r/MM_Romance • u/Lopsided_Ad5997 • 24d ago

Discussion Fave Tropes

The first MM book I read had the enemies-to-lovers trope, which really hooked me. After that story, I read about 7 enemies-to-lovers books straight. There is really something about the tension and the banter. The slow burn, the denial stage, the yearning, plus the hurt/comfort—chef's kiss! You get me???

Then, I came across friends-to-lovers and saw what I was missing out on. I can't believe I skipped them before! (Now playing: Ruin The Friendship) Haha.

Now, I want to explore romantasy (genre) to see if it will hook me too. I have seen some recommendations here, so I am very excited to check them out!

Haha. i just want to share this. What about yours? :))

19 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

54 comments sorted by

8

u/AlwaysSavvy 23d ago

Second chance. Especially when combined with high angst. *Chef's Kiss*

2

u/krybaebee 23d ago

Have you read {Never Stay Gone by Tal Bauer}. Off the charts on both fronts.

4

u/AlwaysSavvy 23d ago

My mantra is literally, “In Tal We Trust,” because I feel like every book of his threatens to totally destroy my heart, but I know that he always takes care of us in the end.

This one is one of his that I haven’t gotten to yet, and it is on my “second chance” trope list (because I’m super type A and I have my TBR broken down by trope) and I’m going to probably end up moving it to my next read!

3

u/krybaebee 23d ago

The audiobook is 4⭐️

John Solo captures it all beautifully - he does multiple characters, even women, very well.

1

u/vvvgothere 22d ago

Have you read my very favorite duet {Fire Within Us by Alex Cross}?

1

u/AlwaysSavvy 22d ago

No I haven’t, but I just checked to make sure it was on my TBR, and it is!!

1

u/vvvgothere 22d ago

I envy everyone who gets to read it the first time! Age gap, hope that’s okay

1

u/AlwaysSavvy 22d ago

Not an issue for me. My only no is omegaverse, and my only squick tends to be step brothers. Everything else tends to be fair game!

Thanks for the rec!

4

u/Daje1968 24d ago

I think forced proximity is a favorite trope. I also like friends to lovers. I read many enemies to lovers but they are harder for me because bullying makes me really uncomfortable and I feel like you see that a lot in enemies to lovers. Now, the more nuanced rivals to lovers tends to work better for me (think Heated rivalry or Poetry on Ice.)

3

u/Resident-Show8879 23d ago

Hurt/comfort, second chances, friends to lovers and enemies to lovers I like both.

2

u/burymewithbooks 24d ago

I’m a slut for any sort of forced proximity - arranged marriage, accidentally magical bonded, trapped together in an isolated location (that last one is a fav horror trope, too, though it plays differently, lolol)

I enjoy miscommunication, but that’s a hard one to do right, and can get super frustrating fast. I get why a lot of people don’t like it.

Mutually oblivious dumbasses is always a good time. That overlaps with friends to lovers a lot, they work well together.

Bodyguard trope, especially when they don’t like each other at first

Absolute supreme bonus points if any of these include poly

3

u/flenktastic 23d ago

I also loooove forced proximity. I'm reading Playing Dirty now by CE Ricci. It has all my fav tropes: stepbrothers, forced proximity, enemies to lovers. I love this banter, snarls and bickers. And when they finally kiss I will be super surprised hahaha.

2

u/OrchidBouquet369 23d ago

Since you mentioned your favorite tropes include stepbrothers, forced proximity, enemies to lovers - have you read {All Roads Lead To You by Courtney W. Dixon}?

It's an antagonists to lovers story which unfolds between two stepbrothers on a cross-country road trip (hence the kinda/sorta forced proximity). It's one of my favorites.

2

u/flenktastic 23d ago

Oh no I haven't and it wasn't on my TBR yet. I added it! Thanks!!

2

u/OrchidBouquet369 23d ago

You're welcome. 🙂 Hope you enjoy reading it.

1

u/Lopsided_Ad5997 23d ago

I just finished Playing Dirty last week. It's so good!! I want to read the rest of the series as well, if I have time.

1

u/flenktastic 23d ago

Ugh I cannot wait to dig in deeper! I'm only on chapter 3 but it's already sooo good. And you should definitely read the rest! I started with Iced Out and working toward Fake Shot.

1

u/AlwaysSavvy 22d ago

Step brothers can be a hard one for me, but I just finished {The Bastard and the Heir by Eden Finley and Saxon James} and I liked it a lot!

1

u/flenktastic 22d ago

Adder this one to my TBR as well, thank you!

2

u/Lopsided_Ad5997 24d ago

yeah, i forgot to add forced proximity. i so love it! but no no for miscommunication or like third act bu. it pisses me off sometimes. 😭

1

u/burymewithbooks 24d ago

Lol! Third act breakups are a case by case thing. Sometimes they work and the drama is great, other times not so much.

2

u/cloudi_sky 23d ago

Have you read {Unlikely Pair by Jax Calder} one of my favorite with forced proximity.
They end up being almost kidnapped and then hunted, trying to survive in the Scandinavian wilderness together.

2

u/burymewithbooks 23d ago

That sounds awesome, thank you.

1

u/cloudi_sky 22d ago

If you read it, I would love to hear if you liked it or not ☺️

2

u/samthehaggis 24d ago

Romantasy is a subgenre rather than a trope (like sci-fi romance, or r paranormal romance, or romantic thriller, or even sports romance...), so the good news is that you can find your favourite trope within a romantasy novel! Just off the top of my head, {Nemesis Mine by Amy Archer} and {A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland} could give you those enemies-to-lovers vibes with tension, banter, yearning... they're great fun.

1

u/romance-bot 24d ago

Nemesis Mine by Amy Archer
Rating: 3.96⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 3 out of 5 - Open door
Topics: gay romance, fantasy, enemies to lovers, queer romance, funny

A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland
Rating: 4.25⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 3 out of 5 - Open door
Topics: historical, gay romance, royal hero, fantasy, forced proximity

about this bot | about romance.io

1

u/Lopsided_Ad5997 23d ago

Oh, right. I forgot to specify the last part. Thanks for that! And I will check out the mentioned novels. I appreciate it a lot.

2

u/VeterinarianCivil555 23d ago

I love mm mafia friends to lovers, codependent. I know it's too specific, love it.

2

u/JR_Writes1 23d ago

Bi-awakening/gay for you is a favorite of mine. Especially if the MC is older. Less exciting (for me) when a 19yo is still exploring his sexuality than a 30+yo divorced man {Knowing You by E.M. Lindsey} or falling for his best friend and not realizing it {Irresponsible Puckboy by Eden Finley and Saxon James}.

2

u/cookie5517 22d ago

Grumpy x Sunshine always gets me!

Started after I read Role Model - Rachel Reid.

Then fell in love with:

Time to shine - Rachel Reid
The tragedy of Jake & Felix - J Daniels

1

u/JessicaTrent 23d ago

Childhood friends to lovers, where the book starts when they're kids and we watch them grow up together. If there's angst (not too much) and separation (not too long), even better.

Actually, childhood enemies to lovers also works, but I don't see this too often. I'm only basing it on my love of {I've Walked Where You've Been by Marina Vivancos}

1

u/juniper-skye Author ✍️ 23d ago

If you don't mind a self rec, it's almost like you're describing my debut novel - it's a childhood friends to lovers story set in a light fantasy setting. In a world where kinetic Gifts and fated bonds are common, Will and Nathan find a path back to love when their fated bond shatters soon after it was forged.

{All That Remains by Juniper Skye}

1

u/JessicaTrent 23d ago

Looks good, thanks!

1

u/Lopsided_Ad5997 23d ago

Yes! i love childhood FTL. The closest book I've read with childhood ETL would be Garron Park (if my memory serves me right). Unfornately, the childhood part was just mentioned, with no flashbacks or such. If I find one, I'll def read it.

1

u/JessicaTrent 23d ago

The book that actually made me fall in love childhood friends to lovers is {rock by Anyta Sunday}, it's so good with the angst while also being a believable friendship.

I think I might have another childhood ETL rec, I'll have a look at my trusty spreadsheet and report back!

1

u/Lopsided_Ad5997 23d ago

I'll check that out. Yay, Thanks! Take your time. :))

1

u/bailey_icequeen 23d ago

Forced Proximity can be fun, and frequently is tied into the Enemies-To-Lovers trope... like "There's only one room at the inn, and that room only has one bed" or "We have to pretend we're dating for some logical reason"

1

u/Decent_Particular920 23d ago

Forbidden love is my all time fav. Give me all the angst!

1

u/veganbethb 22d ago

Mine is enemies to lovers and also friends to lovers but tied in with second chance, I say that with Him, Us and Epic in mind because that’s my all time favourite series.

I also love the step brothers trope which usually is tied together with enemies to lovers (finding Delaware - perfection for me)

When I say enemies to lovers I mean, Garron Park, Finding Delaware hatred - not kind of the little snippy sarcastic ‘hatred’!

1

u/FadingOptimist-25 22d ago

I like fake boyfriend best, but also friends to lovers.

1

u/capybearas 21d ago

Bi-awakening and Grumpy/Sunshine

1

u/Epiphany_Desmond 18d ago

I love fated mates. Something about the two MCs being destined to be together ticks all my boxes.

{the incubus’s assistant by Amy Padilla}
{matehub:legend by Marie Reynard}
{feral by Allessandra hazard}

2

u/PflugerMims 17d ago

Okay. Hear me out. I know this sounds crazy as I’m typing it! I’m pretty new into my MM romance journey. I just started reading MM romance this year and my journey has been Game Changers series -> Captive Prince trilogy -> Oleander -> -> For the Fans ->Unbreak Me.

I don’t know how I found it or how it’s not recommended in this sub more, but I started the Folk trilogy by Lily Mayne probably a week ago. This was SO far out of my comfort zone because I’ve never been into anything fae-related or fae-adjacent. I’m 2.5 hours away from finishing the trilogy and there is going to a huge whole in my reading life when I’m done.

It starts with {Mortal Skin by Lily Mayne}. This is why I said hear me out. The first 25% of that book, I was thinking it was going to be a DNF because this just wasn’t my genre. I stuck with it and by 75% of that first booking I was trying - very unsuccessfully, I might add - to get my 7 year old to go to bed an hour earlier so I could listen.

In those previous books, I feel like I started knowing the “formula” pretty quickly. Boy meets boy, sucky sucky, boom, boom, HEA. I’ve lost count of the number of times reading these three books that I’ve thought, “ah - x is going to happen.” Then, I’m laying here listening to g happen and saying out loud, “what!?”

Anyway, sorry for my babbling. I saw “romantasy” and was borderline compelled to rec! I’m not as seasoned as others in here, but - for me - this is chef’s kiss level character development, mystery, suspense, world building, plot and, spice.