A Romance by Any Other Name

What’s in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other word would smell as sweet …

Or, to paraphrase William Shakespeare, a romance by any other name would read as sweet. Or would it?

Not only is the romance genre full of sub-genres (romantic suspense, spicy, historical, contemporary, Inspirational, paranormal, erotic, fantasy, time travel, Gothic, Regency, LGBTQ, romantic comedy, and so on), but we also have the tropes, defined as commonly used (some would argue over-used) themes.

Friends to lovers. Enemies to lovers. One-night stand to true love. Secret babies. Soul mates. Second chance loves. Reunited lovers. Love triangles.

Tropes are used because they’ve proven their worth. They’re popular and they work.

Some classic friends to lovers stories would include Emma by Jane Austen and the movie When Harry Met Sally. Enemies to lovers’ stories are The Taming of the Shrew by our Mr. Shakespeare and Pride and Prejudice by Miss Austen, and I’d include the Katherine Heigl movie 27 Dresses.

The best second chance at love book I’ve read is The Five Stages of Falling in Love by Rachel Higginson. It’s the story of a young widow and mother of three finding love again and is framed by the five stages of grief. Second Chance Summer by Jill Shalvis (the title is a pretty good clue to its trope), is another good second chance book.

Secret romance and fake romance are tried and true tropes in Hollywood. The Sandra Bullock/Ryan Reynolds movie The Proposal is an excellent example of the fake romance, with a nod to enemies to lovers.

But why do genre, sub-genre, and trope matter?

• They help you stay focused on the story you started out telling
• They help you formulate your pitch and query
• They help your editor/agent/reader know what to expect when they read your work

I’m sure I’m not the only reader who picked up a book based on the back-cover blurb expecting one kind of story then discovering that what was between the covers was an entirely different kind of story. Or started a book that promised to be a feel-good, funny romp that took a dramatic and unexpected dark turn.

Did the author lose their way? Did they not know the story they were telling? I’m not sure. But having a firm grasp of their genre and trope may have prevented the bait and switch.

My Work in Progress (WIP) has a secret baby trope. I know some readers hate and refuse to read secret baby stories. They think the woman has no excuse for not telling the man he’s going to be a father. Ignoring the fact that we’re talking about fiction, not real life, I spent a lot of time thinking and brainstorming about how to answer that objection.

It finally came to me, as all my most brilliant ideas do, while out walking. My protagonist, Frankie, was born to an unwed mother who constantly told Frankie she’d ruined her mother’s life by being conceived. When Frankie got pregnant, she refused to ruin her boyfriend’s life with an unplanned pregnancy and sent him off to college without her, had the baby, and gave her up for adoption. My story begins twenty years later when the daughter’s adoptive parents have died, Frankie has given her a job to keep a roof over her head, and no one knows their biological relationship. Then the father comes back to town.

Genre: Contemporary

Trope: Secret baby

Take a minute to think about your WIP. Assuming you have your genre dialed in, what trope does your manuscript fit most closely? I’m not saying you need to change anything in your story, just that knowing your trope may be helpful as you craft your story, your pitch, your synopsis, and your query.

Because your story, that beautiful rose, deserves a description that raises it above the wildflowers.

Carrie Padgett lives in Central California, close to Yosemite, but far from Hollywood, the beach, and the Golden Gate Bridge. She believes in faith, families, fun, and happily ever after. She writes contemporary fiction with romance. Carrie and her Stud Muffin live in Central California with their cat and dog and within driving distance of their six grandchildren.

You can find her online at:

Twitter: CarriePadgett
Instagram: carpadwriter
Facebook: WriterCarriePadgett
Amazon Author Page: Carrie Padgett