How to Put Your Own Twist on Beloved Romance Tropes

Romance tropes are like a go-to playlist—you already know what’s in store, but you love it anyway and can always go back to it. Readers return to well-loved classic tropes like enemies to lovers or fake dating all the time. But wait a minute…doesn’t this make a book predictable?

Honestly, the more I write, the more I appreciate a good trope. It’s a bit of scaffolding I can use to build my story, but it’s by no means the entire house. Readers pick up on when a book is just a trope salad versus when an author takes some time to really cook up something good. When used as a creative springboard, there’s still plenty of freedom to create magic with something unexpected, even with a tried-and-true trope. So how do you take a trope that’s been done before and make it new again?

First: Understand Romance Tropes

A trope is a recurring theme or narrative device that readers can recognize. Second chance romance, forced proximity, only one bed…these story structures work because they tap into widely universal emotions and fantasies. Understanding the “rules” of the trope—what, exactly, makes it work and what readers love about it—is essential before you start bending or breaking said rules.

Take small town romance, one of my faves. Readers love the way that life becomes simpler, and they may relate to characters who have thrown busy, hectic lives away and started over somewhere idyllic. Small town romance brings its own set of conflicts—perhaps a main character who’s a city person struggling to understand the interpersonal dynamics of a tiny village. The main characters will inevitably cross paths often in a small town romance book, and in fact, it may be near impossible to hide from each other. They will have to face their feelings about each other head on.

Knowing all of this going into the drafting phase can give you a better understanding of what readers are anticipating and what keeps them glued to the page. It will also highlight spots in a story where you can veer off from what’s expected and build even more excitement.

Twists on Popular Tropes

Want to shake up specific tropes? Here are some things to consider:

The gender and sexual orientation of your characters

LGBTQIA+ stories with classic tropes are wonderful to explore. We’ve seen grumpy sunshine a billion times where a straight man is the quiet gruff type and a straight woman is a ray of sunshine. How would that look in an MM romance? A why choose? romance? With LGBTQIA+ characters and a classic trope, consider the expectations of the trope and how your characters with different gender and sexual identities may alter the narrative.
Please don’t take a trope you love and write in an LGBTQIA+ character solely for the purposes of making it “fresh”; as writers, our work must go deeper than that! It’s also important to give space to LGBTQIA+ authors to write these stories before you try and tackle it as something merely to reinvent a trope.
Example: Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston - Let’s take royalty, but rather than a prince and princess, it’s two of the most influential princes in the modern world.

The setting

A trope might take on a whole new personality in an unexpected location. What happens when a forced-proximity romance unfolds in front of a live audience for a survival game show? Or when the enemies are thrown together in an incredibly romantic destination?
Example: Bloody Sunrise by Gwendolyn Harper - Give me a survival romance…in the zombie apocalypse.

The timing

Maybe you want to toy around with the order of events, or you extend or compress the timeline of the romance. How would a main character cope with love at first sight in a time loop, for example? What about a first-love romance that happens for a character in their 40s?
Example: The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary - These two characters live in the same apartment and sleep in the same bed for over half of the book before they ever meet face-to-face, falling for each other instead through little notes left around the apartment.

Your characters’ personalities

The personalities of your characters play a significant role in how a trope unfolds. What if the sunshine character hides a sharp, cynical edge? Does the grump have a soft and vulnerable side when it comes to animals or kids? Subverting expectations will make a trope feel less predictable and more your own, so consider giving your characters traits that contrast with the archetypes the trope typically calls for.
Example: The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn - There’s this lovely scene where Jess, who has raised her sister for a decade, has a serious talk with the male main character. They sit on a trampoline and talk it out, and it’s a beautiful moment because you can see Jess’s walls come down, but you can also see that she has the compassion of someone who has raised another human being. Although she’s tough as nails and very guarded, when she cares about someone, the reader can see that she opens up.

The built-in relationship dynamics

Whether it’s a boss/coworker situation, a long-time best friend, or a member of the royal family and their security detail, every relationship has “rules” that people play by. How can you shake these expectations up? How would the story change if the royal fell head over heels for the security officer first and had to work tooth and nail to earn their love?
Example: The Half of It by Theresa Christine - In my debut, Aidan battles his feelings for June, his best friend’s newly discovered half sister. The best friend’s sibling trope often deals with characters who have known each other for years, but that looks quite different for these two since June only found out about her half-sister a couple weeks ago. Combined with some forced proximity, June and Aidan get on the fast track to getting to know each other, and their chemistry is impossible to ignore.

Power dynamics

Power adds tension and complexity to a romance. It might be social, professional, physical, or emotional, so consider how it affects your characters’ interactions and how it shifts over the course of the story. A character who initially holds all the power might gradually realize their vulnerabilities, while the "weaker" character gains confidence in surprising ways. What happens when the son of the CEO will only be able to take over the father’s business when he sheds his playboy image and presents himself as more wholesome…and how will the single mother who works three part-time jobs feel when she realizes she is the key to this man’s success?
Example: Seven Days in June by Tia Williams - In this second chance romance, the two characters re-meet each other in a professional setting once they’ve both become incredibly successful authors. They have grown into new people, but those lingering insecurities are still there, plus the hurt feelings over what happened when they were younger. It makes for a delicious dynamic as they work their way back to each other throughout the book.

What an HEA would look like

The Happy Ever After doesn’t need to fit the traditional mold of marriage, kids, and a house with a white picket fence. What’s most important is: what is a satisfying HEA for your characters? Maybe it’s about finding freedom together, embracing a shared dream, or healing from past trauma. A character who has confidently said they never want to marry throughout the entire course of the book doesn’t need to change their mind at the end for that HEA to still be valid!
Example: Tangled in Tinsel by Trilina Pucci - A why choose? romance that ends in a beautiful HEA. I loved how the Female Main Character didn’t have a ring on her finger but was so very clear that her life at the end of the book was exactly what she wanted.

Other tropes you could add to the mix

Layering multiple tropes can create unexpected combinations. Together, they can amplify conflict, deepen emotional stakes, and keep readers guessing. Rivals to lovers meets brother’s best friend, amnesia meets second chance…the possibilities are endless!
Example: Fake-ish by Winter Renshaw - Fake dating your one night stand’s brother. Hello, drama! I love the way these two tropes worked together and created heaps more tension than they would have on their own.

Balancing Familiarity and Innovation

The trick to putting a twist on a trope is balancing the familiar with the unexpected. Romance tropes have a built-in emotional journey, but readers stick around also when they get surprised along the way.

Keep the core expectation of the trope, but deviate from other aspects of it in your own way. Sometimes it helps to ask yourself, “what if?” Sitting down and brainstorming unconventional ideas for 10 or 15 minutes can sometimes help you break the chains of a traditional trope and instead build it into something that’s more “you.” What if the hot new boss is secretly incredibly insecure? What if the bakery owner in the small town doesn’t want to be featured in the regional newspaper? These kinds of questions usually lead to some interesting character motivations that make a story unique.

Time for a Fresh Take

Romance tropes all ultimately promise an HEA where love conquers all. Taking a familiar setup and then making it unique gives you the chance to honor that promise (and write some of your favorite kinds of storylines) while giving readers something they didn’t even know they needed. Your innovative take on a favorite romance trope might just become someone’s new favorite read!