What are Tropes? Why authors should read deeply, and actions romance authors must take today
Romance often gets dismissed - usually by people who don’t write romance and would never admit to reading it.
The red flags we warn our girlfriends about are often the very traits we swoon over in book boyfriends. And spoiler alert: it aint romance if there isn’t a happily ever after (or a happily for now).
The fact is year after year, romance is the best-selling genre on Amazon.
We know the beats: the meet cute in Act 1, the heartbreak in Act 3, the hard-won happily ever after. And still, we finish reading one romance, our fingers itch to start another.
So, what keeps us hooked as readers and what does it mean for us authors?
The author’s promise: Tropes
Tropes are the unspoken promise between author and reader. Some examples:
- Second Chance → high school sweethearts torn apart by distance, exes reunited at a funeral, or lovers who walk away only to find life’s too short.
- Love Triangle → two love interests, but only one is perfect for forever kind of love.
- Forced Proximity (a.k.a. One Bed) → mistaken hotel bookings, fake dating turned fake marriage, or protective hero + forbidden client. Note: Forced proximity isn’t forced consent; it’s simply two people stuck together long enough to fall in love.
Readers love tropes because of the safety and comfort of the familiar. Tropes give readers the opposite: emotional safety and closure. We want to know that the
famous footballer or rockstar will tame his wild heart with his one true love
grumpy billionaire will soften
friends will fall in love
exes will find forgiveness
overlooked wallflower will turn pretty and have her choice of love
Why authors must read deeply
Some writers, especially those who see romance as an easy sell, underestimate the value of tropes. They base their knowledge on a few rom-coms or handful of books.
If you want to master a trope, you need to read deeply within it. Don’t just skim one or two titles - immerse yourself. Read widely and read with a purpose. Read the same trope from different authors. For example, to get my head in the space for writing rockstar romance or sports romance, I’ll spend a week reading nothing but that trope, just to absorb the cadence.
I’ll read a book once for pleasure, because well, I love reading romance. Then, I’ll read it again for research, asking myself:
- What are the “beats” that keep showing up?
- Which scenes feel inevitable in this kind of story?
- Where do authors play it safe, and where do they surprise me?
- How do they balance the familiar trope with the fresh twists?
And then, refresh what the experts suggest: Study Gwen Hayes (author of Romancing the Beat ) for how to build a structure that meets reader expectations. Want more? Go deeper with T Taylor (How to use Universal Fantasy to sell your books to anyone) and learn about universal butter. That’s the layer of shared emotional truth or promise between author and reader that makes tropes work.
The point is, mastering tropes is a craft, not a formula. It’s emotion, not theory.
Time to review your backlist
Readers don’t search for “a contemporary romance about a woman who runs a bookstore.”
Readers search for friends-to-lovers, second chance romance, small town romance, fake marriage romance. That’s why more and more authors are posting single image graphics with a book cover and tropes.
Did I get your attention? Tropes are marketing tools. It’s time to review your backlist with fresh eyes and ask yourself:
- Which tropes are relevant to your books and series? Pro tip: your reviews should help here.
- Are those tropes clear in the title, sub-title, blurb, or cover?
- Does the story deliver on the emotional promise of those tropes?
- If you re-released the book today, would the tropes feel fresh and hit reader expectations? Pro tip: are there key scenes that need refining or adding?
- Are you using the right keywords and categories?
👉 AMAZON UPDATES CATEGORIES WITHOUT WARNING
When was the last time you checked your categories?
Amazon introduces and removes categies in the main bookstore. They also move our books between categories based on what they assume they know.
Now that we are limited to 3 categories, it’s even more important to ensure our books are in the right categories. Have you tried BKLNK? It’s free, easy to use, and allows you to check categories in multiple countries.
Sometimes the difference between a book that sinks and one that soars is simply making the trope visible. So, when will you review your backlist?
Learning from the Experts
If you’re serious about mastering tropes, I recommend three invaluable resources:
Gwen Hayes’ Romancing the Beat
Yes, I’ve already mentioned Romancing the Beat, but I can’t emphasise it enough. And if you use Atticus to plot your books, there is a Romancing the Beat template. But what good is a template if you haven’t read the book and know how to use it?
Cindy Dees’ 4 book series Tropaholics Guides
Cindy is a master at explaining not just what tropes are, but why they work. I have all four books and each one is tagged for the tropes I write in. Just like T Taylor’s book on universal fantasy, I use Cindy’s books as a drafting checklist for what readers expect, and key scenes at beginning, middle, and end. In my opinion, this series is essential reading for anyone serious about the craft of writing romance.
T Taylor’s Universal Fantasy List for Romance
I absolutely love this book. The more I read, the more I learn. Taylor uses famous fairy tales to demonstrate how to spread the butter thick to ensure leave romance readers wanting to one-click your next book.
Tropes provide a well-traveled path, and open up a world of opportunities.
Why this matters for you
Here’s the truth: readers will forgive almost anything except disappointment. If they pick up a book expecting a second-chance romance and instead find a story that never fully addresses the past heartbreak, they’ll feel cheated. But if you deliver on the trope while adding your own unique author voice, they’ll fall in love not just with your characters but with your storytelling.
And when readers fall in love with your storytelling, they come back for more.
Final word on romance tropes
- Identify the tropes in your books
- Read deeply and study the tropes and expected story beats
- Refresh your backlist to make tropes clear
- Check your categories on Amazon
- Deliver on your tropes
Because readers don’t just love tropes, they rely on them.
Kenna xoxo
The full version of this article was published on Medium as Why Readers Love Romantic Tropes