Here’s another group of tropes found in my books. We’ve talked about marriage tropes, about hero tropes, and about some relationship tropes. This group could be considered relationship tropes or protagonist tropes.

Disguise – one of the protagonists assumes a false identity for what seems like a good reason at the time. The other falls in love with the fiction and the first continues the ruse to maintain the developing relationship. I see Mistaken Identity as a variation on this – instead of a deliberate disguise, the second identity is the result of a misunderstanding, but is perpetuated in the same way as Disguise.

Broken Bird – either the hero or heroine is wounded or scarred, emotionally or physically, and is healed by the other’s love. I often write characters who need to recover from an emotional wound and learn to trust again, so these are the ones with physical injuries at the root of the emotional ones. This trope is also called Scars.

Homecoming – also called Reunion, one of the characters returns to his/her hometown. The other protagonist might have been there all along (Friends to Lovers or Second Chance at Love) or could also have arrived recently.

Orphan – one of the protagonists has been orphaned (literally or figuratively) and needs to learn about love. I’m including my voluntary outcasts here, as well.

Second Chance at Love – the hero and heroine were involved before but parted ways for some reason that seemed reasonable at the time. They meet again after an interval, and overcome those previous obstacles. I like to use this one in novellas. (In fact, I just like this one.)

Phew! Lots of tropes – and there are more to come! Are any of these your favorite? Why?