Category: Romance Tropes

Love in the Kitchen (+giveaway)
Giveaway · Romance Tropes · Special Occasions

Love in the Kitchen (+giveaway)

Jaycee Weaver48 Comments

Did you know September 10-16 is Chef Appreciation Week this year? How exciting is that?!

I know, I know, it’s back-to-school season, but I’ve already written a back-to-school post. Yeah, I’ve already written a food post too, but this time I thought it would be fun to talk about those who fulfill our fictional food fantasies, CHEF characters!

Romance is FULL of chef heroes and heroines. There’s just something about being in the kitchen surrounded by food that creates the perfect setting for love… or loathing. Chef heroes and heroines add a whole lot of extra flavor to typical romance tropes (pun totally intended). So in honor of Chef Appreciation Week, let’s explore how those tropes are so much tastier with chefs at the helm as we show our appreciation for those who heat up the kitchen.

One of my favorite tropes is loathe-to-love (aka hate-to-love and/or enemies-to-lovers), and when it takes place in the kitchen? Count. Me. In. What a place for cooks to clash! Egos flare, attraction sparks, passions ignite, and love fans into a flame. A perfect example of this is Jenny Proctor’s third Hawthorne brother book, How to Kiss Your Enemy All that friction between chefs Lennox and Tatum is so fun. Our very own Jan Thompson also has chef rivals in her Savannah Sweethearts series, Call You Home. Bonus, Jan’s title features a deaf heroine! (I love seeing diverse representation in Christian fiction. Isn’t it beautiful to explore God’s wide world through the eyes of others whose experience vary from our own?) Let’s give a shout out to Piper and Isaac! And one of my all-time favorite rival chef romances is Hadley Beckett’s Next Dish from rom-com queen Bethany Turner with chefs Hadley and Max battling it out for reality television glory.

If grumpy/sunshine romances are more your thing, what’s more fun than a broody, crabby chef? Valerie Comer’s chef Levi Esteban from Better Than a Crown is a prime example of hard-headed and brooding hero (and I adored him).

Billionaire, widower, and single dad romances are market staples, and you can find all three in Jan Thompson’s His Morning Kiss, where we meet a personal chef Skye.

See what I mean about putting chefs into all sorts of romance tropes? What a *perfect* way to add a little forced proximity, caregivers, or any number of other sub-tropes we love.

And I’ve got a few more personal chef books for you!  Lavished with Lavender from Valerie Comer features both a nurse and a personal chef, which is doubly fab in my book (cheers for Chef Tony!). And I can’t forget my dear friend Teresa Tysinger’s personal chef Leah Spencer in Say It’s For Good, which also combines the tropes of second chances and a fake relationship with Teresa’s signature Southern flavor and gorgeous backdrops.

Speaking of forced proximity (and workplace romance!), Sarah Monzon’s Freedom’s Kiss is full of sparks between food truck owner Adam and chef-hopeful Olivia.  Lindi Peterson’s Chef Grant reconnects with his childhood sweetheart and friend in Sweet Love of Mine, and you’ll have fun with Paige’s unique and tasty offerings in Elizabeth Maddrey’s opposites attract tale, A Splash of Substance while learning about sustainable food!

We’ve covered a lot of tropes already, but I can’t leave without appreciating the chef of at least one marriage of convenience book. Dwight Williams, chef of the legendary Maple Pit in Toni Shiloh’s Buying Love, is just the sort of hero worth appreciating. (Come on, maple barbecue and all the other maple goodness? Stop. I’m drooling.)

While it’s still fairly early in the back-to-school season, a lot of us are looking forward to Christmas books!! If that’s your favorite, Carolyn Miller’s upcoming holiday release will feature TWO chefs, Alphonse and Camille. Plus it’s a collection of short romances, so you know I’m down for that. (This tall girl LOVES her short books LOL!) You can pre-order Muskoka Holiday Morsels for auto-download on 11/2/23.

I also happen to have a holiday romance featuring a chef heroine. CJ Sinclair is visiting her sister this Christmas as she sorts out her life after breaking free of a traumatic relationship. There, CJ reconnects with her former best friend and first love, ex-military musician Tobin, in Now and Forever Christmas, a friends-to-more second chance tale with a wacky, lovable family lightening the serious moments. There are plenty of those, since CJ walked away from God for a while and yearns for redemption and forgiveness with her fresh start.

Whew! We covered a lot of ground today! LOL! I hope our chef characters feel appreciated. 😉 Wouldn’t you agree the passion, artistry, and dedication of chefs make the most overdone of tropes more palatable?

Since all of our chefs here are fictional, I’d like to offer my own personal appreciation gift to one lucky reader! To enter the random drawing for an eBook edition of Now and Forever Christmas, be sure to comment with your favorite fictional chef, the title of the book they’re in, and/or which of YOUR favorite tropes I missed! Remember, until tomorrow 9/12, your comments are ALSO your entries into the 2023 Back-to-School Bash!

Until next time, happy reading!

The Romantic Comedy
Romance Tropes · romantic comedy

The Romantic Comedy

Jaycee Weaver39 Comments

Romantic comedy as a genre is exploding right now. After the last year and a half of pandemic life, it’s not hard to understand why. After all, it’s been a hugely successful film genre for decades, but while some people will re-watch their favorite film a gazillion times, not all readers treat books the same way. Not to mention most readers consume books like the world will run out of paper.

I’ve been gorging myself on a large number of romantic comedies myself this year. Let’s face it, romantic comedies tend to be high on laughs and low on language and sex, even if they aren’t Christian or inspirational fiction. And though the racier rom coms are growing in popularity, so are Christian ones. (Yay! Finally!)

To be honest, I’ve been kicking around dabbling in the genre myself recently. Considering my natural inclination for hyperbole, I’ve been thinking it could be really fun to experiment more in my writing. Really let my voice loose and quit holding back all the crazy, silly, fun things my spastic brain comes up with. Plus, I’d get to write in first person all the time. Present tense even! Both of which tend to be no-nos outside the rom com genre. Not a lot of people who read serious books (aka literature spoken in a very austere tone) admit to also liking the sassy silliness of a good rom com heroine.

Why are romantic comedies so awesome? For me, it’s how well a book balances the romance with the comedy in the following key elements:

  • The meet cute
  • Chemistry and tension between H/h
  • The potential for disaster
  • Messes and miscommunication
  • Serious moments that matter

And finally,

  • The grand gesture/make up

It must be original or creatively executed. We all know there’s going to be an HEA. After all, it is NOT A ROMANCE without one (I dare you to argue that point). But if any one element tips too far toward romance, it loses the funny. Too far toward comedy, it loses impact in the romance department.

For example, when the H/h have major miscommunications, it can really amp up the potential for laughs. Too far, though, and we want to smack one or both because it’s stopped being funny and threatens the romance. Two enemies might have chemistry galore, but a funny situation can quickly become unromantic (which then becomes less funny) if one character behaves too badly at the expense of the other. It’s a carefully crafted cycle!

My favorite books are the ones that balance tension and angst with humor and lighthearted fun. I’d love to hear your thoughts on what constitutes a great romantic comedy.

Does the whole story have to be funny, or just at a few key points? What are some books you’ve found that really strike a good balance? Is there anything that drives you crazy when things go off balance—either in a good way OR a bad way?

Looking forward to chatting with you in the comments!

Childhood Sweethearts (+giveaway)
Giveaway · Romance Tropes · Roundup

Childhood Sweethearts (+giveaway)

Jaycee Weaver36 Comments

Childhood Sweethearts + giveawayWhat’s your favorite trope within CCR? I see this question asked a lot, and I have to admit I am one of those people who can’t choose a favorite ANYTHING to save her life. I mean, in all the breadth of the whole world, why would I limit myself? I do find myself drawn to some more than others, however, and one of my top ten favorites is childhood sweethearts.

Here’s how I’ll define childhood sweethearts, in case you’re wondering: a couple who knew each other as children/young teens and either one or both experienced a strong affinity for the other.

Best friends? Counts. Childhood crush? Definitely counts. Next door neighbors sweet on each other? Totally counts.

As you can see, I might be a little liberal in my definition of childhood sweethearts. But considering a little quick research (thanks to DuckDuckGo) reveals that only about 2% of the population marries their childhood first love and the numbers aren’t much higher for marrying a high school sweetheart, there’s got to be more to the story than two kids who’ve loved only each other most of their lives.

Perhaps that’s what makes childhood sweethearts such a wonderful trope—how well it pairs with others. Think about it. Second chance romances, reunion romances, marriage of convenience, friends to lovers… and that’s not even factoring in the various subgenres like cowboy romance, Southern romance, etc. The options are fairly limitless and equally appealing.

I’ve written a number of friends-to-lovers type books (and read a gazillion more), but childhood sweethearts is something I’ve only played with a couple times in the past year or two. I have to say, though, it’s a lot of fun keeping each story unique!

For example, in This and Every Christmas (which released individually on Oct 1), Noah and Clari met several times as kids. It was fun crafting vignettes in which their annual meetings were memorable enough they’d recognize each other years later. I got to pair this novella with the single dad trope, throw in a tree farm and a music teacher, all under the umbrella of the Christmas romance subgenre.

The sequel to this tale is coming up at the end of the month in the 2021 Christmas Lights collection Home for Christmas (eBook) and individually (paperback) October 26. Now and Forever Christmas is technically a friends-to-more/second chance romance, but since they were young teen sweethearts, I think it sort of counts.

I’m kind of loving this trope right now, if you can’t tell. The third sister will get her HEA in 2022 with Not Another Christmas, but for that one I’m twisting the childhood sweethearts into childhood enemies who gradually discover more. I’ve never done enemies-to-lovers, but that is one of my top five favorite tropes, so I’m kind of excited to finally write one.

And of course, I can’t forget to talk about Braver With You, which is in the upcoming Save the Date collection. I’m sure you’re tired of hearing me talk about this one (LOL! we’re in the home stretch, people!), but I’m really attached to Ashlyn and Conrad. This is the purest (as in, closest to the definition of) childhood sweethearts story I’ve written… or read for that matter, now that I think of it. They’ve only ever loved or dated each other and never faced a potential breakup. From their first pretend wedding as kids to the one they’re stressed over now, there’s never been a doubt in either of their minds that this was forever. These guys are the 2% statistic who defy the odds, and I adore them. Just because they’re sweet, though, doesn’t mean there isn’t trauma or chaos on the horizon they have to work through!

Have I enticed you to check out more of this fun trope? I hope so. And because I love contributing to your already out-of-control TBR pile, I’ve got a great list of other titles in CCR for you to choose from!

Starting with a randomly assembled list from several Inspy Romance authors and a couple others just because I can:

Okay, I’m letting the list get away from me. I know many more of our IR authors and CCR favorites have titles that fall under the “childhood sweethearts” heading, so I will leave the rest to YOU to put in the comments so I can add to my own out-of-control TBR. Influence away, my friends. Tell me why the title you’re commenting with qualifies! At the end of the week, one lucky commenter will be selected at random to win an eBook of their choice between This and Every Christmas or Braver With You (an ARC). Looking forward to reading your comments!

*As an Amazon associate, I may receive a small commission from any links clicked in the lists above.
Friends-to-More is the Best Romance Trope (and here’s why!)
Real Life Romance · Romance Tropes

Friends-to-More is the Best Romance Trope (and here’s why!)

Jaycee Weaver43 Comments

If there’s ever been a romance trope more thoroughly beloved than friends-to-more, I’ve got the wrong data. Poll after poll shows above and beyond that this is one trope we romance readers will never, ever get enough of.

Now, I’m well aware that the actual term for this trope is friends-to-lovers, but sometimes “lovers” has a much different connotation than we as Inspy and/or Christian romance readers would give it, so I’ll stick with friends-to-more.

Why do we love this trope so very much? I look forward to reading your thoughts in the comments below, but I’ll share a few of mine first.

  • Friendship makes for the strongest basis of any relationship. Solid, lasting friendships are build on a history of laughing together, facing life’s everyday challenges together, respecting each other’s differences, supporting one another with unconditional love and acceptance simply for who that person is. Sounds like the perfect foundation for a lasting marriage, too, huh?
  • Friendship doesn’t blind you to the other person’s faults. When it comes to new love, it’s all too easy to see past a person’s flaws because of those rosy-colored, heart-shaped glasses we’re wearing. With friends, we see plenty of flaws and imperfections and choose to accept them—maybe even appreciate them—because you know the other person complements you because of them.
  • Friendship builds intimacy. In friendships, we’re more likely to be vulnerable with what we’re going through and how we feel about it. Friendship feels safe, so it’s easier to come unguarded into the relationship without fear of rejection.
  • New awareness changes everything, which means hello chemistry! That spark of new awareness, the hope of new love, the fear of love remaining unrequited…in other words, all the feels. This trope has more potential for emotional entanglement as a reader than any other, in my opinion.
  • Other tropes can join in the fun and only make the story richer. Think of all the fun an author can have with this trope. I mean, add unrequited love or marriage of convenience, and BAM! you have a whole new aspect to what some consider an overused trope. (Overused my foot. I say unlimited potential!) Think of the possibilities!

It’s kind of funny how much I love this trope, actually. Up until the past few years, I never really considered my husband to also be my friend. In my head, it sounded sappy and weird, and I already have a best friend who has filled that role for far longer. A while back, though, I realized that I’ve been living a reverse of my favorite trope. After twenty years together, my husband and I still have our separate interests and hobbies. We fully support and respect and adore each other, even if our likes and dislikes don’t often overlap. We complement each other in the best of ways and are a unified team. And finally, it’s hit me that he is also my very best friend.

Best friends are the ones we run to when life is tough. The ones we call first with good news. The ones we laugh with and sometimes laugh at, but only because teasing brings us closer together. Best friends aren’t afraid to tell us when those jeans do make our butt look big, but the history and trust between us removes the sting of uncomfortable truth. Best friends pray over each other. They listen to the rotten day we had and offer up comfort—a joke, a hug, or reassurance.

When I’m writing, I don’t set out to write a trope specifically. The characters usually develop organically in my head first, and then the plot sort of fills itself in from there. But I’ve noticed a trend in my stories for those friends-to-more stories.

My favorite that I’ve written so far is Love, Laughter, & Luminarias. Nina and Garrett have been friends since high school. Their teasing relationship often feels more like siblings at times, until witnessing Nina chase down a shoplifter opens his eyes to a whole new side of his friend. The experience rattles Nina, who begins to seek God in her life for the first time. Her best friend’s faith and willingness to go along with whatever zany plans she comes up with sparks a whole new appreciation for the dependable book nerd.

While I don’t consider it my best work, What Could Be holds a special place in my heart as my debut novel. In it, single-dad Josh and slightly-naive daycare worker Brynn build a friendship over several months. There’s a bit of a love triangle in this one, as Brynn seeks God’s will regarding the steady relationship she’s increasingly certain isn’t the right one and the feelings she keeps denying for the man she never expected to care for.

Another one is What Makes a Home. Free-living artist Jobie and computer engineer Caleb form an unlikely friendship after he buys a rundown house across the street. Spending time together renovating his home parallels the work God is doing in Jobie’s life. While neither intends to fall for the other, unexpected issues arise for fledgling believer Jobie, and Caleb’s steadfast friendship and care become the foundation for a new kind of relationship she’s never known before. How can she not fall for him?

Now, while I argue that friends-to-more is the very best romance trope, I will admit I love variety. I also love stories that turn stereotypes on their heads and face unexpected challenges. And I haven’t really met a trope I don’t like so long as it’s done well. What about you? Do you agree that this is the best of all, or do you have a special favorite? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Remember—all comments this month get extra entries into our annual InspyRomance Birthday Bash!

Retelling the (Fairy) Tale
New Releases · Romance Tropes

Retelling the (Fairy) Tale

Jaycee Weaver20 Comments

Ah, fairy tales. Like so much classic literature, fairy tales form the basis for many contemporary stories. In recent years, retellings have even become so popular they’ve become their own subgenre in fiction. And it makes sense. The originals are clean and usually end happily. Good triumphs over evil. The impossible becomes possible. Romance. Magic. Wonder. They’re inspirational and usually teach a lesson.

Best of all, they’re timeless.

So how do we take an old story and craft it into something new and unique without contorting it into just another twisted clone on the bookshelf?

Well, it’s not easy. I’ll tell you that. But with a little creativity and inspiration all around us, the task doesn’t seem so daunting. In fact, authors Andrea Boyd and Mikal Dawn teamed up with three Inspy Romance authors—myself (Jaycee Weaver), Toni Shiloh, and Angela Ruth Strong—to release a brand new anthology of such tales. Last week on October 1, Once Upon a Christmas: Contemporary Retellings of Timeless Tales hit the shelves, and the reviews so far affirm that we seem to have found success in remaking these classic old stories into something new, fun, and relevant to today’s contemporary romance readers. (Yay!)

Rather than blend into the background with straight modernizations or retelling the tale with simple nods or twists, we decided to give each story a Christmas spin. Andrea took Sleeping Beauty and gave her a real-life sleeping disorder with three fierce and funny aunts in a gorgeous old theater for a holiday production of the musical of the same title. Mikal brought Mulan out of China and into the boardroom with a fierce (but flirty) legal battle on her father’s behalf, the wicked Hun insisting on a Christmas victory. For an updated Snow White, Toni sent her sheltered heiress fleeing into a snowstorm and hiding from a wicked stepmother in an orchard owned by a handsome hero and his seven “uncles” over the holidays. Angela twisted the classic favorite Cinderella into a whole new story, giving her lumberjack-like prince the nutty stepfamily as a perfect obstacle standing between Ella and her happy (New Year) ever after. And lastly, it was my joy to take The Little Mermaid out of her Las Vegas aquarium and into the dry southwest, where she discovers the power of her own voice during the romantic holiday season.

We sure hope you’ll give this set of novellas a chance to live up to your fairy tale expectations…and I suppose your Christmas tale expectations, too. If you’ve already read our retellings of these timeless tales, be sure to comment with what you enjoyed most! We love your feedback. If you haven’t yet had the chance, we’d love to know—what’s your favorite fairy tale, retelling, or Christmas trope?

Food in Romantic Fiction
Romance Tropes · Story Inspiration

Food in Romantic Fiction

Jaycee Weaver44 Comments

Ah, food. One of my favorite subjects. If you follow me on Pinterest, you’ll get a taste for just how much I love food in all its forms. Cooking, baking, eating, sharing, and even reading about it.

It’s our fuel for life. We fuel our bodies, our spirits, and our relationships over food.

Today, I’d love to explore how food is used in fiction–specifically, in the romances we here at Inspy Romance love so much! Many authors use food to bring characters together much like in real life, whether it’s a crucial plot element, a catalyst, a meet cute, or something else.

I like to feature food in my books nearly as much as I enjoy making it. Often, it’ll be an integral part of the relationships or plot. In Whatever Comes Our Way, Gina holds fond memories of cooking with her grandmother. Her relationship with Jaydon blooms and grows over every meal they share (and there are several!). She reaches out to a pair of at-risk youth over a casual lunch of burgers and fries, and dessert opens the door to learn more about their family dynamic. In Adrift (which happens to be FREE!), there’s a particularly fun s’mores scene I think readers might be inspired by. And in my most recent release, What Makes a Home, free spririted Jobie pushes rigid Caleb out of his comfort zone with international foods, and eventually forges a friendship with her roommate, Jenna, over pizza and ice cream.

And I’m not alone in loving to write good food into romantic fiction–several of our Inspy authors’ books involve kitchen professionals.

In Toni Shiloh’s Maple Run series, maple recipes abound, as does the chemistry! The Maple Pit’s chef Dwight needs help from Nina to revamp the restaurant and bring in customers. There is no Maple Run without The Pit, and the deliciousness all starts in Buying Love. Trust me on this, once you start the series you’re going to want to eat up the rest back to back!

I recently picked up Elizabeth Maddrey’s A Splash of Substance through Kindle Unlimited and am loving it so far. Paige wants to impact the world through her organic, locally grown/sourced catering company. The principle of “living gently” that forms the basis of her business brings handsome Jackson into her life and will leave an impact on readers, too.

In Taking a Chance on Mr. Wrong by Liwen Y. Ho, it’s a culture clash of comedic proportions when Ben meets Melanie’s family for the first time over a home-cooked meal of Chinese food. He tries to impress her very old-fashioned mom by complementing her cooking in Cantonese. His misspoken words lead to a rather rocky start to a fantastic story. And in my favorite of her Spark Brothers books, Colin and Candy could melt the ice cream in his shop with their delicious tension.

Call You Home, the last novel in Jan Thompson’s Savannah Sweethearts series, is the story of two talented chefs with an old feud that they’ll have to resolve in and out of the kitchen if they want to be in the will of God for their lives.

Sometimes it’s not the professionals, but amateurs, foodies, and kind neighbors who take the cake.

Julie Arduini created a small mountain village in Entrusted that remains tight knit because of meals at Jack Frosty’s, attending church pot lucks, or being a recipient of matriarch Sara Bivins’ banana bread. Julie reportedly hosted a local book club in which members brought in all the foods mentioned in the book. That sounds like a recipe for fun to me.

Autumn MacArthur’s new release Imperfectly Proverbs 31 is getting shuffled to the top of my TBR pile. The plot hinges on the undomestic geeky heroine having to learn to bake a pie to convince the investigative journalist hero she really isn’t faking being a good homemaker. It sounds adorable, doesn’t it?

The heroine of Valerie Comer’s Sprouts of Love oversees a community garden that supplies fresh vegetables to the food bank run by the hero. And Shannon Taylor Vannatter created a tasty meet cute at the beginning of Reuniting with the Cowboy. Her heroine takes her new neighbor a 4-layer delight, only to discover the man at the door is her first love.

So if you’re hungry for a tempting tale, here are a handful of treats for you to devour. I hope you’ll give a few of them a try and let us know how you enjoyed them! Be sure to leave a comment below telling us your favorite food-in-fiction title (and why you love it), and then check the Back-2-School Bash to enter our AMAZING GIVEAWAY this month!