Oh tragic personal crisis – Oh handsome brawny hunk in the woods who can right any wrong with his handsome brawny-ness! Any Trope But You is a mostly lightweight romantic comedy that will walk you through the set up for The Next Great American Romance, because despite trying to run away from romance novels entirely, the main character Margot is literally walking into one.
It’s a cute story, yes, and if you really love romantic comedies, you’ll probably like this one. It just wasn’t my favorite.
The one thing I do applaud here is the inclusion of characters with disabilities and chronic pain, characters who need full-time carers and have unpredictable health patterns. Both of the main characters have family members they feel responsible for, and I think the topic is handled very well (without one of the characters actually being one of the disabled themselves…somehow the lead characters are always the normies).
That being said, I think my main complaint here is that given the sincerity of the themes implied by those circumstances, this novel leans far too heavily in the almost-stupid romantic comedy hijinks. Of course, we’re expecting to go through a long list of cliched tropes (hey-it’s in the title), but I think it was the air-headedness required for Margot to fall into all of them that bugged me. Was it her actual personality? Eh. The two sides of her just didn’t seem to match up very well for me.
The romance, however, seemed quite genuine once it got going (given that the first of the tropes was dumbfounding-attraction at first sight), and by the end I didn’t need any further convincing that it had legs to stand on once they got into the ‘real world’. Also, the spicy scenes in this book were particularly good, in my personal estimation.
The themes, as well, are valuable. Throw yourself into new experiences, pick yourself back up when the world knocks you down, don’t erase yourself within the needs of others, and, of course, you’ll always find your true love once you hit rock bottom and decide to take a spontaneous trip to Alaska in hopes of rearranging your entire life!
I wish I could give this book a higher rating, but with issues previously discussed and some elements of the ending that also felt a little too convenient in a way that put a bad taste in my mouth, this is sitting at three stars from me.
Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Details
Title:: Any Trope But You
Author:: Victoria Lavine
Genre:: Romantic Comedy
Publisher:: Atria Books
Length:: 336 pages
Audio Length:: 11h 17m
Audiobook Narrator:: Tim Paige & Jesse Vilinsky
Audiobook Publisher:: Simon & Schuster Audio
Published:: April 1st, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 3-Stars
If you liked this book, check out…
The Tourist Attraction | Sarah Morgenthaler (Rom Com set in Alaska)
The Rom Commers | Katherine Center (Disabled Carer Rep)
