Top 5 tropes I can’t get enough of

Hello bookworms!! Welcome to Top 5 Tuesday!! This week’s topic is top 5 tropes I can’t get enough of. Which means, we are in November, and we’re ALLLL about the tropes!! (Which, let’s be honest, is a much happier place than last month’s horror-fest.)

Yes, hello, I’m Meeghan, and I am MUSH for certain tropes. Like, creamy mashed potatoes mush. Cannot get enough of them. And I had a really hard time only choosing my top 5. But I did it. And I’m actually nerding out a bit to share them with you!! (For the record, I have provided book examples for each trope in case you want to try them out.) So let’s get started.

If you missed the October-December topics please see this link. Top 5 Tuesday was created by Shanah @ Bionic Book Worm, and is now being hosted here @ Meeghan reads.

top 5 tropes I can’t get enough of

There’s only one bed…

Hi. Yes, let’s start with the tropiest of tropes, and work our way back to “normal”. I LOOOOOVE this trope. Because, for whatever reason, these two are not supposed to be sleeping together. Yet somehow by morning they are all cuddled up and it’s ADORABLE. And awkward. (FYI, I am so here for the awkward as well.) 

It Sounded Better in my Head — Nina Kenwood

When her parents announce their impending divorce, Natalie can’t understand why no one is fighting, or at least mildly upset.

Then Zach and Lucy, her two best friends, hook up, leaving her feeling slightly miffed and decidedly awkward. She’d always imagined she would end up with Zach one day―in the version of her life that played out like a TV show, with just the right amount of banter, pining, and meaningful looks.

Now everything has changed, and nothing is quite making sense. Until an unexpected romance comes along and shakes things up even further.

Fake dating…

I know it’s a cliche, but it’s adorable and I love it. I’m not even sorry. Partly because “fake it ’til you make it” is my life motto, and partly because it’s so adorable to watch them fake hold hands, but secretly both love it.

Always Never Yours — Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka

Seventeen-year-old Megan Harper is about due for her next sweeping romance. It’s inevitable — each of her relationships starts with the perfect guy and ends with him falling in love… with someone else. But instead of feeling sorry for herself, Megan focuses on pursuing her next fling, directing theater, and fulfilling her dream college’s acting requirement in the smallest role possible.

So when she’s cast as Juliet (yes, that Juliet) in her high school’s production, it’s a complete nightmare. Megan’s not an actress, and she’s used to being upstaged—both in and out of the theater. In fact, with her mom off in Texas and her dad remarried and on to baby #2 with his new wife, Megan worries that, just like her exes, her family is moving on without her.

Then she meets Owen Okita, an aspiring playwright who is inspired by Rosaline from Shakespeare’s R+J. A character who, like Megan, knows a thing or two about short-lived relationships. Megan agrees to help Owen with his play in exchange for help catching the eye of a sexy stagehand/potential new boyfriend. Yet Megan finds herself growing closer to Owen, and wonders if he could be the Romeo she never expected.

Found family…

*cue internal screaming AND crying* Honestly, I don’t think I know anyone who could possibly resist the found family trope. It’s usually filled other tropes I’m not fond of (which we’ll get into next week), but there is such a sweetness in characters finding friends and loving them like family.

The Boy Who Steals Houses — C. G. Drews

Can two broken boys find their perfect home?

Sam is only fifteen but he and his autistic older brother, Avery, have been abandoned by every relative he’s ever known. Now Sam’s trying to build a new life for them. He survives by breaking into empty houses when their owners are away, until one day he’s caught out when a family returns home. To his amazement this large, chaotic family takes him under their wing – each teenager assuming Sam is a friend of another sibling. Sam finds himself inextricably caught up in their life, and falling for the beautiful Moxie.

But Sam has a secret, and his past is about to catch up with him.

Enemies to lovers / Secretly pining…

OK, firstly, apologies for putting this book in this category if you haven’t read it yet.

Secondly, the way I see it, there’s three types of enemies to lovers, and while I love all of them, “secretly pining” is my favourite. By that I mean, Person A hates Person B, but Person B secretly adores Person A but pretends to hate them back. Other ‘enemies to lovers’ variants include:

• Person A and Person B actually hate each other
• Person A and Person B actually like each other, but act like they hate each other for Plot Reasons

It can seem complicated. But it’s usually not that bad.

The Cruel Prince — Holly Black

Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.

To win a place at the Court, she must defy him — and face the consequences.

As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

Slooooooooow burn…

Oh, hi. Are we 78% through a trilogy and Person A finally smiled at Person B? *swoon* I am complete trash for a slow burn romance. Or friendship. Or a super quiet plot that kind of sneaks up on you unbeknowingly. Basically anything that is gradual. (Except banter. Banter has to be from the start.) However, if you mix this with Enemies to Lovers, I will basically cry all over the book and scream while reading. A la, the below.

The Foxhole Court — Nora Sakavic

Neil Josten is the newest addition to the Palmetto State University Exy team. He’s short, he’s fast, he’s got a ton of potential — and he’s the runaway son of the murderous crime lord known as The Butcher.

Signing a contract with the PSU Foxes is the last thing a guy like Neil should do. The team is high profile and he doesn’t need sports crews broadcasting pictures of his face around the nation. His lies will hold up only so long under this kind of scrutiny and the truth will get him killed.

But Neil’s not the only one with secrets on the team. One of Neil’s new teammates is a friend from his old life, and Neil can’t walk away from him a second time. Neil has survived the last eight years by running. Maybe he’s finally found someone and something worth fighting for.

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What are top 5 tropes you can’t get enough of?