I Ranked Some of the Most Popular Romance Tropes

The Romance genre is one of my favourites when it comes to novels and I tend to read a lot of it, especially when I find myself in a reading slump or after a difficult read. When it goes well, it produces the kind of book I’ll devour in a couple of days. When it goes wrong, however, I’m left cringing at stiff characters or badly executed tropes for weeks on end. A trope is a recurrent theme, and these are used alongside unique plots and characters to create romantic tension or as the base of a relationship. Besides crime fiction, romance is probably one of the most trope-heavy genres, with most books in the genre adhering to one or more of them and there are a lot. In this post, I’m going to rank eleven of the most popular romance tropes into five tiers of my own making, just for fun, starting with the ones I enjoy the least.

Tier 5 – I didn’t ask to Play Russian Roulette

This tier is for what I consider to be the tropes that make me feel as though I’ve picked up the wrong book. They can be done well sometimes. However, even the nature of tropes which allows them to be constantly redone cannot save these tropes from feeling overused and cliché, as well as lazy.

Forbidden Love

Forbidden Love takes many forms, essentially covering all forms of love that are considered taboo, but one person’s taboo might be another person’s illegal. Often, whether illegal or not, reading a novel that includes a forbidden love leaves me feeling slightly uncomfortable, like I’m being asked to root for the wrong thing, unless the reasons the couple cannot be together is somewhat arbitrary or based on something like social standings, sexuality, or race. I can often enjoy it, but this trope is too unreliable for me. It covers everything from age gaps to affairs and allows for other tropes like incest, or suspected incest, to be introduced and I cannot tolerate that possibility. Therefore, I cannot tolerate forbidden love.

Star-Crossed Lovers

This one has quite popular success stories, like Romeo and Juliet or the retelling by Chloe Gong, These Violent Delights, which take both forbidden love and Star-Crossed Lovers and make them sing. Unfortunately, the likelihood that a star-crossed couple can only be together in death can make it difficult for me to want to read. Call me basic, but I prefer my couples to have a chance at being together before either one or both of them die. I’m a big fan of a happy ending.

Soul Mates

I think soul mates can be beautiful but thanks to the fantasy genre where it simply becomes ‘Mates’, I would rather stay away. It’s cute to feel as though someone could be your soul mate because of your connection, it becomes something different when you’re only together because Fate said so, even with a certain level of love. It feels lazy and too convenient. It’s as though you’re being told, don’t worry, this couple is perfect and they’ll be together forever because they’re bound by fate, otherwise, they had no chance. Give me a story where someone wants to be with anyone but their soul mate, and that conviction does not change, and I’ll reconsider.

Tier 4 – I’m Sorry for forgetting You Exist

Opposites attract

This one gets a whole tier to itself because I forgot that the personalities of two characters can be pre-determined by an overall romance trope. Opposites attract can be cute, simply because it’s all about how the dynamic of the characters plays out. In fact, there are whole character tropes dedicated to pairings like the criminal and the innocent, the cynic and the optimist, the confident one and the shy one which works beyond romantic relationships. Specific opposites attracting isn’t the first trope I’d say I want to see (or the second, or the third…) but I do like it enough to apologise for forgetting about it.

Tier 3 – Cute but I Could Live Without Them

This tier is for the tropes that I like, but how much I like them is determined by how well they’re executed rather than the trope itself. In other words, I would not immediately reach for a book with these tropes, but I’m likely to enjoy them if I did.

Friends to Lovers

Friends to lovers is a self-explanatory trope. One second, they’re friends, the next they’re beginning to question if they want more. In my opinion, it’s one of the most natural, true-to-life romance tropes and is usually a palatable trope for me, especially if it’s a slow burn, it’s just not one of my favourites. Most often I like seeing this in a book where romance is a sub-plot, but I’m okay with seeing it in romance novels too.

Second Chance Romance

Another trope that explains itself. Two people who were previously romantically involved or close to it get a second chance at building something. I have to say that I do find this one intriguing. I love the tentative dance between the two characters as they try to build a new dynamic, realising the old one may not work or that it had needed a lot more work than they’d given it in the first place. I like drama and conflict in my romances and a second chance romance is often a great place for this as the characters work around whatever miscommunication caused them to not work in the past.

Love Triangle

A love triangle, where one person is trying to decide between two romantic options, is a popular trope in romance novels. I have a love-hate relationship with this trope. My initial thought is exasperation (just pick one of the equally bland options already) but often love triangles are part of the protagonist’s journey to understanding themselves better and it’s always nice watching as one of the options shine brighter. A lot can be done with a love triangle, which is why I think I’m on the fence about it. Sometimes it’s a case of sticking with the safe option versus taking a risk, which makes the first option seem like little more than an obstacle. Other times it’s a genuine struggle where both options seem entirely viable or are being genuinely considered and I prefer love triangles like this.

Tier 2 – I Love it When I see it

This tier is for the tropes that I’ll pick up on in a blurb and instantly know I’m going to enjoy whatever it is I’m about to read. They’re not my ultimate favourites, but they’re close to it.

Fake relationships

I don’t know what it is, but I love a good fake relationship romance. Usually, a fake relationship happens out of convenience and there’s reluctance for both parties. It’s either a one-time thing that turns into more, or it’s an extended ruse that becomes real. Reading about two characters who are forced to learn about one another, spend time together in romantic settings, sometimes for a common goal, slowly warming up to one another, is always pleasant to read.

Belated Love Epiphany

I also really, really like this trope, in which the protagonist realises after a long time that they’re in love with someone, sometimes when it’s too late. It goes hand in hand with a lot of tropes like fake relationships or friends to lovers and one that I’m yet to mention that I hold in high esteem. I like the versatility of this one. It can be tragic, happening when something bad happens to one of the characters, or it can be hopeful, the realisation allowing the protagonist to be with someone who happens to be good for them. It definitely deserves to be in tier 2.

Tier 1 – The Untouchables

The final tier. Nothing can make me dislike these tropes. I would never blame these tropes for a bad novel even if they were the main feature. Stories with these tropes are the most likely to stay with me or become five-star reads because I’m so blinded by their existence.

Forced Proximity

This is an umbrella term for any incident that forces two characters to spend time together. It encompasses a lot of other romance tropes like being trapped in a small space like a lift with one other character, the ‘there’s only one bed’ issue, having to work with another character on a project (especially someone the character dislikes), and one character being sick or injured and the other having to take care of them. All of these are tropes I love. No matter how many times I see forced proximity (which is in almost every romance I’ve read) I adore it. It never fails to give me butterflies, to get me excited for the awkward or rage-inducing, struggling beginning and the eventual ground-breaking shift in the relationship of the two characters forced together.

Enemies to Lovers!

This trope. Enemies to Lovers. They start off despising one another, wanting entirely different things, and end up being in love. When done well, it is the trope of all tropes. When done poorly, I still love it. There is something about watching the animosity between two characters dissolve into love that I can’t get enough of. The anguished wrestling with their feelings, the stolen glances, the eventual admission, the shifts that occur in the characters to make it all possible. I love it. It’s one of those things that would not make much sense in real life, but in any media, I love to see it. Enemies to lovers also happens to be the perfect setting for a lot of my other most-liked tropes, such as forced proximity, belated love epiphany and sometimes even fake relationships. It’s can also be a good place for the tropes I don’t like as much, like opposites attract and forbidden love. Who doesn’t want to see a pair of enemies trapped in a lift together? Stranded in a remote cabin? Learning to appreciate each other’s passions? It’s without a doubt my favourite trope, potentially in a league of its own, but it can share with forced proximity since I see them as being quite closely related.

I am beginning to see a pattern in my choices, in that I appreciate the tropes tied to opportunities for characters to develop or learn more about each other the most. Reading the more intimate scenes where characters are forced to put aside their differences and find common ground are the most fulfilling to me. Whereas tropes that use fate or taboo to determine the nature of a relationship are harder for me to stomach.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of romance tropes, especially because I left a lot of popular ones like ‘Insta-Love’ and ‘Secret Billionare’ out, because I don’t think they’re all that interesting. But this is all my opinion, and I’d love to hear yours. What are some of your favourite or least favourite romance tropes? Do you agree with any of mine?