Any Trope but You by Victoria Lavine Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads
Synopsis:
A bestselling romance author flees to Alaska to reinvent herself and write her first murder mystery, but the rugged resort proprietor soon has her fearing she’s living in a rom-com plot instead in this internationally bestselling debut by Victoria Lavine.
Beloved romance author Margot Bradley has a dark secret: she doesn’t believe in Happily Ever Afters. Not for herself, not for her readers, and not even for her characters, for whom she secretly writes alternate endings that swap weddings and babies for divorce papers and the occasional slashed tire. When her Happily Never After document is hacked and released to the public, she finds herself canceled by her readers and dropped by her publisher.
Desperate to find a way to continue supporting her chronically ill sister, Savannah, Margot decides to trade meet-cutes for murder. The fictional kind. Probably. But when Savannah books Margot a six-week stay in a remote Alaskan resort to pen her first murder mystery, Margot finds herself running from a moose and leaping into the arms of the handsome proprietor, making her fear she’s just landed in a romance novel instead.
The last thing Dr. Forrest Wakefield ever expected was to leave his dream job as a cancer researcher to become a glorified bellhop. What he’s really doing at his family’s resort is caring for his stubborn, ailing father, and his puzzle-loving mind is slowly freezing over—until Margot shows up. But Forrest doesn’t have any room in his life for another person he could lose, especially one with a checkout date.
As long snowy nights and one unlikely trope after another draw Margot and Forrest together, they’ll each have to learn to overcome their fears and set their aside assumptions before Margot leaves—or risk becoming a Happily Never After story themselves.
Review:
Any Trope but You was a slow burn, grumpy sunshine, forced proximity romance set in beautiful Alaska. With a memorable meet cute and only one tent, this story was an adorable winter read. I enjoyed the play on tropes, the characters were memorable, and the happily ever after was so wonderful!
“Do not give me a cute nickname!” she warns, pointing a pillowy mitten in my face like it’s a deadly weapon. I only chuckle and grip her tighter, thinking maybe romance tropes are underrated after all.
Margo was beyond jaded and didn’t believe in HEA’s anymore, even though she wrote romance. When a file of her characters happily never afters, where she gave her characters truly miserable endings, was leaked to her fans, Margo’s sister booked her on an adventure to Alaska. Being able to focus on writing and stepping away from the world for 6 weeks was just what Margo needed! Yet….that wasn’t exactly what she found in Alaska.
“Wait. You’re telling me we’re literally getting snowed in right now?”
I kiss the tip of her nose. “Your favorite trope?”
She snuggles back into my chest with a contented hum. “It definitely is now.”
Margo was a fish out of water who could be so grumpy, but her interactions with Forrest had me cackling with laughter. He was the owner’s son, who had come home to help take care of his father. And while they both wanted the other, they also had their reasons for why neither of them wanted to go there. As the reader though, falling for Forrest was so effortless. He was kind, had an adventurous heart, and learning about his tortured past just made me love him more.
“She’s the end of me but also the beginning. The liability I never wanted but always craved. And when she pulls my shaking body down to hers, kissing my face, she’s all the comfort I never knew I needed.”
Every single time a new trope would appear between Margo and Forrest, she would absolutely lose it. It was hilarious! They kept stacking miles high with only one tent, snowed in, Forrest carrying Margo yet again, and so many more. We got to hear this story in both of their POVs and while the story did meander at times, it was definitely entertaining. Any Trope but You was heartwarming and steamy romance that had a fabulous happily ever after. I’m excited to see what Lavine writes next!
