We’ve reached the end of another successful (well, mostly) month of l’amour! Hopefully we’ve helped you find a new swoonworthy read. All this talk of tropes and what makes a “good” romance, and eventually the discussion turned personal. Someone’s yuck is someone else’s yum. What revs your engine may stall out another’s. What lubricates your–well, you get the idea.

Euphemisms aside, I love learning about which moments get to the heart of you, so, to that end, I asked everyone at FYA HQ to share their romance faves AND fails, because there’s also nothing I love more than bitching about bad media. (And if there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that we’re o-v-e-r billionaires finding love. LET THEM DIE ALONE and donate their riches to animal shelters!)

Stephanie

Faves:

  • Banter. I don’t care what the romance story is or what tropes are surrounding the characters, who they are, what they do, IF they are witty, intelligent, smart-asses who can give a good comeback. Writing dialogue that snaps, crackles, and pops is SO EFFING HARD to do. And what’s great is this isn’t limited, as you might think, to only enemies-to-lovers. Give me best friends who know how to rib each other but also want to bone, and that’s just as hot. Sarah Rees Brennan is great at making me laugh and root for her couples.
  • Friends-to-Lovers and the subset, Idiots-in-Love. I am all about delayed gratification AND slow-burns, and what’s a slower-burn than two people becoming friends (or always being friends) and realizing they want each other? I prefer if one of them wasn’t always pining away from the friendship start, waiting in the Friendzone as a Nice Guy; rather, it’s just, you’ve simply spent so much time around this amazing person…why wouldn’t you fall in love? Conversely–and I think this does work better in fan fics when the characters’ personalities are already quite established–I love a well-written, banter-filled fic about two idiots in love who are too scared to ruin the friendship and make the first move. 
  • Bodyguard romance. There’s something about the forced proximity, the one character having to protect the other (especially if one of them is unhappy about the situation) and the forbidden “we shouldn’t, because I’m your bodyguard / protectee” of it all that gets me…possibly because it also discourages the characters from getting together too quickly (are you sensing a theme yet!!? Haha.). One of my favorite bodyguards-turned-love-interest is Hector from The Crown of Embers.

Fails: 

  • Fake killing off the love interest…for too long. Honestly this is both a fave and a fail. Do I love seeing the “living” character go ape-shit because their love is gone and all the high drama that comes along with it? I’m a Pisces, so yes, yes I do. Rend your clothes. Declare your love where they can secretly overhear you. Tear down a dictator in your cold, unflinching anger. BUT. DO NOT make me and the characters spend an entire book grieving and APART. That so many months go by that someone else starts to think they can ‘horn in on taken territory. (I’m looking at you, Voyager!)
  • Man-whores wantonly plowing their way through hordes of women. It’s a fine line, but, as I get older, the idea of these irascible rakes who’ve plundered dozens upon dozens of lady treasures and are out there messing around right up ‘til they declare their love for the MC…it’s gross. Especially when it’s happening in Regency-esque romances, when I KNOW it was harder to access contraceptives. 
  • Silent types. The antithesis to banter, so naturally not my favorite. He’s usually big, hulking, and has some man-pain he can’t express. UGH. Like, if all he does is just stand there and brood and tell you nothing about his life and inner self, then how can you fall in love with him? That’s lust OR a poorly written love story. The only way this works for me is when the MC doesn’t start to care or catch feelings until AFTER he opens up. 

Sarah

Faves:

  • Enemies to lovers. I will never, EVER tire of this trope; Pride & Prejudice has ingrained it into every fiber of my being.
  • Banter. I’m with Stephanie! Writing a smokin’ hot banter is a skill that should be praised just as highly as writing a smokin’ hot sex scene.

Fails: 

  • Miscommunication / jumping to conclusions. I HATE THIS. PLEASE WRITERS MAKE IT STOP. Human beings can actually communicate, and moving a plot along by having one character misinterpret something is lazy and old and JUST QUIT IT.

“It was a jump to conclusions mat.”

  • Obsession with a physical feature. And NO, I don’t just mean that sexually, I mean any feature that gets repeated more than twice. If a protagonist is obsessed with someone’s eyes or lips or abs, I don’t need to hear about it a dozen times.  Like, there’s only so many ways you can describe someone’s lips in a tantalizing manner.

Mandy W.

Faves:

  • Fake dating. I see Regina’s point (below) about the relationship being based on a lie, but it’s lying together (to eventually lie together). The couple also gets to be a couple before actually being a couple. Plus, it’s one of those outlandish tropes that can only happen in fiction, like WHAT DO YOU MEAN the only option is to fabricate an entire relationship, you ridiculous people (affectionate)!!! Among my faves are the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before book and movie.
  • Forced proximity. I need the characters to spend a lot of time together, and I need to witness said time! Show me why they’re meant for each other! They have to spend all their time with each other and they STILL can’t get enough?!? SWOON. (I realized that Katniss/Peeta technically fall under this and fake dating too lol.)
  • Star-crossed lovers. Maybe not for Happily Ever After romances, but THE UTTER ANGST of falling in love with the one person you shouldn’t! And not just for rivals or enemies-to-lovers reasons, but cataclysmically THIS LOVE CANNOT BE. (I blame Buffy/Angel and Kat/Human Casper, lol.) (Ed. Note: We’ve had a lot of thoughts on Buffy’s boyfriends over the years.)

“Can I keep you?”
The ultimate star-crossed lovers of our childhoods.

Fails: 

  • Billionaire romances. As we are painfully reminded all the time, real billionaires are neither good nor hot! 
  • Law enforcement love interests. Also can’t abide by those. 
  • Love interests who’d probably have awful voting records IRL. An unfun thought exercise I can’t help doing is wondering how fictional characters would vote. (Not great for our current Friday Night Lights rewatch!) Shitty political views are a real turn-off!
  • Overly euphemistic terms. Not saying they need to be more anatomical or crude instead, but this always makes me think of an Arrested Development quote: “The mere fact that you call making love ‘Pop Pop’ tells me that you’re not ready.”

Mandy C.

Faves:

  • Enemies to lovers. I know it’s been done (poorly) to death recently, but I will never get enough of two people who “hate” each other figuring out that hate isn’t what they feel at all.
  • In Love With the Villain. Much like Meredith B.’s love of literal monsters and Meredith C’.s interest in “sociopaths with a heart of gold,” I cannot quit love interests who ride the line between black and white. Think Kaz Brekker from Six of Crows or Loki (natch). Would I want a partner like this in real life? Hells no. But reading about them gives me the feet kicks and giggles. (Beauty and the Beast is definitely where my lore started.)
  • Nicknames. I’m totally the kind of person who’d punch a love interest if they called me something like Princess or Violence while inside being delighted that they’ve taken any sort of interest at all. This ties heavily into enemies-to-lovers and the he-fell-first (another fave) tropes; give me a sarcastic ass who kisses like fire, and I am sold. (Examples: Bellamy from The 100—I do not care that he and Clarke weren’t canon in the show—or Xaden in Fourth Wing.)

It’s our party head-canon and we’ll ship if we want to!

Fails: 

  • Miscommunication. Much like everyone else who’s mentioned this trope, it is by far my biggest peeve when it comes to romance, or pretty much anything, really. Adults should know how to talk to each other, even if they’re a stunted troll who’s lived their whole life trapped in a magical cave. Sure, half of all romances wouldn’t exist without this trope (note: stats have not been confirmed), but there have to be other ways to drive up the tension.
  • Love Triangle. Just, no. No, no, no, no, no. (There are so many entries in this list.) Especially when it’s two stereotypically hot dudes lusting over a super ordinary, in-no-way-special, did we mention she’s bland kind of girl. Gross. On many levels.
  • GIANT MEN with tiny women. Looking at you, Ali Hazelwood. At least flip it on its head a time or two? Give us a short king with a Madame Maxime! They can still do science!

Kandis

Faves:

  • Big co-sign on banter. Authors who do banter well (like Ally Carter, Olivia Dade, and Tessa Bailey) are worth their weight in gold. The current hellscape is hard, we need that sparkling wit more than ever.
  • Mico-trope I’m obsessed with: “She’s a monster. Isn’t it adorable?” Wherein she’s kind of violent, a pyromaniac, or a bloodthirsty fiend of some sort and he finds it delightful. Think Butcher & Blackbird or Holly Black’s The Folk of Air series. 
  • Historicals. I know readership is down among historicals (despite the popularity of Bridgerton!) probably owing to contemporary readers struggling to relate. But I can’t think of anything more topical than reading about Gilded Age tycoons destroying America for profit.

“Amen.”

Fails: 

  • The third-act misunderstanding. As Sarah said about jumping to conclusions (a hallmark of the misunderstanding device), you are adults! Just talk to each other. 
  • “Who did this to you?” and “Good girl.” They’re so tired and I’m so over it. They frequently feel shoehorned into every romance these days, even when it doesn’t even fit the characters or situation. Overuse has ruined any previous goodwill I had toward overprotective alpha males.
  • Supposedly smart (or even genius) leads who can’t figure out that the other character is into them. (Side-eyeing you, Ali Hazelwood.) 

Regina

Faves:

  • Unconventional-looking leads. Anyone can write a love interest who’s “hot”. Give me one who’s ordinary or even ugly at first sight, only to become more and more beautiful in the narrator’s eyes the better you get to know them, Jo March and Friedrich Bhaer from Little Women. If you’ve read the book, you know they look nothing like Saoirse Ronan and Louis Garrel.
  • Formal manners, honorifics, titles etc. and better yet, moving past them. You see this with Princess Marguerite and Lieutenant Markov from the Firebird series by Claudia Gray.
  • Second chances. Don’t we all have that “one who got away”, who we secretly wish would come back? The ultimate second-chance romance is between Anne Elliott and Frederick Wentworth from Persuasion.

Fails: 

  • Vampires. I pass out when I cut myself on a kitchen knife, so for the life of me, I can’t see anything sexy about drinking blood. 

“Yes. You are a monster. Vampires are monsters. They make monster movies about them.”

  • Fake dating. As fun as it can be to read about, I just can’t believe in a relationship based on a lie.
  • Soulmates/imprinting. Please don’t make alien or paranormal biology an excuse for your characters’ bad choices, or a shortcut to actually getting to know each other.

Brian

Faves:

Fails: 

  • Dimpled male love interests! I swear, I haven’t read a YA book in five years where the guy didn’t have cute dimples. YA guys are going to look like golf balls by the end of the decade.
  • “I’m such a hideously ugly girl that no boy will ever want me. Thank goodness my two besties, Rocky Meathead and Poindexter Nerdstrom, are always there to cheer me up.” A girl doesn’t realize she’s attractive or that her two male besties (one cool, one bookish) are totally into her. (You Were Made for Me by Jenna Guillaume)
  • “My ex did something terrible to me and I’ll never forgive him for it…but when we meet up a year later, it turns out he had a perfectly good reason for ghosting me on prom night.” The destruction and resurrection of a relationship that could have been prevented with a ten-minute conversation.  (Build a Girlfriend by Elba Luz or Woke Up Like This by Amy Lea).

Meredith B.

Faves:

  • A horror element. When the guy’s a literal monster but his personality isn’t monstrous, that’s my shit.
  • A sidekick’s side-romance arc.
  • Well-researched professional details. If she works at a magazine, please know what that entails in real life. If they’re both scientists and you lay some science on me? I want to actually learn something!

Fails: 

  • Throat bobbing. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a throat bob in real life, but I feel like this physical description is in every romance book I’ve ever read multiple times.
  • Billionaires. PASS. Eat the rich, even the hot and fictional rich.
  • Too many pop culture references. I like a few clever riffs as much as anyone, but throw in too many and the book starts dating itself.

Meredith C.

Faves:

  • Enemies to lovers. I love this trope. I especially love this trope when it comes out that ACTUALLY, one of them loved the other all along, and the other just thought they both hated each other. This is Ally Carter’s The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year, my beloved Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, and so on.
  • Sociopath with a heart of gold. This is probably more commonly known as “morally grey hero,” but Sarah Rees Brennan framed it this way when I met her years ago before that phrasing was a thing, and I choose it.  You know, the character who overall is a terrible human (or vampire or faerie) with a secret tortured backstory but will do anything for that one person.  Awful in reality, fantastic in fiction.  This is your Damon Salvatore, your Cardan, your Kaz Brekker, your (early days) Jace Wayland, your Jared Lynburn, and your Ronan Lynch. 

He’s a monster, but he’s your monster.

Fails: 

  • Cowboy romances. I know they’re a big thing right now, but I don’t get the appeal. Maybe it’s because I don’t want my romance lead smelling like livestock? 
  • Secret/surprise baby. This very rarely works out well!

Patreon

  • We asked our Patreon members for their faves and fails, and this line from Leila made us cackle: “Sometimes he pushes the hair out of HER eyes.”

“You touched whose hair?”

Don’t be shy; join us in the comments and tell us what gets you going! Bonus cookies if you also give us recs, because we are always searching for that next romantic high.

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Stephanie (she/her) is an avid reader who moonlights at a college and calls Orlando home. Stephanie loves watching television, reading DIY blogs, planning awesome parties, Halloween decorating, and playing live-action escape games.