You practically can’t read a romance story without tripping over tropes and dodging a few unexpected kinks. Who’s complaining? Not me! Tropes often have a negative perception, but the truth is that these story devices are notable because they’re effective. And while some readers may hear “kinky” and shudder (in the bad way—now is probably a good time to direct inspirational and Amish romance readers to a more appropriate review site), kink doesn’t necessarily mean slavish, promiscuous, or riddled with pain. That said…

Let’s chat about tropes and kinks, shall we? =)

Tripping over tropes

Where genres define the wide spectrum of location settings, time periods, tech limitations, and types of characters a story might include—which comes along with some inherent world rules and assumptions—tropes are themes that can span genres. For example, you might find a surprise baby plot in a celebrity sports romance and in a sci-fi romance about planetary royalty.

A trope doesn’t necessarily need to be a plot device, although they do tend to set a loose framework for how characters interact and often guide the decisions made. Say you’ve got a brother’s-best-friend romance. The story might be about some larger struggle, but there’s a good chance the brother’s not gonna be happy about his little sis hooking up with his player best friend. Did you notice how many assumptions I made there? Tropes are essentially stereotypes that exist on a story scale, larger than the characters but less sweeping than the genre.

Here are a few more tropes you’ve probably seen:

• Virgin: Very common in the Billionaire Romance sub-genre, where the inexperienced heroine often falls for the playboy, rich, alpha-male hero
• Friends-To-Lovers: Works in just about every genre
• Married To A Stranger: Common in historicals, makes for great Regency stories
• Captive/captor: Most common in historical and SciFi (think raider/pirate/other seeming villain who’s really a good guy at heart) but the dark contemporaries work well with this one
• Second-Chance Romance: Just about every genre loves seeing old flames get back together!
• Enemies-To-Lovers: Who doesn’t love a good hate fuck?
• Gay For You (or Out For You): Most common in Contemporary Romance (and its sub-genres) since that genre tends to focus on modern sexuality struggles, but you can find some in historicals and other genres
• Fated Mates: Popular in Paranormal Romance, but other genres like to dip their toes in too (Insta-Love)
• Love Triangles: A few years ago love triangles were all the rage in Young Adult stories, but they work across all genres
• BDSM dungeon master or slave: Prevalent in the BDSM sub-genre of contemporary romance

Did I leave out one of your favorite tropes? Got one that just annoys the hell out of you? Leave a comment, and let’s chat!

All tied up about kinks

If the word “kink” has you imagining handcuffs, St. Andrews crosses, and the Red Room of Pain, you aren’t alone. Many people associate “kink” with the hardcore practices featured in books, television, and movies—and that’s true, those are representations of kink. But on a simpler level, a kink is just something that turns you on. It’s not a dirty word, and it’s not a term to shy away from. I say embrace what makes you you, and don’t let anyone make you feel ashamed of that. Here are some kinks that span the romance genre as a whole (and really, life!):

• Red (or blond, or raven, or whatever color) hair—expecting something scarier? Keep reading. 😉
• Long hair (some men can really pull off the man bun, yo!)
• Body hair (lots of it, none of it, everything in between!)
• Public sex (doing it or watching it—or, ahem, reading about it. Voyeurs unite!)
• Menage or multi-partner (and, going farther, the poly lifestyle)
• Foot (or breast, or ass, or any body part) fetish—love a woman (or man) in high heels?
• Wall sex (got a strong preference for a particular position? That could be a kink!)
• Anal play (not all gay men enjoy sodomy, just like not all women practice it)
• Sounding (okay, this one’s pretty extreme, but I just had to. *grin* Look that up in an incognito window! NSFW!)

Here are some kinks that hinge on the exchange of power, one partner trusting the other to “top” them safely:

• Bondage (physical restraint of any sort, from simple handcuffs to elegant and complicated Shibari)
• Domination and submission (huge spectrum here, from small, barely perceivable power exchanges up to full lifestyle control)
• Sadism and masochism (giving or receiving pain)
• Humiliation (being humiliated or seeing someone be humiliated: from emotional to physical, this one also covers a lot of ground)
• Rape fantasies and consensual non-consent (role play or fantasizing, NOT actual real rape)
• Breath denial (or breath play—very dangerous, do not attempt unless you know what you’re doing!)
• Animal play (pony, puppy, kitty, etc)

There are so many kinks, on both ends of the power-exchange spectrum, that I can’t list them all here, but point is that it’s likely most readers will be drawn to at least one list item above, if not several. Kinks, like tropes, can be combined to enrich a reader’s experience.

All riled up with no book to read? Recommend some of your favorite kinks and tropes below! #ShareTheLove

Then enter the giveaways below for a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card (no kidding) and some awesome ebooks and other prizes from our 2017 IndiePendence Celebration sponsors!

Giveaways

These are open to US & international readers! Leave a comment on today’s post, then fill out the prize widgets below to enter to win these fantastic prizes! Not sure what to chat about? Here are a few prompts to get you started…

• What are some of your personal favorite tropes and kinks?
• What tropes and kinks do you DESPISE? (C’mon, let loose!)
• Recommend books for other readers! (I am dying to see your guilty reading pleasures!)

Sponsored by author Nicola Cameron ($50 Amazon Gift Card!)

Win one of 12 prizes from our event sponsors! (Includes a $25 Amazon Gift Card, jewelry, swag, and TONS of ebooks!)

DON’T MISS: Join the discussion about GENRES!

AND, for authors: Melissa Blue shares her four simple steps to making the perfect book cover!