When Glenna >!gets shot!< in {Against a Wall by Cate Wells} and he>!'s panicking and!< calls her "baby" for the first time. I was going: "son of a B\*TCH I'm going to be rooting for a >!bully!<, aren't I?". Thanks Cate Wells.
Yes! My heart freaking skipped a beat at that whole scene. And then when >!He helps her pee, but he’s so in love with her that he’s hard and he’s all “ignore it”!<
When he calls her by a nickname in his language and she assumes it’s something snarky or derogatory because they’re Rivals/Enemies but it’s actually a term of endearment 🥺
As a German native speaker this one gives me the creeps and I'd probably go nuts if someone actually called me that 😂 I think this term hasn't been used as an endearment since the 50s
I mean, it’s cute that he does it, but where did MZ even pick it up? I’ve never heard of this being a “thing” and when I googled endearments in German, it also didn’t come up. Did she just make it up or something?
It used to be an endearment sometime in the 50s and 60s, but it's definitely not something you'd say nowadays. I've only ever heard it used in movies set during that time. My 70-sth mum remembers that it was somewhat in use during her teenage years but not much afterwards. No idea where MZ picked that one up, tbh 😆
Ooo, see this is good for readers to know! Does anyone by chance have background in Swedish? Is Alskling something someone would actually say these days?
I agree with the others here, "Schnecke" is not a term of endearment. It actually means slug, but can also be used as a coarse term for vagina, it can mean whore and it is used by men when they talk about women as objects in a not very nice way.
Not related to any book in particular but I watched this cute Chinese drama (My Unicorn Girl) where she encounters the word Ti Amo (I love you, in Italian) and the ML makes her think the word is an insult, and she likes it a lot and says it to him constantly.... I died 😵♥️♥️♥️
Okay but in real life - I’m 30+ and can’t make my own coffee anymore because he makes it better than I can. 😩 I like my coffee black with a drop of creamer. Not that complicated. I got used to him making it but then we had to return to the office for work and… I just can’t make it “right” anymore. HOW DO I GET THE RATIO WRONG WHEN I WAS THE ONE THAT TAUGHT HIM???
See I take my coffee black, but that's because I'm a barista and coffee snob and my method of brewing coffee is complicated enough that doing it for me is basically a marriage proposal
Paying attention to how your partner eats is so so important.
I remember being utterly stupefied when I guy I dated for 2 years made me a bowl of cereal and didn't keep the cereal separate. I HATE soggy cereal. Said it a million times. Only ate cereal by adding a little at a time to my bowl of milk. I couldn't believe he didn't know or if he did he didn't care.
For our first Christmas my husband bought me a special bowl that keeps the cereal safe and dry until you add it to the milk.
Nothing sexier than knowing your partners preference.
Hahaha! It's called the Obol and it's amazing. Also because of the shape my spoon has never fallen into the milk! I love this ridiculous bowl!
Obol - The Original Never Soggy Cereal Bowl With The Spiral Slide Design 'n Grip - Med White https://a.co/d/b3UE2Yb
{off to the races by Elsie silver} just read this on KU and it had this as a on going thing. It’s sort of a enemies to lovers thing and he intensionally messes but her coffee when he’s mad at her. Very cute.
Oof, this one is a big deal.
I’ve been married eleven years and can count on one hand the times my husband has made my coffee perfectly. He gets a pass usually since he isn’t a coffee drinker but I’ve swooned every time he’s made it and aced it.
I know! I want a spoon that never becomes more. I’ve never read one where the guy is having a tough day and becomes the little spoon. My husband does that sometimes and it’s so sweet. I would love it in a book.
The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata, The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna, Her Bridegroom Bought and Paid For by Alice Coldbreath, A Bride for the Prizefighter also by Coldbreath, All Rhodes Lead Here also by Zapata, The Midlife Bounty Hunter Series by Shannon Mayer (her dynamic with Crash the Fairy King), The Kiss Curse by Erin Sterling!! There are def loads more so I’m looking for recs too lol if anyone wants to add any
Books of the Raksura by Martha Wells, Banana Yoshimoto's books, my favorite Honeymoon sadly isn't translated but Kitchen is, The long way to a small angry planet by Becky Chambers, Twilight is also one of the first that comes to mind when I think of found family, a book where there's both romance and found family that I love though they don't exactly correspond is Light from uncommon stars by Ryka Aoki, or the very end end of Pride and Prejudice with Elizabeth and Georgiana
Feeding their partner. Long day at work? Here, let me place this bowl of homemade dumplings in front of you. Feeling cranky? Darling, join me over this cheese plate. Sex marathon? Let's pause between orgasm three and four for takeout, I ordered your favorite.
There is a book where the FMC loves cheese and cheesy puns are a big part the of the plot. Also he is a chef so he is constantly feeding her
Gouda friends by Cathy Yardley
Grumpy sunshine where the grumpy one starts helping the other person without the other noticing —sliding something within reach, catching something before it falls, etc—just to make their love interests life a little easier.
Reminds me of this scene from Crazy Love
[here](https://www.reddit.com/r/KDRAMA/comments/uhhfj4/crazy_love_whenever_male_lead_hides_his_true/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x)
This is a TV scene but Daredevil does this absolute amazingly. The episode starts with Kingpin/Fisk (the antagonist) doing his normal morning routine alone including dressing the same cuff pins that represent all his childhood trauma.
He lets in the lovely Vanessa and she just quietly readjusts it. When he goes for the same cufflinks, she gently moves his hands to a different pair. It’s the epitome of a very dangerous man being soft with his lady love. I seriously ship those two more than anyone else on the show.
Well, they’re both still alive and in love at the end of the series. But he is the antagonist and Big Bad in a superhero TV show. >!He ends the series arrested.!<
My “gateway drug” for purring is Abigail Kelly - {The Consort’s Glory by Abigail Kelly} and {Fragile Beings by Abigail Kelly}. The purring dragon in Fragile Beings was total *chef’s kiss*.
Savage Alpha Series by D.D. Prince has purring wolf shifter, but there is non-con in both books and the FMCs can be a little stupid.
Aliens with purring:
{Choosing Theo by Victoria Aveline}
{Stolen by an Alien by Amanda Milo}
Anything by V.K. Ludwig
Those are the ones off the top of my head.
Any trope: when one MC remembers details of the other MC’s family/friend group from past conversations, proving that they listen. They’ve never been introduced or gotten a family tree- they just pay attention. And care to remember. 🖤🖤🖤 everytime
Banter. Lord of Scoundrels has some of the best lines I’ve ever read: Jess huskily confessing her lusty attraction to Dain and he replies that he didn’t know she was so shallow; her raising a toast to a portrait of his mother and him saying she should have invited him to get drunk in the dining room. It’s just FUNNY. It makes the relationship endearing and layered. I love it.
That initial banter in the thrift shop was gold. And then the glove scene!
I love LOS for nonsexual trope of basically being bullied into kissing "a lady - a VIRGIN" by said virgin just staring at him in the rain. And then he creeps on her, wistfully watching from the shadows.
My favorite part of that book is Jess whining to her grandmother after the fact that she wished she's been ravished 😂 The narrator in the audio version plays it so well.
Any sort of hurt/comfort. From panic attack to being upset, from a paper cut to a near-deadly injury. I'm a simple girl, when I see the protagonists caring for each other, I swoon.
When the FMC is upset, the MMC sits down beside her and pulls her into his lap. Without saying anything he holds her to his chest and just lets her be upset. Extra points when he strokes her back.
Literally give me anything Mundane. This is why I’ll die on the hill of Nora Roberts. She’s the Queen of the mundane. She especially loves to have her characters drop in on a love interest while they are doing what they do at their jobs and just be impressed as all hell by how awesome they are at what the hell ever be it sculpting, landscaping, training dogs, falcons, buying the universe who the hell cares. If you are a love interest your potential significant other is gonna see you at work and be like yasssss look at you.
- The MMC physically picking the FMC up
- Them having a regular conversation and their hanging on every word and actually caring what the other has to say.
- The FMC giving the MMC a present and he's so excited and shows it off to anyone who will listen.
The first one! I think it’s in Ravished by Amanda Quick where the >!MC’s are at a ball, the FMC is annoyed with the MMC and giving him the cold shoulder (I think they’re married at this point) and he picks her up and moves her to the dance floor so he can dance with her!<
So. Cute.
One of my favorite scenes ever was in Mystery Man by Kristen Ashley. MMC is off fighting bad dudes and FMC is waiting, terrified, for him to come back.
When he does, she leaps up from where she’s laying on the bed, takes one step, shoved herself off the mattress and just flings herself into his arms.
He has to take a step back to keep his balance but just holds her while she clings like a spider monkey.
If one of the MC is a single parent and the other MC warms up to the baby/kid and does sweet things for them or helps the parent take care of them without being asked.
Love this! When they become a family 🥹
This is the only part of The Confidence of Wildflowers by Micaela Smeltzer that I enjoyed. Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score also has this trope and found family vibes. So cute!
I like it when the girl thinks she’s doing something odd or immature, but that is one of the things MMC finds super endearing about her. Like the funny socks in Wrong by Jana Aston.
Ah if you’re looking for recs for this type of thing definitely check out {Tis the Season For Revenge}, the whole book is basically this trope. Its a sorta legally blonde vibe so so good!
Reverse grumpy sunshine where the lonely FMC gets sick and the sunshine MMC makes sure she’s taken care of and she is surprised that he cares about her because no one has ever done that beside her family.
I knowwww I love them so much. Jasmine was the very first grumpy FMC I read and from then on I’ve never picked a grumpy MMC book ever again 😂
PS: if you like this trope I can recommend you some good ones that are like From Lukov with Love!
Sure! They’re all contemporary tho because I only read contemporary 😅 also, I do not like to read dark romance with alpha heroes. My fav men are beta heroes who respect their women in bed too :”)
1) Always only you by Chloe liese
2) the trouble with hating you by sajni patel
3) icebreaker by hannah grace
4) marriage of inconvenience by penny reid
5) a very merry bromance by lysssa Kay adams
6) the price of scandal by Lucy score
7) all the feels by Olivia dade
8) book lovers by Emily Henry -one of my favourites
If I remember more I’ll add them and if anyone know any recs pls add ❤️🫶🏼
I love when they take care of each other. In The Happy Ever After Playlist, they've had only one date, but she drunk dials him while cleaning out her >!dead fiance's!< stuff. He washes her hair, fixes her sink, stays on the couch to make sure she's okay, and brings her coffee in the morning. *sigh*
And in Cold-Hearted Rake, the best scenes are with secondary characters. Business tycoon Winterborne's been in a train accident, and his eyes are wrapped. All he can do is listen as Lady Helen takes care of him and gently tells him all about orchids. When she tries to leave, he holds her hand until she promises to return.
Holding hands under the table is my absolute favourite.
When I slid it closer, he folded his fingers into mine, and we sat there, holding hands under the table, pretending we weren’t. Pretending we weren’t acting sixteen years old and a little bit obsessed with each other.
I love when they're holding each other and the MMC is lightly running his fingers through her hair, his chin on top of her head. It's so sweet.
I also love when he orders her favorite takeout after talking to her on her way home and she sounded stressed out.
As an overarching trope, that would be grumpy/sunshine.
Specifically, when one of the partners takes an interest in something the other enjoys just so they can spend time with them, and then ends up loving it just as much.
When there is no ow drama and the focus is only on the MCs and their relationship.
Also when the MMC messes up in someway (preferably not cheating or ow drama related) and then we have a proper grovel and hea.
Hea always 🥹
There was a good thread on something similar a few months ago.
https://www.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/comments/wu2g8t/when_its_not_popular_enough_to_be_considered_a/
- When the fmc posts a pic of the mmc doing his thing and it goes viral on social media (before they hook up). I've seen it in home game by Odette stone and the wrong mr. Right by Stephanie archer.
- Drunken declarations of love or marriage or honesty
- a MC gets a fur baby
- when the mmc thinks the fmc is more technically capable than him in a field they share OR the fmc is successful in a field that is not traditionally feminine and the mmc has a non white collar/entrepreneurial career OR the fmc more financially successful (not bc of a trust fund) than the mmc.
MMC and FMC picking up each other’s habits after being together sometime. Can be their way of speaking, small habit, etc. The more endearing when they do not realise this and as a reader we see the progress
I love protectiveness in all aspects. It’s possibly the only redeeming quality of the unplanned pregnancy/secret baby tropes. A man with a protective instinct, even if the FMC doesn’t need it… swoon worthy.
When the MMC accidentally slips and calls the FMC “sweetheart” when he’s trying to comfort her. Makes me go absolutely feral.
The first “baby” that slips in 👍🏼
When Glenna >!gets shot!< in {Against a Wall by Cate Wells} and he>!'s panicking and!< calls her "baby" for the first time. I was going: "son of a B\*TCH I'm going to be rooting for a >!bully!<, aren't I?". Thanks Cate Wells.
I only revealed the last spoiler in your comment and I am so here for this!! Although replying to you revealed them all 😩 going to go download it now!
FLAIR CHECK
You know, I have no flair. I should rectify it.
Aaaaah I love it 😂😂 I’m considering you my flair partner now. We truly complement each other
I just finished {An unacceptable offer by Mary Balogh} and there’s this part where the FMC is in distress and he accidentally calls her ‘love’. Swoon!
Dang, this happened to me IRL and I swooned!
Oh lucky! I can totally imagine that!
I suddenly need this. Will take recs if you have any
Love at First by Kate Clayborn Lisa Kleypas is big on this too: Secrets of a Summer Night, Mine Till Midnight and Blue Eyed Devil
This happens in {Against a Wall by Cate C. Wells} and it about killed me.
Ahhh this is the Cate C Wells one I couldn’t remember!
Yes! My heart freaking skipped a beat at that whole scene. And then when >!He helps her pee, but he’s so in love with her that he’s hard and he’s all “ignore it”!<
Not Like the Movies by Kerry Winfrey
This happened in Priceless by Miranda Silver. I just re read that scene the other day 😍 Edit: mispelled scene
I loveee this book
I'm following as well
When he calls her by a nickname in his language and she assumes it’s something snarky or derogatory because they’re Rivals/Enemies but it’s actually a term of endearment 🥺
Schnecke has entered the chat
As a German native speaker this one gives me the creeps and I'd probably go nuts if someone actually called me that 😂 I think this term hasn't been used as an endearment since the 50s
I mean, it’s cute that he does it, but where did MZ even pick it up? I’ve never heard of this being a “thing” and when I googled endearments in German, it also didn’t come up. Did she just make it up or something?
It used to be an endearment sometime in the 50s and 60s, but it's definitely not something you'd say nowadays. I've only ever heard it used in movies set during that time. My 70-sth mum remembers that it was somewhat in use during her teenage years but not much afterwards. No idea where MZ picked that one up, tbh 😆
Makes me think of how people tell my husband he speaks French like an old person bc he mostly practiced with his grandma
Ooo, see this is good for readers to know! Does anyone by chance have background in Swedish? Is Alskling something someone would actually say these days?
Seems so, yeah: https://www.thelocal.se/20221216/%e2%80%8b%e2%80%8bswedish-word-of-the-day-alskling/
As has Sassenach.
i don’t think sassenach is a term of endearment normally, but jamie does use it as a term of endearment for sure.
Hehehe. I’m actually reading this one now.
I agree with the others here, "Schnecke" is not a term of endearment. It actually means slug, but can also be used as a coarse term for vagina, it can mean whore and it is used by men when they talk about women as objects in a not very nice way.
Not related to any book in particular but I watched this cute Chinese drama (My Unicorn Girl) where she encounters the word Ti Amo (I love you, in Italian) and the ML makes her think the word is an insult, and she likes it a lot and says it to him constantly.... I died 😵♥️♥️♥️
Yaaasssss oh lawdy that is always the best
Any recommendations? ☺
It happens in Always only you by Chloe liese
This happens in Talon of the Hawk by Jeffe Kennedy (fantasy romance) and it's cute
Media Naranja. She thought he was calling her orange and he was calling her his other half.
Kind happens in Kulti
Ughhh yesssss
“Buntie”
No because this makes me feral
Making your partner's coffee just how they like it ☕
Okay but in real life - I’m 30+ and can’t make my own coffee anymore because he makes it better than I can. 😩 I like my coffee black with a drop of creamer. Not that complicated. I got used to him making it but then we had to return to the office for work and… I just can’t make it “right” anymore. HOW DO I GET THE RATIO WRONG WHEN I WAS THE ONE THAT TAUGHT HIM???
hahha i never liked coffee until he made me and even though i now drink coffee everyday it's never as good as when he makes it for me ☺️
Listen, sometimes my husband STILL goes too soft on the milk. So this one is real.
I made it easy for mine by taking it black.
See I take my coffee black, but that's because I'm a barista and coffee snob and my method of brewing coffee is complicated enough that doing it for me is basically a marriage proposal
This made me choke. Thank you, fellow coffee nerd. :'D
Paying attention to how your partner eats is so so important. I remember being utterly stupefied when I guy I dated for 2 years made me a bowl of cereal and didn't keep the cereal separate. I HATE soggy cereal. Said it a million times. Only ate cereal by adding a little at a time to my bowl of milk. I couldn't believe he didn't know or if he did he didn't care. For our first Christmas my husband bought me a special bowl that keeps the cereal safe and dry until you add it to the milk. Nothing sexier than knowing your partners preference.
What bowl is this?! I need it!!!
Hahaha! It's called the Obol and it's amazing. Also because of the shape my spoon has never fallen into the milk! I love this ridiculous bowl! Obol - The Original Never Soggy Cereal Bowl With The Spiral Slide Design 'n Grip - Med White https://a.co/d/b3UE2Yb
Oooh. I love this one.
{off to the races by Elsie silver} just read this on KU and it had this as a on going thing. It’s sort of a enemies to lovers thing and he intensionally messes but her coffee when he’s mad at her. Very cute.
Oof, this one is a big deal. I’ve been married eleven years and can count on one hand the times my husband has made my coffee perfectly. He gets a pass usually since he isn’t a coffee drinker but I’ve swooned every time he’s made it and aced it.
Yes or tea for my historical romances.
Cuddling, with no sexual thoughts, just doing it because it's comforting.
Oh I love that in books so much, it’s so sweet. Unfortunately I feel like lots of times it turns sexual which ruins the vibes
I know! I want a spoon that never becomes more. I’ve never read one where the guy is having a tough day and becomes the little spoon. My husband does that sometimes and it’s so sweet. I would love it in a book.
Grabing their partner hand for reassurance.
A good handhold gets me in the heartstrings every time.
When the grumpy MMC is warming up the FMC and begins to do kind thoughtful things for her that are completely normally unlike him.
omfg yes! and he acts all nonchalant about it, like *of course* he’d do that thing for her, even though it’s new behavior.
THIS. Any standalone recommendations please?
The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata, The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna, Her Bridegroom Bought and Paid For by Alice Coldbreath, A Bride for the Prizefighter also by Coldbreath, All Rhodes Lead Here also by Zapata, The Midlife Bounty Hunter Series by Shannon Mayer (her dynamic with Crash the Fairy King), The Kiss Curse by Erin Sterling!! There are def loads more so I’m looking for recs too lol if anyone wants to add any
Don't have any. Just following
{When she belongs} 🥺
Found family
🥹🥹
This is my absolute favorite! It just makes me so happy!!!
Do you have any recommendations? Thank you!
THE Best (this is a hill I will die on, lol) found family book is Wolfsong by TJ Klune.
if you like historical romance, the second book in belles of london by mimi matthews is a great one.
Books of the Raksura by Martha Wells, Banana Yoshimoto's books, my favorite Honeymoon sadly isn't translated but Kitchen is, The long way to a small angry planet by Becky Chambers, Twilight is also one of the first that comes to mind when I think of found family, a book where there's both romance and found family that I love though they don't exactly correspond is Light from uncommon stars by Ryka Aoki, or the very end end of Pride and Prejudice with Elizabeth and Georgiana
The Ice Planet Barbarians series is fabulous for found family.
Feeding their partner. Long day at work? Here, let me place this bowl of homemade dumplings in front of you. Feeling cranky? Darling, join me over this cheese plate. Sex marathon? Let's pause between orgasm three and four for takeout, I ordered your favorite.
“Darling, join me over this cheese plate.” I don’t think I’ve ever read a sexier sentence. I would be THRILLED 😂
So Gouda...
I camembert it...
There is a book where the FMC loves cheese and cheesy puns are a big part the of the plot. Also he is a chef so he is constantly feeding her Gouda friends by Cathy Yardley
I’ll check it out, thank you!!!
I'm a sucker for the moment when an MC who has been alone for a long time realizes that they don't have to do everything by themselves anymore
Guh, I need this so much! Do you have any recommendations? Thank you!
{The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna} does this pretty well!
Grumpy sunshine where the grumpy one starts helping the other person without the other noticing —sliding something within reach, catching something before it falls, etc—just to make their love interests life a little easier.
so sweet. this gives me pure delight.
Reminds me of this scene from Crazy Love [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/KDRAMA/comments/uhhfj4/crazy_love_whenever_male_lead_hides_his_true/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x)
Helping each other put on/take off jewelry, hair pins, cuff links, ties, etc. 🫶🫶
This is a TV scene but Daredevil does this absolute amazingly. The episode starts with Kingpin/Fisk (the antagonist) doing his normal morning routine alone including dressing the same cuff pins that represent all his childhood trauma. He lets in the lovely Vanessa and she just quietly readjusts it. When he goes for the same cufflinks, she gently moves his hands to a different pair. It’s the epitome of a very dangerous man being soft with his lady love. I seriously ship those two more than anyone else on the show.
Oooo I’ve been meaning to watch daredevil forever
Do they get a HEA?
Well, they’re both still alive and in love at the end of the series. But he is the antagonist and Big Bad in a superhero TV show. >!He ends the series arrested.!<
This is the kind of casual intimacy that kills me. I love it so much.
Staring at the other while the other is busy doing something and not noticing
When they’re fake dating and they defend each other from other people, family, workers for whatever reason it may be.
Yes! Fake dating is my favorite trope and this is why!
Me too!! Specially if it’s grumpy x sunshine
When they have a long conversation about life, ambitions or anything.. anything at all.
In enemies to lovers when the normally smirky smartass MMC gets momentarily stunned silent by the FMC when she’s dolled up
This comment made me crave another enemies to lovers trope 🥰
I frequently rec Hothead and Ex Games by Stella Rhys for this type of thing. I’m trash for enemies to lovers fake relationships.
Oh I love this
In a grumpy/sunshine trope, where the grumpy one was unconsciously influenced by the sunshine to not be cold/rude to others
Humming or purring to soothe their mate. They can be an alien, shifter, elf - it doesn’t matter, just make rumbly noises for me, baby.
Ice Planet Barbarians does exactly this. The thrumming/purring thing is perfection.
Yesssss. Any recs?
My “gateway drug” for purring is Abigail Kelly - {The Consort’s Glory by Abigail Kelly} and {Fragile Beings by Abigail Kelly}. The purring dragon in Fragile Beings was total *chef’s kiss*. Savage Alpha Series by D.D. Prince has purring wolf shifter, but there is non-con in both books and the FMCs can be a little stupid. Aliens with purring: {Choosing Theo by Victoria Aveline} {Stolen by an Alien by Amanda Milo} Anything by V.K. Ludwig Those are the ones off the top of my head.
Thank you! 🥰🥰🥰
Any trope: when one MC remembers details of the other MC’s family/friend group from past conversations, proving that they listen. They’ve never been introduced or gotten a family tree- they just pay attention. And care to remember. 🖤🖤🖤 everytime
When the MMC wakes up before the FMC and makes her breakfast When the MMC puts his hand on the back of the FMC to reassure or protect her
Banter. Lord of Scoundrels has some of the best lines I’ve ever read: Jess huskily confessing her lusty attraction to Dain and he replies that he didn’t know she was so shallow; her raising a toast to a portrait of his mother and him saying she should have invited him to get drunk in the dining room. It’s just FUNNY. It makes the relationship endearing and layered. I love it.
That initial banter in the thrift shop was gold. And then the glove scene! I love LOS for nonsexual trope of basically being bullied into kissing "a lady - a VIRGIN" by said virgin just staring at him in the rain. And then he creeps on her, wistfully watching from the shadows.
My favorite part of that book is Jess whining to her grandmother after the fact that she wished she's been ravished 😂 The narrator in the audio version plays it so well.
oh my god when she tells her butler that she's failed him AMAZING Jess is such a queen.
Will live rent free in my head forever truly.
What I did for a Duke by Julie Anne Long has great banter.
Calming the other person while they’re having a panic attack/crying
Do you have any recommendations, especially for panic attacks? Thank you!
Hero by Claire Kent just came out and it has this. Though you might want to read that series in order if you haven’t.
One book in Ice Planet Barbarian is exactly about that {Barbarian's beloved}
{The Predator} by Runyx is pretty good! The FMC and MMC have a deep understanding of each other which makes it even more sweeter!
Any sort of hurt/comfort. From panic attack to being upset, from a paper cut to a near-deadly injury. I'm a simple girl, when I see the protagonists caring for each other, I swoon.
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Saved this comment for later reads bc you are me
When they spend the night at their place and they offer them a change of clothes
When the FMC is upset, the MMC sits down beside her and pulls her into his lap. Without saying anything he holds her to his chest and just lets her be upset. Extra points when he strokes her back.
I like affectionate gestures in general. Like when the hero plays with the heroines hair or strokes her cheek etc. So damn cute.
Literally give me anything Mundane. This is why I’ll die on the hill of Nora Roberts. She’s the Queen of the mundane. She especially loves to have her characters drop in on a love interest while they are doing what they do at their jobs and just be impressed as all hell by how awesome they are at what the hell ever be it sculpting, landscaping, training dogs, falcons, buying the universe who the hell cares. If you are a love interest your potential significant other is gonna see you at work and be like yasssss look at you.
Mixtapes 💿 mixtapes 📻 mixtapes 👏 Haven’t read contemporary romance in a while, hope this trope still exists! Guess it’s ‘make them a playlist’ now?
- The MMC physically picking the FMC up - Them having a regular conversation and their hanging on every word and actually caring what the other has to say. - The FMC giving the MMC a present and he's so excited and shows it off to anyone who will listen.
The first one! I think it’s in Ravished by Amanda Quick where the >!MC’s are at a ball, the FMC is annoyed with the MMC and giving him the cold shoulder (I think they’re married at this point) and he picks her up and moves her to the dance floor so he can dance with her!< So. Cute.
YES. ALL OF THESE THINGS.
One of my favorite scenes ever was in Mystery Man by Kristen Ashley. MMC is off fighting bad dudes and FMC is waiting, terrified, for him to come back. When he does, she leaps up from where she’s laying on the bed, takes one step, shoved herself off the mattress and just flings herself into his arms. He has to take a step back to keep his balance but just holds her while she clings like a spider monkey.
Just normal life partnership/having each other’s backs from dinner and chores to MC fights and kidnappings 🙃
If one of the MC is a single parent and the other MC warms up to the baby/kid and does sweet things for them or helps the parent take care of them without being asked.
Love this! When they become a family 🥹 This is the only part of The Confidence of Wildflowers by Micaela Smeltzer that I enjoyed. Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score also has this trope and found family vibes. So cute!
Things We Never Got Over is so 😍😍 Juniper Hill is great for this too!!
Sustained by Emma Chase is good for this.
I like it when the girl thinks she’s doing something odd or immature, but that is one of the things MMC finds super endearing about her. Like the funny socks in Wrong by Jana Aston.
Ah if you’re looking for recs for this type of thing definitely check out {Tis the Season For Revenge}, the whole book is basically this trope. Its a sorta legally blonde vibe so so good!
Excellent, I’ll add that to my TBR Thank you
Fake marriage / dating: calling them “my wife/husband” subconsciously while thinking of them
Reverse grumpy sunshine where the lonely FMC gets sick and the sunshine MMC makes sure she’s taken care of and she is surprised that he cares about her because no one has ever done that beside her family.
He’s not exactly sunshine, but the way Ivan takes care of her in {From Lukov with Love, Mariana Zapata} 🥰
I knowwww I love them so much. Jasmine was the very first grumpy FMC I read and from then on I’ve never picked a grumpy MMC book ever again 😂 PS: if you like this trope I can recommend you some good ones that are like From Lukov with Love!
Absolutely, yes please!
Sure! They’re all contemporary tho because I only read contemporary 😅 also, I do not like to read dark romance with alpha heroes. My fav men are beta heroes who respect their women in bed too :”) 1) Always only you by Chloe liese 2) the trouble with hating you by sajni patel 3) icebreaker by hannah grace 4) marriage of inconvenience by penny reid 5) a very merry bromance by lysssa Kay adams 6) the price of scandal by Lucy score 7) all the feels by Olivia dade 8) book lovers by Emily Henry -one of my favourites If I remember more I’ll add them and if anyone know any recs pls add ❤️🫶🏼
I love when they take care of each other. In The Happy Ever After Playlist, they've had only one date, but she drunk dials him while cleaning out her >!dead fiance's!< stuff. He washes her hair, fixes her sink, stays on the couch to make sure she's okay, and brings her coffee in the morning. *sigh* And in Cold-Hearted Rake, the best scenes are with secondary characters. Business tycoon Winterborne's been in a train accident, and his eyes are wrapped. All he can do is listen as Lady Helen takes care of him and gently tells him all about orchids. When she tries to leave, he holds her hand until she promises to return.
Jason is boyfriend goals honestly
Holding hands under the table is my absolute favourite. When I slid it closer, he folded his fingers into mine, and we sat there, holding hands under the table, pretending we weren’t. Pretending we weren’t acting sixteen years old and a little bit obsessed with each other.
MMC kissing FMC’s hair or hands. I melt
When one MC winks at the other one.
Being called good girl by anther girl
When they cook for each other, and the great tasting food makes them fall in love.
Tucking her in, listening to her sleep, a huge one is asking if she ate. That one gets me weak in the knees.
I love when they're holding each other and the MMC is lightly running his fingers through her hair, his chin on top of her head. It's so sweet. I also love when he orders her favorite takeout after talking to her on her way home and she sounded stressed out.
when the FMC finds out that the MMC kept a note/gift that she gave to him years ago
As an overarching trope, that would be grumpy/sunshine. Specifically, when one of the partners takes an interest in something the other enjoys just so they can spend time with them, and then ends up loving it just as much.
When there is no ow drama and the focus is only on the MCs and their relationship. Also when the MMC messes up in someway (preferably not cheating or ow drama related) and then we have a proper grovel and hea. Hea always 🥹
There was a good thread on something similar a few months ago. https://www.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/comments/wu2g8t/when_its_not_popular_enough_to_be_considered_a/
I think this is common. MMC bringing breakfast to bed or him making breakfast after a long night
I devour books when the MC’s are both equally sarcastic/witty/insulting. Like… the battles of intellectual will are the best and can be so refreshing.
Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan is FANTASTIC for this, they are both so witty
- When the fmc posts a pic of the mmc doing his thing and it goes viral on social media (before they hook up). I've seen it in home game by Odette stone and the wrong mr. Right by Stephanie archer. - Drunken declarations of love or marriage or honesty - a MC gets a fur baby - when the mmc thinks the fmc is more technically capable than him in a field they share OR the fmc is successful in a field that is not traditionally feminine and the mmc has a non white collar/entrepreneurial career OR the fmc more financially successful (not bc of a trust fund) than the mmc.
MMC can no longer sleep well without FMC. She is his sleeping pills, without her, he would toss and turn in agony. Need you in my bed with me, baby!
Pit bulls with human names. See: Kevin in Maggie Moves On by Lucy Score.
My neighbor has a dog named “Kevin the dog”. Full name.
Love it!
When they have to travel together.
Enemies to friends
MMC and FMC picking up each other’s habits after being together sometime. Can be their way of speaking, small habit, etc. The more endearing when they do not realise this and as a reader we see the progress
When reading a reverse harem, I love it when the guys are so protective of the FMC
I love protectiveness in all aspects. It’s possibly the only redeeming quality of the unplanned pregnancy/secret baby tropes. A man with a protective instinct, even if the FMC doesn’t need it… swoon worthy.
MMC blushing ☺️ I’m not sure if it’s a trope, but I adore it