I saw this post over on Mindy Klasky’s website about romance tropes. “Merriam-Webster gives a definition of ‘trope’ as a ‘figure of speech.’ In storytelling, a trope is just that — a conceptual figure of speech, a storytelling shorthand for a concept that the audience will recognize and understand instantly.” (source tvtropes)
That’s a lot of words to say that they’re commonly used devices or story lines. It all goes back to my post about there not being any new ideas — but there are a lot of ways to spin them. I thought it would be fun to try to match up the list to my own books. So, here I go…
Alpha heroes — That would have to be ALL my books.
Billionaire — Solace in Scandal
Class warfare — Again, Solace in Scandal
Fake engagement — Maxie
Forbidden love — Private Dancer, Hell to Pay, Blade of Moonlight
Kidnapped — Manhunt (oh, I haven’t thought about that story for the longest time)
Law enforcement — Tiger Lily, On The Prowl (another oldie), Wanted
Office romance — Lexie, Fever
Orphan — Roxie
Reunion — New Year’s Bang, Everlasting, and oooh, Going Deep
Revenge — Tiger Lily (in a big way)
Siblings ex-spouse — Unrequited
Unrequited love — Unrequited (duh)
Those are my thoughts at first glance. Do you think any more fit those tropes? I was kind of surprised at how many of my stories didn’t fit. I’m kind of proud of that.
I couldn’t think of anymore books that fit but I have to say that I would be proud of the fact that several did not. While tropes are great (I’m a sucker for class warfare and kidnapped) I like it when authors pave new ways and, perhaps make new tropes.
😀 This was a great post and made me think not only of your books but of others that I’ve read!
Me, too! Some of the tropes immediately brought other writers’ books to mind. Great stories, but I also like fresh ideas.