Popular Romantic Tropes that Leave Readers Swooning

The romance genre has gotten a reputation over the years for being corny and cliche, but romance movies and books are still being made. Why is that? Romantic stories have grown and started perfecting romantic tropes that keep the readers’ attention, sometimes even for multiple books. Over time, there have been many tropes that readers have fallen in love with. The term “many” is definitely an understatement as there are hundreds being talked about in the literary world. Whereas I could definitely ramble about every single romantic trope that there is, I know that we both don’t have the time (or attention span) for all of that. Instead, I’ll focus on some of the more popular and more underrated tropes that leave romance lovers swooning for hours:

- Soulmates

- Friends to Lovers

- Forced Proximity

- Opposites Attract

- Fake Relationship

What IS a trope exactly?

The term “trope” has many definitions depending on where you look, so before we dive into the romance - I know, just bear with me a little longer - let’s distinguish what exactly we’re talking about when we say “trope.” For this post, we’re talking about romantic tropes specifically.

Romantic tropes are plot devices or themes that authors use that make their romance dynamics easy for the readers to recognize. Once readers identify these common characteristics for a certain trope, they can usually determine if the romance is their cup of tea or not. Whether an author intentionally follows a trope guideline or unintentionally writes their characters into a familiar dynamic, the readers are able to see it and put these characters in a certain category. This isn’t a bad thing, as many avid romance readers have their favorite tropes to read! Letting the reader know early on what kind of romance they’re in for is really important so the reader isn’t wasting their time. It also ensures that you’ll have a loyal fanbase who are in love with your characters.

With all the technical talk out of the way, are you ready to dive into the juicy romance tropes? Let’s get into our first big trope!

I. Soulmates

You know when you were younger and you asked your parent or guardian, “What does it feel like to be in love?” Well, these couples never had to ask that question. Their chemistry is undeniable, and they are often brought back to each other despite the many obstacles they may have encountered along the way. This is such a fun trope to explore in your writing because it goes beyond the means of normal time. Obviously, you can use this trope in a human way, where the two human characters always come back to each other after many failed attempts or the many trials life throws at them. On the other hand though, if you have immortal characters or characters who can bend time/travel through different realities, you have a love story that stands the test of time. No matter who they are, where they are, or what they are, these characters are drawn to each other, regardless of the consequences of their love. Imagine a love that burns strong after knowing that person for a hundred lifetimes. On the swoon-worthy scale, this trope will always get a 10/10 from me. It’s impossible to not audibly gush at these characters as you watch them continuously fight for each other, despite all odds.

Onto the fun part, how do we successfully write soulmates? Well, that’s completely up to you! There are many soulmate gimmicks out there such as “they have matching distinct birthmarks” or “they feel a physical pull in their heart to go towards their person.” Regardless of if you choose to use a gimmick or keep it plain, these two characters have to have clear chemistry. There should be no confusion in your readers’ minds about whether or not these two will end up together at some point. My personal advice: make it so painfully cheesy and romantic.

II. Friends to Lovers

There’s something so domestically beautiful and realistic about friends falling in love. Could it be because we remember having crushes on one or a couple of our friends growing up and love to live out our “what if” fantasies? No… that can’t possibly be it. Moving on!

These two characters already have an established relationship, whether it was early in the book or even before the book started. These two have a secret handshake, a language they made up, inside jokes, shared experiences, and so much more. In many cases, the reader knows that these lovely characters are going to be together before the characters even know it. Due to their friendship, there can be hesitation to acknowledge the romantic feelings emerging.

The greatest thing about the friends-to-lovers trope is that it’s typically a slow-burn relationship development. Since these characters will interact a lot, the readers will begin to catch on and even wish that the two would just realize their feelings. A great thing you can do for your friends-to-lovers storyline is put the two characters in situations where they become vulnerable with one another. You could have them at a party together, a sleepover, or just sitting in a field somewhere, literally any setting will work. Allowing them to slowly realize their feelings as they continue to become closer is what makes this trope so juicy.

This trope is one of the more realistic ones, so the key to writing this couple is to keep it that way. The readers who love this trope want to get lost in the simplicity and fluff of this couple, so any drama, conflict, and other plot devices you utilize should be realistic. For instance, you can have one of the characters be in a long-term relationship, so their openness to their romantic feelings towards their friend is low. This adds a little bit of drama and stakes, but not so much that your readers are turned away. For this type of trope, make it super adorable, awkward, quirky, and corny.

III. Forced Proximity

Now, I know this sounds really odd, but I promise it makes sense! When I say “forced proximity” I mean by the author writing it this way, not the characters forcing one another to be around them. I’m referring to situations where characters have little to no chance to leave so they have to stay. This can have high stakes, like something dangerous will happen if they try to leave, or low stakes, like they could leave if they really wanted to but… do they actually want to?

This is similar to the situations I described in the “friends to lovers” trope, but it’s a little more intense. These characters can be complete strangers or even rivals, so these two being forced to be together for a period of time is way different than the friends being together.

These characters have little to no relationship before this forced proximity situation occurs. If they’re rivals in some way, then this would be the time when they become vulnerable as to why they dislike one another. They begin to expose themselves out of fear or curiosity. For example, the characters can be two knights from different kingdoms who got stuck stranded in the forbidden forest together. They have no choice but to work together, and the only way they can work together efficiently is to get to know each other deeply despite their opposing kingdoms. Due to their forced proximity, they develop a relationship that otherwise wouldn’t have occurred because of their rivalry.

These characters tend to be tense, which is understandable because typically these situations are stressful. Their tense attitudes cause them to appear stand-offish, which makes the readers adore any moment these characters drop their facade and show their genuine and true emotions. The gradual growth of the characters’ relationship with one another keeps the readers hooked, wanting to see what’s going to happen next and if their relationship is going to continue after their forced proximity ends. When using this trope, be mindful to not drag things out too long without giving the readers something to grasp onto. What I mean by this is that you want to hint at a relationship forming and show progress so that the readers don’t get too bored. We love a slow burn, but a slowwww burn can get underwhelming and boring.

IV. Opposites Attract

If you’re on social media at all, then I’m sure you’ve seen posts about the sun/moon couples or the golden retriever/black cat. There are so many other examples of these dynamics, but the general trend is that an audience loves to see opposite character types fall in love.

How these two characters come together is completely up to you! You can combine this trope with many others (on and off this list) in order to enhance your love story. They can be enemies, strangers, or friends initially, but these two create a bond that is unbreakable. It’s called “opposites attract” because they’re like magnets that are very difficult to pull apart once their together.

These characters have completely different vibes and emotional expressions. One of them can be extremely giddy, always cheery, laughs at everything, and does anything to help the people they care for (even strangers sometimes). Their opposite would be someone with a tough exterior, who puts themselves first, barely cracks a smile, and is very cynical. How about a really goofy slacker and an academic genius? The athlete and the nerd?

If this sounds cliche to you then good! It's supposed to be cliche! It’s one of the basic and well-known tropes that’s been used countless amount of times. When it comes to writing these characters, showcase their opposites clearly but also be sure to show how they’re able to come together. They have to be able to emotionally and romantically connect, so even though they’re publicly opposite, in private they might share a love of rocks or something similar. A shared interest or backstory will allow them to bond and create a believable and adorable relationship. Bonus points if you show one of the characters participating in something they usually never would do just because their lover asked them to.

V. Fake Relationship

Now, this trope isn’t one of the most popular or most liked amongst the literary community. However, I truly believe when done right, this trope can have a good mix of angst, drama, tension, and romance. I definitely didn’t include it on this list because it’s one of my personal favorites and I wanted to gush about it… Seriously though, a dynamic that starts off with two characters sharing no feelings to then becoming head over heels in love is one simply worth gushing over! It’s also a trope that can be mixed with other tropes like “enemies to lovers” or “friends to lovers” which makes it a top-tier trope in my eyes.

These characters need to have a mission, an objective, a reason to begin the fake relationship in the first place. Whether it’s to make an old partner jealous, for legal reasons, for college admissions, or any other reason. Without this logical explanation of why they should begin a fake relationship, the readers will be confused as to the justification of their false relationship. Once you create that sound reasoning, then you can go all in on the awkward relationship dynamic. Obviously, there are no feelings between these two characters, so at first, they’ll be awkward with one another. You could show them questioning how to “act like a couple,” have them slip up in front of friends and family and make their first kiss really weird and cringe to read.

The reason you want to go all in on the awkwardness is to highlight how great their chemistry is at the end. The juxtaposition between how they were in the beginning and how they are at the end will be enough to make your readers giggle and kick their feet. Watching these two cuties develop feelings for one another is so wholesome and can also create some comedic moments for your readers to enjoy.

In Love with These Tropes?

Keep in mind that these are only a handful of the many tropes out there! Some of them are extremely broad and can mix with many other tropes while others are extremely niche. I’ll always suggest that you do your own research to figure out exactly what you want with your own story.

This is one step towards your future in romance writing, so like I always say, take your time, do your research, and give yourself some wiggle room to make mistakes. Romance writing can be so fun, especially when you get into the fluff and cheesiness of it all. Don’t be afraid to indulge in the cliches, write something that you enjoy, and if you ever need feedback, don’t be afraid to ask!