Boy Meets Girl

by Vivienne Lorret

Here at RTG, we’re talking about Romance Clichés this month. For me, they all boil down to the same basic elements of any good romance—boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back.

The boy in question can be a pirate, a CEO, the brother’s best friend... The same goes for the girl, for that matter. Put our heroine on a ship of her own, in that corner office calling all the shots, or even the girl next door...

As readers, we all have our auto-buy authors and storylines that pull us in time and time again, like that bag of Hershey’s Kisses with Almonds that whispers your name from the shelf. Buy me! You know we’re perfect for each other.

Before you know it, the cashier is ringing up two bags (because everyone needs a backup for those really awful days…and hey, you deserve it). Certain romance clichés do that, too. You know they won’t disappoint because you’ve read the same storyline dozens of times.

My clicker-finger tends to shoot for reunion stories. The hot hunky guy who broke the heroine’s heart (and is still a little rough around the edges), sees her for the first time in eons and suddenly can’t get enough of her. For me, these stories are about redemption and dealing with the demons of the past. I love how so many amazing authors put this storyline together. It’s new every time and yet, like that Hershey’s Kiss with Almonds, I know it’s exactly what I’ve been looking for.

My auto-buy authors at the moment are Candis Terry (who is just as incredible in person as she is on the page), Kristin Higgins (a-mazing!), and Jill Shalvis (writer-extraordinaire).

If you happen to enjoy historical romances with their own twist on classic tropes, check out my Wallflower Wedding Series from Avon Impulse.