Romance and rom-com lovers, we all talk about our favorite and least favorite tropes. (Mine are fake dating, enemies to lovers, and friends to lovers, BTW.) In this new story collection, 10 YA authors each write a story using a particular trope—the fake relationship, stranded together, class warfare, the best friend love epiphany, one bed, the secret admirer, the grand romantic gesture, trapped in a confined space, the makeover, and the matchmaker.
The subtitle of the book is “Ten Romantic Tropes, Transformed,” and while not all of the stories are as straightforward as you’d expect, I don’t know that there’s a lot of transformation. But it’s still a sweet bunch of stories!
Like any short story collection, I loved some stories, while some didn’t quite click for me. The stories are mostly M/F, with a few F/F stories and one M/M story. My favorites were: “Bye Bye, Piper Berry” by Julie Murphy (fake dating); Caleb Roehrig’s “Auld Acquaintance” (best friend love epiphany); “Shooting Stars” by Marissa Meyer (one bed); “Liberty” by Anna-Marie McLemore (the makeover); and Sandhya Menon’s “The Surprise Match” (the matchmaker). Sarah Winifred Searle’s “Keagan’s Heaven on Earth” is written as a graphic novel.
If you’re a fan of YA romance, Serendipity could be a nice palate cleanser between other heavier books. I enjoyed it!
No comments:
Post a Comment