I’m delighted to have fellow New Jersey Romance Writers member RoseAnn DeFranco here today with her debut romantic comedy from The Wild Rose Press, Return to Audubon Springs.
Thank you, Babette for inviting me to guest on your blog today. I’ve been following you for so long. It is an honor to be here during the Kindle Exclusive of Return to Audubon Springs.
When I first sat down to write Return to Audubon Springs, the furthest thing from my mind was diving into an array of Classic Romantic Tropes. Of course, I wasn’t planning to write a Romantic Comedy either, but that is another story for another time. As a plotting pantser, I had an idea of where I was going, but allowed my characters to whisper in my ear while I steered the ship. Emma and Rafe had a lot to say and decided only a Reunion Story with a Secret Baby could tell their tale. Then, just because they could, they threw in a side of Class Distinction and a dash of Forced Proximity. There you have it, four Tropes for one story, possibly FIVE if you consider they grew up as close friends and grew into lovers. I find it a bit greedy when the other books in the Brothers of Audubon Springs Series have only one or two Tropes!
Below is a short list of some of my favorite classic Romantic Tropes.
Marriage of Convenience
Reunion
Secret Baby
Sexy Single Dad
Cinderella
Revenge
Accidental Pregnancy
Class Distinction
Friends to Lovers
Masquerade (Hero, heroine or both pretend to be someone else).
Opposites attract
Forced Proximity
What Tropes do you like to read? What Tropes do you like to write?
Blurb:
When Emma Grant returns to her family’s Audubon Springs beach house to fulfill the stipulations of her father’s will, she has every intention of forcing her former lover out of the house for good. She’s never fit into her wealthy family and would prefer avoiding her past, but with her brother threatening to reveal her young daughter, she has no choice.
Rafe Iuliano has other plans. The wealthy Grants tried to bribe him out of Emma’s life years ago, but he’s determined to prove once and for all that a master carpenter is worthy of Emma and the house.
Their ridiculous and steamy battle for the house reignites the love and passion that bloomed between them years ago. But when Rafe discovers she’s kept their daughter a secret for two years, can he overcome anger and pride to claim his family and the love of his life, or will the deception drive a final wedge between them?
Excerpt:
“This is your fault!” Emma shouted.
“My fault?” Rafe blinked through the thick coat of flour. “You’re the one who started this.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, you—Miss Macrobiotic Princess!” They used the barstools for support, and pulled themselves up from the slippery floor. “You’re immovable just like your mother.”
“And you’ve got about as much depth as a toenail. For the life of me, I can’t remember why I was ever with you.”
With a predatory look in his eyes and gait, Rafe advanced. In two long strides he pinned her to the counter, his hands grasping her hips. “Don’t!” His voice, low and dangerous, and his near proximity overwhelmed, charging her body with a jolt of electricity rendering breathing impossible. His gaze locked on hers for an eternity, then without warning, he dipped his head and licked lavishly at the syrup on her chest and neck.
Need and heat consumed her at his touch, fraying what was left of her nerves. She dropped her head back, shivered, and her knees buckled. He held her steady, fully pinned against the counter and continued to feast on her neck. Then with a shake as if waking from a dream, he stepped away, taking his heat with him.
Emma swayed and gripped the counter. Goose bumps rose on her flesh at the storm brewing in his eyes.
“Say or do anything you want to push me out of this house, but don’t ever say you don’t remember.”
You can find Return to Audubon Springs at: Amazon.com
Bio:
RoseAnn DeFranco grew up in upstate NY with her nose in a book and a song in her heart. Following the pursuit of a musical theatre career in NYC, she turned her creative energy to writing romance. RoseAnn blogs about her writing experiences with her critique partners at the violetfemmes.com. A NJ shore transplant, she enjoys time spent at the beach with her family. She would love to one day live in a quaint shore town like the fictional town Audubon Springs from her BROTHERS OF AUDUBON SPRINGS series. More information about these Contemporary Romantic Comedies can be found at radefranco.com.
You can find RoseAnn at:
Website: www.radefranco
Blog: http://radefranco.com/roseann-blogs
Twitter: http://twitter.com/radefranco
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/roseanndefrancoauthor
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18586846-return-to-audubon-springs
babettejames.com 
Hi Babette! Thank you for having me here today. Tropes are a funny thing in that I never set out to write them, they just magically appear. I’m interested to see if others have a favorite or a tried and true Trope.
I enjoy any book as long as it is a good story but there are tropes I am drawn to, including forced marriage, accidental pregnancy and secret baby.
I loved your recent forced marriage release Tempting Bella, Diana! Well done. I like that trope as well. Looks like we share the thumbs up on the secret baby trope ! 🙂
With books titled Who Wants to Marry a Cowboy and Who Wants to Marry a Doctor, I think you can guess my feelings about romance tropes! *laugh*
Fun excerpt. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Hi Abigail. I love a writer who puts it right out there! It’s always good to know what you’re going to get! Glad you liked the excerpt!
Love your humor!
I’m drawn to reunions, revenge and class distinction. Hmmm. . . wonder what that says about me? Not that I REALLY want to know. Grin.
Thanks for the interesting post –
Hi Ashantay! I’m pretty partial to the reunion trope. I love a situation that comes with a lot of messy baggage. Humor is so subject. Glad to hear you “get” mine! 🙂
Forced proximity seems to develop naturally in my romantic suspense stories. I love the tension that arises from that trope. : ) In my contemporaries, reunion and class distinction have shown up.
Really enjoyed RtoAS. An excellent read. Looking forward to the next one.
Thank you, Robena! Forced proximity is a great trope for Romantic Suspense!
Great blog! I think my favorite trope is secret baby. Love this story, RoseAnn. And the excerpt really captures them! 🙂
The tried and true secret baby. Again, the potential for lots of messy back story! YUM!
Hi RoseAnn. I like reading mostly anything. As for writing, I like reunion stories. I also like forced proximity and class distinction. I loved Return to Audubon Springs and am looking forward to reading Secondhand Romance. May your series be a huge success!
I didn’t know what a trope was until this summer. LOL I first came across the term when reading about a lawsuit that the author who claimed someone stole her book lost. The judgement said something about romantic tropes…
I accidentally wrote about reunion in The Last Straw. I’m going to start thinking about them more consciously when I’m planning my books. So thanks for the topic!
P.S. I am loving Return to Audubon Springs. I have been laughing out loud at the same time I’m biting my nails over that secret baby conflict. My husband is going to read it too because he was bitterly disappointed by a book he just read in the Sci Fi genre so I had to recommend something I knew was good.