Fans of Interracial Romance discussion

Hey friends! What’s one trope or theme you just can’t get behind no matter how hard you try??? Mine is older woman/younger man 😂😂😂 I just can’t!! Even if I love the author. Interested in hearing your thoughts

I'm not a fan of cheating. I'd much rather have the character in a relationship boss up and get themselves single before starting another relationship.

Cheating. Turns my stomach. If it’s he/she catches them and moves on to better things that’s fine but cheating behind their back or they cheat within the book not for me!

@ Shana and Nock, don’t y’all hate when the author tries to demonize a seemingly perfect partner just so the h and H can get together. Like why can’t people just fall out of love without one being evil?? 💀💀💀

Cheating and second chance romance where the mmc has been sowing his oats away to glory while the fmc has been pining for him by abstaining. And if not for chance meetings or opportunities mmc and fmc would never have reconnected. Calling these second chance romance is laughable. I tend to refer to them as opportunistic romance especially if it benefits the mmc. They are just a few pet peeves of mine. 😁

June wrote: "Hey friends! What’s one trope or theme you just can’t get behind no matter how hard you try??? Mine is older woman/younger man 😂😂😂 I just can’t!! Even if I love the author. Interested in hearing yo..."

Really? Why? I'm just curious is all cause I don't mind them. 🙂

@Do your reading I honestly don’t have a particular reason 😂 it might just be because I’m in my early 20s and the thought of dating a man younger than me makes me itch 💀💀 but older men yummmm 😍😍🥵🥵

@June Yessss!! No need to turn a perfectly good character into a horrible person for NO reason

Mafia heroes where I am supposed to ignore the reality of the violence, human trafficking, drugs, weapons all manner of evil that result in the destruction of human life, because the hero is supposed to be some bad boy. No matter how well written, I just can't get into such stories.

Secret pregnancies. The idiotic reasons that are used for why a woman would not tell the guy she is pregnant is truly bizarre. I abhor such stories. I would not mind if she were to tell him and he said he wanted nothing to do with the child, but just to say nothing... No. Just no!

Triplets, quadruplets, sextuplets stories. Stop destroying the darn planets. Women aren't rats.

Would vampire stories and stories where the hero is an angel be considered a trope? If so, I hate em.

Whewwww.... thanks for letting me rant.

The Miscommunication trope irks me. I'm also not a fan of cheating

Justine, I’m with you on a lot of these secret pregnancy stories. “He broke up with me and his mama don’t like me so I’m going to have his triplets in secret and not tell him for 10 years” 💀💀💀💀💀 Like please IR writers, can we come up with something else!!!

@Kayla, miscommunication pisses me off even on TV too. Like why tf will you only eavesdrop one tiny part of the conversation and not eavesdrop the full thing and then they won’t let the person explain the context 🙃🙃🙃🙃

1. Best friend’s Sister. I like when the hero and heroine are best friends that falls in love. I don’t care for those chick lit type of stories. I like best friends turn lover stories, where I can see the chemistry between the hero and heroine. It’s not about sex. I want to see tension. I want to see the love they have between one another. I don’t care for the best friends turn lover stories, where the hero is a playa and the heroine patiently waits for him to recognize her. I like when they both had feelings for one another, but never acted upon it, because they didn’t want to messed up their relationship or even if one had feelings and then later the other started having feelings too, but it’s real.

2. Naire stories, well now it’s billionaire stories. If I see a book and billionaire is in the title, I don’t want that book. To me money isn’t everything. Yes, my character Cop is rich, but it’s not all in your face. He shops at Walmart and is not afraid to go to a garage sale. Some women read romance books to escape, I don’t. I read, because I love reading. I like stories to have real stuff in them. Every woman will not come across a rich man or even marry a rich man. Love can’t be bought. A woman doesn’t have to be looked down on or even thought to be a gold digger or even cheated on just to get with the rich man.

3. Boss/Employee relationship. When I see books where the title lets it be known that it’s a story about a boss and his employee, I don’t bother with the book.

4. Secret baby. I don’t really care for children to be in books too, because some writers makes the child annoying.

@June Exactly!

June wrote: "@Do your reading I honestly don’t have a particular reason 😂 it might just be because I’m in my early 20s and the thought of dating a man younger than me makes me itch 💀💀 but older men yummmm 😍😍🥵🥵"

Lol I love owym . You always see older men with a hot young girl and the older women’s portrayed as some old hag left behind so it’s nice seeing young guys salivating over them and finding them desirable still. Also when you read them the woman usually always has a problem with the age difference or feels insecure, vulnerable about her appearance but older men never do. They can have their saggy ass and beer belly and think they deserve the hot young chick (not that authors ever write them like that lol). Could be while I love Downfall cause he was self conscious.
For me owym is like bwwm it’s not something you see a lot of in the mainstream so makes it more exciting to read.

Justine wrote: "Triplets, quadruplets, sextuplets stories. Stop destroying the darn planets. Women aren't rats."

Yep totally skip these. Anything with silly titles “my billionaires secret triplet babies” and usually with a cheesy cover. Although I did put off ready m’renee Allen’s dangerously curvy series for this reason and that was brilliant.

Captives are not my thing. I can't get behind a woman being kidnapped and falling in love with the kidnapper (usually mafia, which I also hate).

Honestly, I can't stand fake dating. It makes no sense if you think about it. Why are you deceiving people? What is the point? So you are not in a relationship-- ok? Why lie about it?

It could be cute if it were a rare thing, but every other book is about fake dating and they are all the same. There is not a surprise to be had.

As far as cheating... I am not down for either the MMC or FMC cheating with another person and getting forgiven. I know some people like a 'grovel' I don't not for cheating. Most of the time the author doesn't sell me on redemption or forgiveness so it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I will say I LOVE it when the MMC or FMC gets cheated on and their OW/OM wants them back and they've moved on with the hero/heroine and are living their best life!

However... I don't mind too much if the FMC or MMC is in an unhappy relationship with someone else and are friends and build a bond and slowly realize they have feelings for each other and have to confront/deal with getting out of that other relationship. I think this makes for an acceptable conflict that,if done well, can be a realistic exploration of feelings changing. As long as they get out of the other relationship before any real movement forward between the two then I am good. Because, girls, if he cheats with you he will cheat on you!

I can't stand friends with benefits stories. Someone always catches feelings. I also can't stand when the MMC wants a women but always talking about he wants to get her out his system. Either pursue her or leave her alone. whenever a male says he wants to get her out his system, he will play games, string her along, or disrespect her.

Vent away Justine! Haha I'm there with you. I'm also 0% a fan of secret pregnancies and the ever popping up miscommunication tropes. Authors, we actually DO enjoy healthy relationships. We really do. And they come with their own drama cuz people.

Fake relationship stories are always awkward to me. I'm usually stuck on their insecurities leading them in that direction and wind up never getting into the story. Haha

Samantha wrote: "I can't stand friends with benefits stories. Someone always catches feelings. I also can't stand when the MMC wants a women but always talking about he wants to get her out his system. Either pursu..."

Holy crap. Me too. I can't stand it when they start sleeping with each other even before the story starts. No momentum. No background or characterisation. It gets on my nerves. Recently I've started chucking those kinds of books even from my favorite authors cause I know I'm going to be pissed once I start.

Hahaha I hear ya!

The billionaire troupe!

Clearly many who write these stories have no concept of how someone with such wealth lives. Heck, Do some research people and find out how the other half lives. Your average Joes with a billionaire moniker slapped on them are ridiculous.

Why are all the guys wealthy, accomplished, put together and the heroine some wreck? Someone from the ghetto working in a diner for scraps or in some dead end job. Enough!
I want to read about women who are CEOs, CFOs, CMOs, doctors, lawyers, mayors, governors, pilots, violinists, scientists, opera singers, Olympic athletes, someone who owns their own successful businesses etc. I am tired of house cleaners, nurses, restaurant servers who work at a holes in the wall. Elevate the heroine, please.

A successful woman who is still pining for the love of her family who treats her like something on the bottom of their shoes. While you can start the book like that, there must be growth, and growth quickly.

Justine wrote: "Why are all the guys wealthy, accomplished, put together and the heroine some wreck? Someone from the ghetto working in a diner for scraps or in some dead end job. Enough!
I want to read about women who are CEOs, CFOs, CMOs, doctors, lawyers, mayors, governors, pilots, violinists, scientists, opera singers, Olympic athletes, someone who owns their own successful businesses etc. I am tired of house cleaners, nurses, restaurant servers who work at a holes in the wall. Elevate the heroine, please. "


I think that a lot of authors write those kinds of stories, because they believe that their readers just read for the hero and think that a wealthy man is a woman needs in her life. Only a wealthy man can take care of the woman. Some women in real life looks for a wealthy man to take care of them. As if!

To me, a hero doesn’t have to be rich, because money can’t buy love or happiness. Just because a man is rich is doesn’t mean, he will treat the woman right or even doing things for her with his money.

I like a working hero and a working heroine. One doesn’t have to on a dead end job, so that they can be taken care of.

I don’t believe in a woman needing a man to take care of her. My hero and heroines have jobs where they can take care of themselves and their relationship is not about money.

Oh I thought of another I dislike.

Enemies to Lovers.

And not all of them, actually, but a particular brand of Enemies to lovers.

The one where they are both working on something and for ...reasons... their boss/employer/client can't decide on which one of them they want to give the job to so they force them to work together. Sometimes it is for a promotion where whichever one puts in the best work will get the promotion/reward.

I hate that. If it takes place in a real workplace it is bone stupid. If you are making two people work together it should be because you are trying to build a better team not forcing people to try to one-up each other. Your workplace should not try to be a reality tv show. It also can create further resentment, bad morale, and in some cases a hostile work environment, Yes it is a romance so we know they will fall in love. But knowing the reality of how workplaces work, yanks me out of the fantasy of the story most of the time. It takes a super-skilled d writer to sell it to me.

I don't mind rivals who are on opposite sides of an issue. I like it when both sides are smart and competent and advocate for their side in an equal way. But most enemies-to-lovers stories sometimes feel like they are just thin excuses for the H&H to just insult and be mean to each other while secretly lusting for each other. It doesn't make me feel positive to read about them. Mostly I get annoyed at them for being immature.

Real actual enemies are a harder sell. If they actually hate each other and have reasons to be actual enemies, then it takes a lot of labor to move them from outright hatred to HEA love. 'Enemies' is a strong word that invokes something more hostile and harmful than just 'rival' or 'antagonist.'

And since most of the time, these days, it is a trope that is used in a cutesy rom-com way it doesn't work for me.

Tina wrote: "Oh I thought of another I dislike.

Enemies to Lovers.

And not all of them, actually, but a particular brand of Enemies to lovers.

The one where they are both working on something and for ...reas..."

How about those where the boss, ceo, owner, screws the underling? It's as if we have not just gone thru the me too movement, jeffry weinstein and a whole host of other dysfunctional/absolutely must not occur incidents in real life...

Another trope for me and what I call, family of bachelors or single brothers. This can go for non relatives as well.

Many of these types of series be the same story with different characters. Someone tends to stand out in another’s story and sometimes, when it’s his story time, the story is flat. It’s as if he’s a different person from the person that caught my attention in another’s book and not only that, his heroine doesn’t seem to fit him.

Justine wrote: "Triplets, quadruplets, sextuplets stories. Stop destroying the darn planets. Women aren't rats."
My sentiments EXACTLY! And while we’re on the subject, kinda, is there a paucity of condoms of which I’m unaware? BC pills, too? Did we start going to fertility clinics for, say, no reason? Ya’ll, please give me the answers. AND, blame my rant on our friend Justine!

My goodness. I did not know I have such a long list.
Cheating especially while married or in a serious relationship
Abuse (any kind)
Rape
Books with Maverick in the title
Revenge
Enemies to Lovers

I think I may have more to come.

I agree with your dislikes. I dislike abusive Alpha males and doormat females. I hate stupid people repeating the same mistakes expecting a different outcome. (This also happens in soaps!) Mostly, I hate tall men having sex with tiny women. (The woman is a foot shorter, a virgin, and almost childlike. The man is 6 foot plus, built like a body builder and has a long, large, thick penis). He is easily able to stretch her vagina. The sex is slightly painful and always world shattering. Height difference is okay, as long as it isn't extreme. It's always extreme in this scenario,

Rachel wrote: "
Books with Maverick in the title"

Ok, this just made me giggle.

Thanks! It's a gift.