Hello! This is my first Top Ten Tuesday in almost 2 months, but I had a lot of fun with this topic, and with thinking about different romance tropes. The post is a few days late, but I had a lot of fun with the topic, so I’m going to get right into the post!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl where there is a topic and you make a list that best fits that topic! This week’s topic is a love freebie for Valentine’s day, and I decided to go my favorite and least favorite romance tropes!

My favorite romance tropes

Enemies to lovers

Enemies to lovers is just such a great trope!! When it’s done well, there is just so much excitement, and tension, and the right kind of drama. (and by the right kind, I mean at least one knife to the throat scene, and that the characters take a long time to actually get together. Slow burn romance only, please.)

Enemies to lovers book rec: These Violent Delights, by Chloe Gong

Fake dating

The fake dating trope is so fun. It’s not something that I would imagine would be so great to read about, but it has become one of my favorite romance tropes! Whatever the situation is that is causing characters to start fake dating, it’s bound to be entertaining, and very fun to read!

Fake dating book rec: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, by Jenny Han

Anticipated YA fake dating book: Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating, by Adiba Jaigirdar.

Childhood friends to lovers

When it is done well, the childhood friends to lovers trope is so fun to read! What I really love about it is that the characters have had time to really get to know each other, and they also often will have a more complex, deep, and interesting relationship.

Childhood friends to lovers book rec: The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, by Rick Riordan.

The “I’m usually dark and brooding but I have a soft spot for you because I’m in love with you but if anyone asks I’ll deny it” trope

I know that this is kind of oddly specific, but if you give me a book with this trope, I will read it. Yes, I am thinking of one specific Kaz Brekker, but this trope does appear in other books, and when it does, it is always absolutely amazing to read.

Book rec: Six of Crows, by Leigh Bardugo

A romance that takes place all in one day

This isn’t a trope that I would expect to love, but when it is done well it can become a really incredible book! When two strangers unexpectedly meet, and over the course of the day begin to like each other, it’s really entertaining.

Book rec: The Voting Booth, by Brandy Colbert

My least favorite romance tropes

Love triangles

I really dislike love triangles. A lot of the time, they feel unnessesary to the plot, and a lot of the time, they don’t even go the way you want them too. They can be thrown into books to add drama, but when there are a lot of other things happening in the book the love triangle doesn’t need to be there.

Insta-love/love at first sight

I know that this might seem to contradict the one-day romance trope (which I love), but insta-love is just really not fun to read! Where is the slow-burn, the getting to know each other, the denying of feelings? How is it fun to read that?

Sibling drama

One romance trope that I really don’t like reading about is drama between siblings. Not in any specific way, but just in general. It’s just not entertaining to me, and stresses me out.

This could be the certain ‘revelation’ we learned of at the end of City of Bones, (I haven’t read past the first bit of City of Ashes though so please don’t spoil anything in the comments!) or all of the stuff that unfolded between Lara Jean and Margot in Too All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.

Arranged marriage that leads to true love

I don’t have a problem with this trope, but I just don’t find it as interesting or enjoyable to read. The thing about the arranged marriage leading to true love is where is the chance meeing in the coffee shop, or the meeting while fighting together in a dangerous battle against a common enemy. The arranged marriage leading to true love trope just isn’t a trope that I like.

What are some of your favorite romance tropes? What are some of your least favorite romance tropes? Chat with me in the comments below?