How (Not) To Fall In Love
Lisa Brown Roberts
Seventeen-year-old Darcy Covington never had to worry about money or where her next shopping spree was coming from. Even her dog ate gourmet. Then one day, Darcy’s car is repossessed from the parking lot of her elite private school. As her father’s business hit the skids, Dad didn’t just skip town, he bailed on his family.
Fortunately, Darcy’s uncle owns a thrift shop where she can hide out from the world. There’s also Lucas, the wickedly hot fix-it guy she can’t stop crushing on, even if she’s not sure they’ll ever get out of the friend zone.
But it’s here among the colorful characters of her uncle’s world that Darcy begins to see something more in herself...if she has the courage to follow it.
So the other day I reviewed How (Not) to Fall In Love, and while it's not a usual genre for me, I really enjoyed the book. Well, as luck would have it - today I have the author, Lisa Brown Roberts, here for a guest post on why she likes the friends to lovers trope! So check it out, check her out, and check out her book!
Why I Love the Friends-to-Lovers Trope – Lisa Brown Roberts
I read all kinds of romances, and enjoy everything from
enemies-to-lovers to mistaken identity and everything in between, but one of my
all-time favorite tropes is friends-to-lovers.
I enjoy all the variations of this trope: falling for the best
friend, falling for the guy/girl next door, the coworker who turns into much
more than the person you grab lunch with, you know the drill…
I love writing this trope because it allows for lots of
humor and bantering dialog. It’s fun building that “will they or won’t they”
tension, especially when one of your characters figures out that something more
than friendship is happening, and wonders if their feelings are one-sided.
Some of my favorite classic bantering couples from the
screen are Nick and Nora from the fantastic Thin
Man movies, Maddie and David from Moonlighting,
and Scully and Mulder from X-FILES
(please oh please let those reboot rumors be true!)
I think a lot of readers respond to the friends-to-lovers
trope because we’ve experienced it, or can easily imagine it happening to us.
“It’s okay, Darcy. You can look. It’s not a gang symbol.” He
hesitated. “Or a naked girl.” I heard the smirk in in his voice and laughed nervously,
raising my eyes to his arm, careful not to look at his face.
The characters looked like Japanese calligraphy. “What does it
mean?” I asked quietly. I had a desperate need to reach out and trace the ink.
I raised my eyes to his, hoping they didn’t betray my desire.
“It’s the Kanji symbols for ‘live for today.’” He paused, smiling.
“At least, I hope that’s what it is. I hope Eddie at Inkheart didn’t mess with
me.”
I nodded, willing myself to relax so I could joke with him.
“Right,” I agreed. “Hopefully it doesn’t say ‘I love Hello Kitty.’”
He grinned. “But I do love Hello Kitty. My sister can vouch for
me.”
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