Romance Tropes and Stuff

Have been compiling tropes for ease of reference, but have strayed a bit into themes and characters here and there but tried to categorize them(tried being the operative word). Please feel free to add any I've missed in Comments and I'll update the list periodically!

Tropes
1) Ain't Misbehavin':
  • Blackmail
  • Impersonation(Bait & Switch)
  • Make-Over
  • One-Night Stan
  • Revenge
  • Running from Something(person/place/situation)
  • Secret Twin (Like an Evil Twin, but you know, maybe not evil) 
  • Secret (Big/dark/etc)
  • Traumatic Past
2) Lookit All These Babies (Note: Can be older than babies)
  • Doorstep Baby
  • Multiples (Please No Octomom)
  • Secret Baby
  • Unexpected Inheritance Baby
3) Marriage Related:
  • Marriage of Convenience
  • Marriage on the Rocks
  • Pretending to be Married
  • Runaway Bride
  • Second Chances
    • Re-Marrying Former Spouse
    • Second Marriage to Someone New
4) Pairings:
  • Beauty and the Beast
  • Boss & Employee
  • Crushes
    • Childhood Crush
    • Secret Crush
  • Enemies to Lovers
  • Friends to Lovers
  • Opposite Sides of the Track
  • Opposites Attract
  • Reunion
  • Workplace Romance
5) Predicaments:
  • Accidental Pregnancy
  • Amnesia
  • Fish-Out-of-Water
  • Mistaken Identity 
  • Sudden Parenthood
  • Women in Jeopardy 
6) Miscellaneous (hard to categorize):
  • Cinderella Stories
  • Rags-to-Riches
Beloved Character Archetypes (more hook than trope)
  • Cinderella
  • Cowboy
  • Doctor
  • Former Wallflower
  • Playboy
  • Rebel/Bad-boy
  • Reformed Rake
  • Royalty
  • Sheikh
  • Single Parent
  • Tortured Hero
  • Virgin
Themes (more hook than trope)

  • Desire vs Duty
  • Love Conquers All
  • Redemption
  • Unrequited Love

3 comments:

  1. Great list, Amelie, thanks so much for compiling it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks! I am always looking for more so happy to add to it with suggestions!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Amalie, I came here for this great list of tropes and hooks, but now that I'm looking around, I'm just going to sign up to follow your blog to read more of your posts! I hope you're enjoying the heck out of your book release!

    ReplyDelete

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