Top 11 Signs You're Living in a Romance Novel

First of all, no genre is cliché free.

And just because a plot is considered cliché, it doesn't mean no one wants to read it. On the contrary, commercial fiction is popular because the familiarity of the stories make them easy to digest. We tend to gravitate toward the cliché novels because we know we'll enjoy the story.  

So please read the following list with a grain of salt, and tongue firmly placed in cheek.

Top 11 Signs You're Living in a Romance Novel


#1. The hot new guy in your office ignores your brilliant charisma and instead zeroes in on the shy girl with mousy brown hair who never wears make up and keeps breaking the photocopier.

#2. All of your roommates are either working late, running out the door to go clubbing, or are too sick to notice that the sexy neighbor who just moved in may or may not be a werewolf.

pinterest.com

#3. Your best friend has been the same guy since grade one—even though no one ever stays best friends that long. Plus, you've secretly developed a crush on him.

#4. The most gorgeous girl in the office is also the meanest.

#5. Your best friend from #3 starts to date the girl from #4. You're upset, but not enough to tell him the truth because that would make NO SENSE AT ALL. Instead, you plan an elaborate ruse to win him over that blows up in your face the night of the Christmas office party.


#6. Your other best friend is a fashion diva, loves 80's music, and always has cookie dough in her fridge. Plus, she curses a lot.

#7. On vacation you have an impulsive yet mind blowing affair with a mysterious stranger, only to return to work to discover he's your new boss.

pinterest.com

#8. The seductive, sex crazed trainer at your gym suddenly decides the nondescript girl from your local coffee shop is the one for him and turns into an overnight Romeo, swearing off sex to prove his true love to her.

#9. All it takes to make you over into a super model is a pair of contacts and a hair straightener—and of course the right dress borrowed from best friend from #6.

#10. You hate him and everything he stands for, but because you're broke (and secretly need to flee the country) you agree to marry your best friend's brother in order to comply with the stipulation of his late father's will.

pinterest.com

#11. While on the ski trip your sister won through a singing contest, you get separated from her during a storm and end up stranded inside a remote cabin with a chiselled ski instructor with amazingly minty breath.

vintageharlequin.com

BONUS!!!! Every hot guy has amazing abs and green eyes, however statistically suspicious that may be.

I hope you enjoyed this quirky list! Feel free to check out this excerpt from THE RIGHT FIT, a book that's as easy to digest as pumpkin pie and will leave you twice as satisfied.

6 Essential Elements Your Romance Novel Needs

What's your favourite romance novel? Now think of your favourite scene from that novel. Is it the ending when, despite the obstacles, both leads get their happily ever after? Or is it the first kiss...or the first fight?

Regardless, there are more players on stage and circumstances that helped create the tension/opportunity/obstacle that led to your favourite scene.

Here are a few handy tips for making sure your own romance story has the right support system for those unforgettable scenes!

  

Six Essential Elements Your Romance Novel Needs

1. The Rival

There needs to be a rival for the protagonist’s romantic intentions, but this doesn't necessarily mean a love triangle. This could be someone who takes time away from the romantic interest as well.

In my contemporary romance, The Right Fit, Antony is desperate to reconnect with Maxine, but his brother Marc is a controller and feels it's his responsibility to shape Antony into a successful pro-hockey player, regardless of what Antony truly desires.

2. Helpers vs Harmers

As you can guess, helpers are characters who assist in enabling the relationship grow while harmers are motivated to keep the couple apart. It should be noted that a helper can sometimes unwittingly become a harmer. It's common in romantic comedies to have a character who is truly invested in the couple's happiness, but ends up becoming bad luck by always doing or saying the wrong thing at the worst time, thereby taking the role of harmer.

In my novel, Maxine has enthusiastic support from her younger sister. However, in the end it's her own self doubt that is the most destructive harmer to her relationship with Antony.

3. External Need

This mechanism acts as a motivation that brings the two characters together.

As an example, Antony is certain his new found luck on the ice is entirely due to his one night with Maxine. Desperate to stay in the professional hockey league to pay his brother's medical bills and support them both, Antony pursues Maxine at all costs, including keeping his true identity a secret. As a result Maxine is overwhelmed by his attention and begins to believe she can love again after having her heart broken by her ex-fiancé.

4. Secrets

One or both leads are keeping something from the other. The motivation for not telling the truth must be greater than the risk to the relationship.

In The Right Fit, Antony is not only keeping his true identity a secret, but also the fact that he considers Maxine his good luck charm and is using her to keep his hockey career on course. Meanwhile, Maxine considers Antony a rebound, as a way of getting her confidence back and helping her forget about her ex.

However, it's important to acknowledge that characters often lie to themselves to justify their actions/decisions.

5. Rituals

These are the cute little idiosyncrasies a couple naturally develops with each other, those shared intimacies that only they know about.

It's most effective to use when the couple is apart and something triggers the memory for one of the leads. This can motivate a change of heart at the realization that they truly need that person in their life. *cue the rush to the airport to stop their true love from leaving forever*

As a result of mistaken identity, Maxine assumes Antony's name is Ace. This leads to a nickname which creates a moment like the one described above as the name 'Ace' pops up when Maxine least expects it.   

Maxine rolled her eyes and instead told her to pick out a nail color for them both. It was a bright ruby shade and when Maxine looked at the name on the bottom of the bottle, her heart filled and then slowly deflated—Ace of Hearts.

6. Moral Weight

In essence, the moral weight is how the lovers changed for the better over the course of the novel. It's always satisfying for the reader if the ending scene is a mirror opposite to the beginning where their flaws were highlighted.

At the beginning of The Right Fit, Maxine was still trying to find a way back into her ex-fiancé's arms convinced he was the only man she could have a life with. And Antony was carrying a secret guilt fueled by the belief he didn't deserve to be loved. By the end of the story, Maxine realizes she's beautiful and desirable enough for any man and Antony's past sins didn't preclude him from happiness.

Thanks for reading. I hope you found this useful! Happy writing! Please enjoy the book trailer for THE RIGHT FIT.

Amazon // iBooks // Google Play

Barnes & Noble // Wild Rose Publishing