![]() We’ll return to other romance tropes in future blog posts, but for now, we’ll stick with a classic-let’s jump in and explore enemies to lovers. Tropes provide the framework and familiarity, and the individual characters and their arcs are why we can return to romance over and over without getting bored. There’s room within this for nuance, however-how does it change the dynamic between the characters? How do they feel about what happens between them? Romance readers know that if two characters wind up having to share a bed, the writer is giving the cue that the sexual tension is about to increase, usually ending in a sexual encounter. In the same way that the marriage plot structure (initiated by writers like Jane Austen and remaining to this day through romance novels) lets the reader know early on that the couple will wind up together but doesn’t tell you how, romance tropes provide some base information without revealing the essential story-the emotions and development of the characters. And romance tropes provide the reliable and reassuring framework to reach the essential HEA. We read romance when we’re in need of a happily ever after, when we want to read about joyful things coming for loveable characters. Part of the reason that romance tropes work so well is that readers turn to romance for comfort. However, whereas “tropey” is often a criticism in other genres, in romance, tropes are wholeheartedly embraced. Other genres, of course, are filled with tropes too, like the wise old wizard who helps the hero on their quest. Romance novels are built on established and well-loved tropes.
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