Quick 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 earnestly spectacular debut by a stunning new voice.

Publisher’s Synopsis

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.

Book Review

Any Trope But You is a debut romance novel that heavily relies upon common tropes, as the title implies. After her fans find out that Margot, a bestselling romance novelist, does not buy into happily ever afters and her own books’ endings, she escapes to Alaska to write her next book and revive her career. When she arrives at her remote accommodations, Margot runs straight into the arms of hunky proprietor Forrest, courtesy of a pesky moose.

While I enjoy a cold weather romance novel as much as the next summer-hating person, I did not think Any Trope But You brought anything new to the table. I suppose I should have expected as much when the title suggest a heavy reliance on tropes. (Then again, I loved Unromance earlier this year, which also heavily played with common romance tropes.) But none of my issues with Any Trope But You are related to the novel’s trope-focused concept.

One of the most essential parts of a romance novel for me is the building of emotion and connection between the protagonists. Unfortunately, Margot and Forrest experience lust-at-first-sight that never progresses to the emotional. Similar to instalove, Any Trope But You relies on sexual chemistry in place of emotional depth and connection. And if I am being totally honest, even the sexual chemistry seemed kind of rushed to me. (But as a demisexual, I know that my view on this is not necessarily representative of the general population.) I think Lavine’s dedication to checking off as many tropes as possible in one novel hurt the narrative. I felt like she tried to squeeze in too much in one story but at the same time, not enough of what actually matters. Besides the lack of spark and connection building, the story’s conflict is resolved too quickly and needs additional explanation.

I was however charmed by the resort’s other guests and Forrest’s parents as well as their weekly group outings. In fact, they overshadowed Margot and Forrest at times. I also thought the issue of caregiving for a family member was handled really well, and I appreciated the representation, particularly given the fact it is not often discussed.

While these positives helped balance out the negatives of unrealistic story elements and an abundance of Taylor Swift references 🙄, it was not enough for me to solidly recommend the novel. Plus, the cherry on top was factual inaccuracies such as calling acupressure energy work.

Overall, Any Trope But You has a fun premise and setting along with cute moments. However, the romance fell flat and subsisted of physical attraction. I recommend this book to anyone who does not mind a story that skips emotion and relies upon physical attraction.

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