Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Top Ten Least Favorite Romance Tropes

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.

It is only now that I wished I kept track of what tropes showed up in my romance novels. But, then again, I don't read a lot of romances, so I'm not sure I could even come up with ten that all use the same trope. So, I decided to be typical and all down on romance like usual and do a list of my least favorite romance-y tropes.


 Alpha Hero
If you could even call them a hero. I hate pushy, possessive guys - as well as guys that always have to prove themselves - and these are probably the biggest reason I tend to be very, very careful in my reading of romance novels.

 Forced Marriages
I'm including the arranged marriage, the marriage for diplomacy, the marriage of convenience and probably any others that I missed. (Except for fake marriage - I like fake relationships.)

 Blackmail/Kidnap/Abduction
No. Just no.

 Pregnancy/Baby Tropes
Any and all. (What can I say? It's the rare kid that I can actually tolerate.)

 Romantic False Lead
I think this probably goes back to my preference for the author playing fair with the reader. That and I read romances for the scenes between the love interests.

 Love Triangles
Or any other love shapes. While I've always hated them - now it more often than not leaves me wondering why they don't just have a poly relationship. Or at least consider it.

 Billionaire
I am truly not fond of super rich characters in my romances.

 Royalty in Contemporary/Historical Romance
But, somehow, I find myself totally okay with royalty in fantasy worlds...

 Consanguinity
I don't know what else to call that, but it's when the love interests are related. Like cousins or such. I don't even care for step-siblings being love interests unless they were well into their teens when they first met. And I know this is a cultural thing, but whatever.

 Amnesia
Amnesia in any and all fiction just needs to die with fire - but when it's combined with romance, it gets a very special ire from me.

 Misunderstanding
This crops up in probably 85% or more of romance novels, but I don't like it. Never have.
And there we have my rather odd little list. Are there any romance tropes that you particularly hate?
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Charnell · 423 weeks ago

I love this weeks topic, it is fun to see what people decided to go with and I love your choice. I have so many romance tropes that I absolutely hate, you basically covered them all. I HATE the alpha male trope, they are basically just assholes and I don't get why girls fall for it. Yes, I am a big no for forced marriages but fake relationships that result in real feelings are different and adorable when done right. I hate the amnesia storyline... WITH A PASSION! Such a great pick of topic! You can check out my post on romances here.
1 reply · active 422 weeks ago
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AmyAelleah 80p · 422 weeks ago

Thank you! Oh, but the asshole is just so hot. [/sarcasm] In truth, those guys are one of the biggest inducers of rage when I read and I've NEVER understood why girls like them. Yeah, fake relationships can be totally adorable. I like the confusion of 'why am I feeling this, oh, it's just because of out closeness' and then comes the 'they're just pretending, right?!' that is usually so fun. Of course, there's some that are just annoying, but as a whole, those are one of the good tropes.
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gregorylhill 73p · 423 weeks ago

I agree with most of these, some of them are just so OVERDONE. Not that I'm a romance reader but even just in YA or adult books. I don't get the alpha thing (especially if they're a jerk) and love triangles (good point about the poly thing lol). Misunderstandings aren't much of a favorite either especially if a little communication would clear it up. :)
1 reply · active 422 weeks ago
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AmyAelleah 80p · 422 weeks ago

The worst of it is, even if you're not reading romance, there's a lot of these tropes that you can't even escape. I just get really fed up with how every book has to have romance - and usually with some of my least favorite tropes thrown in. On the love triangles, thank you. I know it wouldn't work for all of them, but it makes me feel strange that it's never even suggested or mentioned.
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Veronika · 421 weeks ago

I used to LOVE alpha heroes for some dumbass reason - don't judge me, ok - but I'm so tired of them now. The only time I can accept an alpha hero is when the heroine puts him right in his place. I immediately put down books where the heroine lets herself be pushed around, because the 'alpha' hero's ego is fragile as fuck. No, just no, GET YOURSELF TOGETHER, DAMMIT. Misunderstanding and miscommunication are the worst tropes authors can use, in my opinion, especially when literally nothing stops the characters from telling the truth to each other.
Great list! :)

Veronika @ The Regal Critiques
1 reply · active 420 weeks ago
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AmyAelleah 80p · 420 weeks ago

Ooh, you have a good point there. I've read a couple books with a alpha hero and heroine and I really liked one of them. He wasn't so much a controlling, possessive jackass though, more just a bit highhanded and she definitely didn't let him walk all over her. Yeah, very seldom is the misunderstanding actually something believable - and I just can't deal with the fact that there is no reason for them to talk it out quickly and easily. (Though, I gotta admit, it is rather fun when each person thinks the misunderstanding is something different and even talking it out makes it worse. Or if there's a reason for not talking it out.)

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