feelings that leads to attraction are very satisfying to read. enemies-to-lovers might have varying degree (from actual enemies to ‘enemies’ because of simple misunderstanding), but generally, i love them all as long as they’re not glorifying abusive behaviors. anyway, here’s some books with enemies-to-lovers trope that i love :
- the folk of the air series by holly black
- magnolia by kristi cook (review)
- starry eyes by jenn bennett (this one’s actually childhood-bestfriend-to-enemies-to-lovers!)
- p.s. i like you by kasie west (review)
- the only thing worse than me is you by lily anderson
- to kill a kingdom by alexandra christo
- the unhoneymooners by christina lauren
2. second-chance romance
after enemies-to-lovers, any book with second chance romance is my go-to whenever i’m in reading slump. to be fair, i don’t think i’d give second-chances in real life (or maybe i haven’t found someone worth giving second-chances), but in books, the angst and the pining and the ‘should i let you go or not’ wondering always got me to cry. and fyi, i always cry whenever i read books with this trope! some books with this trope that you definitely should check out :
- the boy is back by meg cabot
- second chance summer by morgan matson (review)
- the last best kiss by claire lazebnik
- the stars we steal by alexa donne
- the good luck charm by helena hunting
- someday maybe by ophelia london
3. forbidden romance
all the suspense whether they found a way to be together or not is part of the reason why forbidden romance is one of my favorite trope. of course, ‘forbidden’ here means they can’t be together because of things like curse, prophecy, or simply because their family hate each other, and not because of taboo things.
- the dark artifices series by cassandra clare (review)
- the winner’s curse series by marie rutkoski (review)
- the dark days club series by alison goodman (review)
4. fake dating
while fake-dating is sometimes a miss for me (when it feels forced and there’s no smooth transition from fake to real), i still love this trope and will pick up any book featuring them. bonus point if they’re doing fake-dating to make someone else jealous, and then end up catching feelings for each other. i always love the moment when they realize that they want each other!
- fake it till you break it by jenn p. nguyen (review)
- the fine art of pretending by rachel harris
- the fill-in boyfriend by kasie west (review)
- no love allowed by kate evangelista (review)
5. childhood-friends-to-romance
this might be my least favorite trope out of 5, since personally i’d rather stay as friends with my childhood friends (not that i have many), but if done well, this trope still give me all the feels. dating someone who knows you inside out is definitely has its perks. anyway, here’s some books with childhood-friends turn lovers that i adore :
- on the fence by kasie west
- words in deep blue by cath crowley (review)
- love, life, and the list by kasie west (review)
Great list! I really like second chance romance, too, and I like enemies to lovers as long as it’s enemies to friends to lovers, especially if the relationship stretches out over a fantasy series. An ‘enemy’ can be something so much more sinister in a fantasy setting with high stakes, so if a character’s ‘enemy’ has legit been trying to get them killed, I’ll be side-eyeing them if they can suddenly overlook all of that because they think they’re hot.
Some specific fantasy romance tropes I love are the princess and the bodyguard (this is one of my favourite tropes, but I feel like I don’t come across it very often) and the teacher and the apprentice (only, of course, if both characters are of consenting age). Weirdly, I really don’t like teacher romances in contemporary fiction, but I love them in fantasy because they were often the romances I saw in books I read during my teens.
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Great topic! I love so many of the books on here! Enemies to lovers is a trope I really enjoy!
My TTT!
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Good list! Sweet to include childhood friends becoming romantic. I love that!
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I’m a total sucker for enemies to lovers books, too. I think my fave is THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN ME IS YOU by Lily Anderson. 🙂
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I love the childhood friends to lovers trope! Great list.
My TTT .
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These are all good tropes. I love how you provide all the examples.
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You have so many great books listed here! I love these tropes.
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I love most of these tropes too. I think childhood friends to lovers is my fave though. It’s so cute!! Second Chance Romance is super fun to read about though!
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I’m pretty much a sucker for all the tropes. I loved The Dark Artifices and The Unhoneymooners. But my favorite OTP is Will and Tessa from The Infernal Devices. 🙂
My Top Ten Tuesday
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Amazing list! Those are my favorite tropes to read and when ever I stumble upon those tropes, I just want to devour the book right away!
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I enjoy enemies to lovers and forbidden romance too. I’ve never heard of the Dark Days Club series but might have to check that one out 🙂
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oh wow i also posted the same thing and our list are really similar! 😀 i really enjoyed some of the books you mentioned that i already read, but most of them i haven’t read yet, so thank you for the recommendations! ❤
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Ahhh I’m fangirling so much while reading this because I adore all of these tropes so much!! 😍 My favorites are definitely enemies-to-lovers!!
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Swoon! I love so many of these tropes and the books you’ve listed as examples.
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I am such a fan of Kasie West novels and REALLY need to someday read a novel by Meg Cabot. 🙂
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