I love a good trope. I do - honestly, even if we say we don’t we reach for books that have a consistent them. I love when tropes get twisted around or even when it is the same old, same old but the author’s characters are immensely fun. But there are some tropes that I have tried… that I just don’t get…
Billionaires
This might be my socialist heart showing on my sleeve but honestly - why are there so many billionaires in romance novels?? They don’t seem to actually do anything. Except say they are very, very rich, and have no, no emotions and then do something vaguely illegal until someone falls for them. Jeff B***s is not a sex icon and honestly the racist cheetho in the White House did nothing to earn a penny of his money. These are the real life billionaires and I cannot separate them from the romance heroes. Plus - I like someone who can actually do something - other than buy me things.
Secret Baby/ Accidental Baby
This is my number one avoided trope. I honestly can’t stand it. They are technically separate but I can’t really see them that way. Accidental baby seems to be wildly unfeminist in a genre that talks about taking down the patriarchy a lot. ESPECIALLY in the age of easy access to contraceptive and body efficacy. I don’t get why this is still a Thing. Secret Baby is essentially a second chance with a side of bad contraception. I love second chance romance - it is a favorite. But usually this means that someone kept an entire human secret from someone else as a way to punish them or just as a control mechanism. And it is a horrific action and I don’t understand how anyone - even in HEA Romancelandia - could forgive that.
Enemies to Lovers/ Bully
I do not actually know if these are the same or if they just read the same to me… but I don’t understand the sexual attraction to someone that you hate. Like do you have hate sex? Are you just out of touch with your feelings? Did someone radically change their entire personality and now you like them? I struggle with these because often the verbal assault of some of the enemies seems borderline abusive and I don’t get or understand the romanticism of that. (I have thoughts that will come at a later date.)
Teacher/ Student
Straight up - I find this disgusting. EVEN if they are both adults (like college university age). Teachers should not be romantically inclined towards their students. And the romanticization of that is something I find horrifying.