Any Trope But You was a lot of fun! It was very “meta” in that it was a self-aware romance book that kept referencing a ton of familiar tropes encountered in the romance genre.

Margot is a 30-something romance author in LA who has soured on love due to some bad experiences, despite making a good living writing about it. She gets outed by a fan who exposes her private “Happily Never After” journal and is “canceled.” Forrest is a cancer researcher who has given up his career to care for his disabled father and work at his family’s Alaskan lodge. He’s been burned by a bad experience with a guest and has also soured on love. (With a hat tip to Katherine Center, this could have been titled The Love Haters.)

Of course, Margot and Forrest wind up together since this is a romance novel, but it’s always about the journey. We get chapters from both of their POVs.

I loved all the scenes in Alaska with the very citified Margot dealing with a very rural lodge and its charms and inconveniences/difficulties.
Margot wasn’t all that likable but I still really enjoyed the story. I rolled my eyes at Margot quite a few times. And I thought Forrest was a bit too good to be true.

The author explores the life of a caregiver with sensitivity. Margot has been caring for her sister who has some sort of autoimmune condition. Forrest’s dad had an accident that put him in a wheelchair and Forrest does physical therapy with him and helps run their lodge.

This was a debut novel and Victoria Lavine did a great job with it.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This book started off a bit rough for me because in an effort to make herself unlikeable to Forrest, Margot also made herself unlikeable to me as the reader. I was really close to this being my first ever DNF by Chapter 4, but I’m so glad I stuck with it because I wound up enjoying the book and all of the tropes. The quintessential third act break up was more understandable than most, but I wasn’t a huge fan of their character growth being forced upon them by others rather than the FMC and MMC making the decisions themselves.

Oh, to be a disillusioned writer hiding from her own heart but still somehow tripping into all the tropes she swore she’d never touch—fake dating, second chances, forced proximity (!!!) and a touch of rivals-to-lovers realness. This was meta in the best way, swoony when it counted, and sharp with its commentary.

The chemistry? Immaculate. The banter? Sharp and delicious. And the trope play? Chef’s kiss. My only tiny gripe is that some pacing moments felt a bit rushed, but overall, I devoured this with a goofy smile on my face.

Perfect for anyone who’s ever rolled their eyes at a romance cliché… and then melted when it actually worked.

Any Trope but You is a new debut romance novel by Victoria Lavine. I really enjoyed the premise of this book where the main character needs to get away from reality and finds herself in a beautiful location where she finds a grumpy man. I loved the characters in this story and how much it made me laugh!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for a review!

A perfect summer read! I know it looks like a winter read, but it’s a cute, feet kick in’ romance that you wanna curl up with in a beach chair and yummy drink!

Any Trope But You was a fun, romance that follows romance author Margot Bradley as she flees from personal and professional disaster and attempts to reinvent herself while staying in an Alaskan cabin only to find herself living a romantic cliché with hunky, broody Forrest. Overall, a fun book!

Okay what a both hilarious and heartfelt read (I will admit, I almost quit in chapter one because of the narrator, so if you’re in that boat just keep on going or pick up a physical copy) because this was gold. It was a quick read, had me literally laughing out loud, but also was touching in so many ways, especially in its inclusivity. And, an Alaskan setting? A lumberjack? Ok. I’m in.

This book was very well put together and included characters with heart and depth. Both Margot and Forest were strong individuals who spend day and night caring for those they love most (Margot for her sister and Forest for his dad), but in the end those individuals want nothing more than for them to have their own HEA's....even at the expense of a few Alaskan wilderness adventures. I really enjoyed that this wasn't completely straightforward, and still had so much heart.

Romance book set in Alaska- sold. I knew when I read that summary that this would be a book I would be reading this year. While I did love the setting, the side characters, and the HEA, there were several things that
I cringed at. I love a spicy book, but the spicy scenes in this one did not do it for me. Too many “sweethearts” give me the ick. The book features every trope, and I did love how the author addresses each of them, too. Thanks to @atriabooks and @netgalley for sending me a copy of Victoria Lavine's 'Any Trope but You'

Margot is a romance novel who gets cancelled when everyone learns she’s secretly written pessimistic epilogues to all her beloved romance novels. She runs to the Alaskan wilderness to hide and start writing in a new genre when she runs (literally) into Forrest, a PhD MD who loves his dad and has the physical attributes of every romance hero Margot has ever written. He’s obviously too good to be true so Margot pushes him away but how long can they resist the chemistry and everything they have in common.

There are so many romance novels where I really think, if there hadn’t been that crazy meet cute or trauma bonding or whatever brings them together that I don’t think they would’ve ever gotten together. Margot and Forrest are different than that, I think no matter if it was in Alaska or LA they really are meant to be together. It was so fun to see sooooo many romance tropes all in one book but none of them in a crazy overdone way. Funny and raw and relatable and spicy, this was so much fun to dive into!

I loved the premise of the female main character being a romance writer who didn't believe in romance and then gets called out for it! This was really cute and the I loved the build up of the relationship between the main characters. I thought they were so cute-she's awkward and he's sarcastic--so cute. Then every trope is thrown at you-which I loved! Very cute book and I really enjoyed it!

this was fucking amazing! i have never read anything like this! i loved everything but end separating then HEA. everything else was amazing

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC

Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

I found this book fun! I enjoyed reading it, laughed out a loud, was sad and also angry. Also spicy!! Totally impressed that this was a debut and excited to see what comes next.

4 stars!

This was a cute read. Very quick rom-com, I'[ll definitely have to check out more of Victoria Lavine's works in the future.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

Romance writer doesn’t believe in romance and ends up in Alaska after her fans find out. Now she is trying to write a mystery instead. ARC from NetGalley.

Bestselling romance author Margot Bradley finds herself in hot water when a fan leaks her secret “Happily Never After” file—a collection of alternate endings where her beloved characters meet darker fates instead of their promised happy endings. Disgraced and disillusioned with love, Margot’s sister sends her to the Alaskan wilderness to reinvent herself and attempt writing her first murder mystery. But when she encounters Forrest, the rugged resort proprietor who seems to embody every romance trope she’s grown cynical about, Margot begins to fear she’s trapped in her own rom-com plot.

Any Trope But You was a pleasant enough read. Lavine chose to anchor the book in romance mores by using multiple romance tropes that Margot—and many readers—have grown weary of encountering. The book functions as an homage to romance readers, and there is genuine charm in watching a debut author play with the conventions with such enthusiasm.

However, the very tropes that form the book’s foundation become increasingly trying as the story progresses. The obstacles that keep Margot and Forrest apart feel disappointingly familiar—the kind of tired conflicts that romance readers have encountered before. Rather than subverting these well-worn patterns, Lavine ultimately relies on them to drive her plot forward, leaving the reader to wonder whether the book’s trope-heavy structure represents a genuinely fresh take on the genre or simply reinforces the formulaic elements that *can* make romance fiction feel hackneyed.

Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

The FMC Margot is a romantic writer who has just been cancelled for revealing her feelings of HEA gets sent to Alaska by chronic ill sister to get more information on the place where her next book is taking place.

In Alaska she meet the MMC Forrest who is a physician who has put his cancer researching on pause to take care of his sick father.

This book made me laugh but did make me cringe a few times.

Margot and Forrest definitely worked their way into my heart! This couple was so fun to get to know and watch change and develop. I was rooting for them from the meet cute! I loved how Margot was a romance author and how she would find herself inside the tropes she used to write and in the same process learned to love writing again. This is as a heartwarming read!

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria books for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely LOVED this book. Margot and Forrest are so so so cute, and I loved every single thing about this. I can’t believe this is a debut, but I cannot wait to read every single thing Victoria Lavine writes for the rest of her career. FANTASTIC!!!!

Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Where do I even start? I wish I was Margot, but at least I get to live through her love story. Margot, a bestselling romance author, heads to a remote part of Alaska with no internet, no distractions, just nature and a chance to change her life.

But honestly I love this story and I wish I read it sooner and I couldn’t stop reading it any time I wasn’t I was thinking about this story and all the characters and side characters were just as important as the main characters and I felt every emotion reading this book it made me love it even more.

Read to find out :)

Thank You NetGalley and Atria