Dear Amanda,
Well, it’s April. And according to Chaucer, that’s when we’re supposed to think about two things: love and hierarchies.
Since my last few posts have been heavy on the history, I thought I’d do something more fun. Namely, I thought I’d find a list of popular (historical) romance tropes and tier rank them according to my own subjective opinions. A literary Battle Royale: now presenting my very own hot takes on what makes a good trope and what makes hot trash.
The Tropes
I’ve taken the following list from Renee over at the blog Addicted to Romance, which you can find here. Renee does a good job defining the tropes and giving examples, but I’m going to give my own definitions just so readers are clear about how I’m thinking. I’ve also added a couple of other tropes because I want to (don’t @ me).
- Amnesia: a character suffers from memory loss
- Arranged Marriage: the heroine and hero are thrown together by – you guessed it – an arranged marriage
- Best Friend’s Sister: the hero falls in love with his best friend’s sister (can also be the heroine falling in love with her best friend’s brother)
- Boss and Secretary: a heroine (or hero) falls in love with their boss
- Disguised as a Male: a heroine cross-dresses for some reason or another and falls in love while in disguise (not to be confused with drag performances and trans lovers)
- Enemies to Lovers: what it says on the tin
- Fairy Tale Retellings: need I define this one?
- Forbidden Romance: the heroine and heroine are star-crossed lovers and fight against forces that want to keep them apart (family ties, etc)
- Friends to Lovers: the heroine and hero are friends for a long time before romantic feelings develop
- Hearts Being Held Captive: a hero or heroine falls in love with their kidnapper/jailer/captor
- Love on the Road: the hero and heroine fall in love while on a road trip
- Love Triangles: a hero or heroine has to decide between two (or more?) love interests
- Mistaken Identity: the hero or heroine has the wrong impression of someone and falls for them anyway
- Marriage of Convenience: two characters get married (out of necessity) then fall in love
- Rags to Riches: one character is wealthy and the other is not
- Royalty: one character is a king, queen, prince, princess, etc.
- Second Chance: the hero and heroine loved each other once but were pulled apart; now, they’ve been drawn together again
- Secret Baby: someone has a secret child or pregnancy
- Unrequited Love: what it says on the tin
- Reformed Rake: the hero (most often) is a rake and changes his ways for the heroine
- Spinster Wallflowers: the heroine is “on the shelf,” so to speak
- Scarred/Moody/Byronic Hero: a catch-all for a hero who has issues
The Tiers
Because I’m lazy, I made this tier ranking over at Tier Maker.
From worst (red) to best (blue):
- Set it on Fire: I hate it. I hate it so much. It should be thrown away forever
- A Crime Against Literature: It’s bad, but I might think twice before throwing it on the pyre
- A Slight Against Me, Personally: I don’t like it, but I can see how other people might
- Bearable Under Optimal Conditions: I don’t like this trope normally, but if done well, I can get behind it.
- Warm Fuzzies: It’s cute, but it doesn’t get my engine going
- Guilty Squee: I love it and I feel bad about it
- Eating It Up Like a Banana Split: I will take a triple serving with extra nuts and whipped cream, please
The Rankings
Amnesia
- A Crime Against Literature: Something about the amnesia trope just gives me all kinds of anxiety. Maybe it’s the possible brain damage, maybe it’s acting without being fully aware of the consequences (especially when it comes to romance/sex – is that a consent issue?). I can understand the excitement this trope presents when, say, an awful, powerful hero forgets who he is and becomes sweet (like Eric from Season 4 of True Blood) or even how shenanigans a la While You Were Sleeping (1995) can spur character growth. But even then, there’s still the mess that comes with figuring out what the relationship means once the memory comes back – including any lies that were spun in the interim.
- Examples I Like: none – I avoid this trope so hard
Arranged Marriage
- A Slight Against Me, Personally: I don’t like it when people’s agency is taken away, especially when it comes to something like marriage in ye olde times. Marriages were social and economic contracts – I get that – but when I’m escaping into a fantasy land, I don’t want to be reminded about all the ways in which people (especially women and POC) were treated as pawns. I have different feelings, however, when characters consent to a marriage of convenience, which I’ll detail below.
- Examples I Like:
Best Friend’s Sister
- Warm Fuzzies: I feel like this one can vary quite a lot depending on the characterization of the hero/heroine. I don’t dislike it; in fact, when done well, I think the shared history can be quite good. I like this trope best when there is a lot of pining and a good conflict to keep the two lovers apart (not just miscommunication – if you can talk it out, it’s not a good conflict).
- Examples I Like:
Boss and Secretary
- Bearable Under Optimal Conditions: Again, I feel like this one can vary quite a lot depending on the characterization of the hero/heroine. There is an inherent power imbalance that can be easily exploited, so I think authors have to be careful to show how the two love interests come to be on equal footing in the relationship (and to be clear: I don’t think “equal footing” means “boss man is so attracted to subordinate woman that he sees her as having power over him.” For me, the power really needs to be tangible, either by elevating the “secretary” socially/economically or putting them on par intellectually/emotionally).
- Examples I Like:
Disguised as a Male
- Warm Fuzzies: Part of why I like this trope is the opportunity for queer desire to be explored, but what really gives it a special place in my heart is the joy. There’s something fun about watching some good old fashioned cross-dressing (not to be confused with drag or living as a trans person), and as a medievalist, a lot of stories near and dear to my heart have heroines disguising themselves as men. I love the thrill of possible discovery alongside the freedom from patriarchy – it’s delicious, but it also needs to be supported with good character or plot work.
- Examples I Like:
Enemies to Lovers
- Bearable Under Optimal Conditions: I feel like “Enemies to Lovers” has been misapplied to a number of romance books in the last five years or so; it seems like every horrible hero who treats the heroine like crap is labeled an “enemy,” and I hate it when the “enemies” part is just misunderstanding or abuse. When the love interests are true enemies, however, I love watching then overcome their differences and (sometimes reluctantly) fall for one another.
- Examples I Like:
Fairy Tale Retellings
- Warm Fuzzies: What can I say? I can appreciate a clever retelling. I can appreciate a mediocre retelling. Hell, I can appreciate (and gripe) about a bad retelling. At the end of the day, it’s a retelling, and there’s something about classic tales that remain timeless. My favorite examples are books that don’t copy the original tale beat for beat; I like my retellings to be inspired by the original and meditate on themes central (or related) to it, such as not judging people by their looks (Beauty and the Beast).
- Examples I Like:
Forbidden Romance
- Guilty Squee: Look, I’m a girlie who loves conflict. I unironically love Romeo and Juliet and any book where the world is conspiring to keep lovers apart. Whether it’s separation by race, gender, class… I’m here for it so long as the couple has to grow together or perish.
- Examples I Like:
Friends to Lovers
- Guilty Squee: A lot of people don’t like this trope, I think, because it often involves emotional intimacy already being established and love interests just not saying anything (usually for stupid reasons). Me, however… I enjoy a good pine. I like this trope best when there’s a shared history between the two characters and the barrier to their union is more than just miscommunication. Maybe one of the friends needs to marry well and the other is poor; maybe one is engaged to the other’s brother. Basically, I love this trope when it’s combined with another, not when it stands on its own.
- Examples I Love:
Hearts Being Held Captive
- Set it on Fire: Just… why??? Why would someone fall in love with their captor, especially if said captor is either racist or sees them as some kind of object??? Or if they deprive them of their agency or freedom??? I cannot understand how that’s the spark that starts a romance. I simply cannot.
- Examples I Love: none – I can’t even pick it up
Love on the Road
- Bearable Under Optimal Conditions: I generally don’t like roadtrip plots, but I especially struggle with roadtrip romances because it tests my suspension of disbelief. Too often, I feel like characters fall in love too fast or fall in love under extraordinary circumstances, and I can’t help but wonder “ok, but do they still like each other when they’re doing laundry?” If the author does it well, however, I can get on board.
- Examples I Like:
Love Triangles
- A Crime Against Literature: “Oh no! I’m a plain but quirky girl and no one ever looks twice at me… except these TWO MEN who are EXTREMELY HOT. Which one shall I choose?” (Spoiler: it’s almost always the dark, sexy one.) I’m overgeneralizing here, but I genuinely hate how love triangles have been written in the past decade or so. Part of it might be how tired I am of mousy heroines with no personality, part of it might be that the trope often feels like forced drama. To be brutally honest, the only way I like this trope is if no one gets hurt and instead, there’s polyamory.
- Examples I Love:
Mistaken Identity
- Bearable Under Optimal Conditions: I see this trope as separate from “Disguised as a Man”; this trope, in my mind, has more to do with miscommunication or someone actively hiding who they are (not their gender) from their love interest. There’s a high potential for gaslighting here, which gives me the ick, but as someone who loves a good conflict, I also like watching characters navigate the tension their lies create.
- Examples I Love:
Marriage of Convenience
- Warm Fuzzies: Ok, as much as I love a good dozen-roses-chocolate-hearts-bold-declaration-of-love romance, I also like the idea of detaching marriage from love. Marriages were, historically, social, political, and economic contracts, and I like the idea of characters teaming up for mutual benefit. But I also love it when feelings mess up their perfect plans.
- Examples I Love:
Rags to Riches
- Warm Fuzzies: Somewhat related to Forbidden Romance. There’s a power imbalance that comes with a difference of class, but marrying up is a power fantasy, is it not? Of course, there’s always the potential for the power imbalance to create problems, but I’m all for watching characters navigate it like a champ.
- Examples I Love:
Royalty
- A Slight Against Me, Personally: I… don’t really care if someone is royalty? Granted, I haven’t read any romance books with this trope yet. Most of my historical romance picks feature titled characters, but that’s not royalty, per se. I guess the problem we run into here is that royal figures are historical in a way a duke isn’t – one can invent a duke, but it’s much harder to invent a Prince. This one, I think, is best left to historical fiction.
- Examples I Love: none – haven’t read any
Second Chance
- Guilty Squee: I love some good angst, so I also love it when characters have to overcome something horrid that pulled them apart. Give me some conflict to sink my teeth into: abandoned at the altar? Left someone in the middle of the night? Someone murdered your brother? I’ll read that. The only exception is something like abuse.
- Examples I Love:
Secret Baby
- Set it on Fire: No. No no no no. This gives me all kinds of anxiety.
- Examples I Love: none – I hate it
Unrequited Love
- Bearable Under Optimal Conditions: As I said before, I love a good pine. I really do. But for Unrequited Love, my enjoyment really depends on how it’s handled. I love watching characters long for one another, but I don’t like watching characters suffer. I tend to like this trope better if the reason for the unrequited love is a real barrier (rather than someone just deciding not to tell their love interest about their feelings). Perhaps someone is in love with their best friend’s sister or maybe one party has to marry well. At the end of the day, however, the love becomes… requited? … at the end of a romance novel, so the suffering doesn’t last long.
- Examples I Love:
Reformed Rake
- Eating It Up Like a Banana Split: What can I say? I’m trash for rakes. They’re not usually violent or moody, like a Byronic hero can be. They’re mostly out there trying to have fun but realizing that their hedonism does nothing for their emotional happiness. There’s such a power fantasy involved in reforming the rake, and I’m usually one to eat it up. Is it realistic? No. But is it narratively satisfying? Hell yes.
- Examples I Love:
Spinster Wallflowers
- Eating It Up Like a Banana Split: Ok, for all that I mocked the mousy heroine in “Love Triangles,” I also tend to love characters who aren’t the belle of the ball (for reasons other than being Relatably AwkwardTM). Are they too poor? Have a scandal in their past? Have an honest to god anxiety disorder? Sign me up! (Just don’t annoy me with that “they don’t know they’re beautiful crap.) But Spinster Wallflowers are especially wonderful because they tend to take matters into their own hands; they need a good marriage for one reason or another and don’t shy away from daring moves. I like that in my heroine.
- Examples I Love:
Scarred/Moody/Byronic Hero
- Guilty Squee: Ok, look. I love to harp on heroes with Sheep Turd Masculinity. I hate it when they have the emotional capacity of a teaspoon and show feelings by being rude and violent. But I also love a good hero who is full of angst and I like the power fantasy of a heroine getting them to open up and soften through the transformative power of love. Give me your Mr. Darcys, your Mr. Rochesters, your Heathcliffs (ok, that one’s toxic, but it’s supposed to be). I want to crush them. With love.
- Examples I Love:
Conclusion
Ok, so here it all is in one handy graphic:
I of course did not include EVERY romance trope out there, so if you’re curious about my hot takes on any, I’m happy to inflict them on you.
But I know you have tropes of your own that you love and hate, and when you get a moment, I’d love to hear you talk about them. Perhaps I’ll even learn about some that I haven’t thought about.
Anyway. Hope you’re doing well.
Kelly
Cravats, Crinoline, and Craft 