Loved this debut! It was a fun read with relatable characters and situations. I love a good romance novel! Thanks to NetGalley for the arc!

4⭐️

This was so cute and steamy, I absolutely loved it! Dr. Forrest Wakefield is total book boyfriend material. The story was funny, witty, and romantic, with just the right amount of charm. It was an easy, feel-good read, and the Alaska setting gave it such a cozy, unique vibe. Such a fun escape!

Any Trope But You is a clever, heartwarming rom-com that follows a romance-skeptical protagonist who finds herself caught in a very real love story—despite her best efforts to avoid every cliché in the book. When she reconnects with a former friend-turned-nemesis at a small-town bookstore, sparks (and banter) fly. Forced into close proximity by a community project, the two navigate a hilarious series of "accidentally romantic" situations that mirror all the tropes the main character claims to despise. What follows is a charming, self-aware story about friendship, love, and learning to embrace the unexpected.
This is one of my favorite books of the year! I don’t always love romance novels, but this one was done right. The characters were incredibly lovable, and I found myself genuinely invested in their happiness from the very beginning. Victoria Lavine masterfully pokes fun at classic romance tropes while also celebrating them, which made the story feel fresh, smart, and extra enjoyable—especially for a skeptical romance reader like me. It was funny, sweet, and full of heart without ever feeling too predictable or overly saccharine. Any Trope But You is a delightful love story that wins you over by being exactly what it claims to resist—and doing it perfectly.

Margot is a romance writer who doesn't believe in Happily Ever After, so to get the ick out of having to write HEA ending to her book, she creates a private Happily Never After document and writes how she'd like her books to end. Unfortunately, she is hacked, and she quickly falls out of grace. She goes to a remote Alaskan resort to try her hand at writing murder mysteries instead. She meets Forrest, and maybe he can change her mind about Happily Ever After.

I really enjoyed the characters in this story. The things they experience are real and not surface. Romance isn't always perfect and doesn't have happy endings all the time. Plus, both characters are dealing with caretaker roles that can be heavy. I like how they support each other. This is a great debut, and I can't wait to see what the author writes next.

This was a cute easy read that hit on all the romance tropes in one go. I had fun reading this, but didn't feel like it was as deep as I would have wanted.

Margot Bradley is a beloved and very successful romance author, except she doesn't believe in romance and manages that disconnect by writing horrible endings for her couples in a Happily Never After file. When that file gets leaked live during an interview, Margot is suddenly the most hated person in Romanceland. Her little sister decides that the only way to get Margo out of her funk is to send her on a wilderness retreat to Alaska. Isolation to write the mystery Margot always claimed to want to write, and no internet access, seems like the perfect escape from everything romance and the fallout of her personal files getting leaked. But what happens when that escape comes complete with a very rugged, very handsome man who is basically a walking romance trope, and life keeps putting them in situations straight out of romance novels?

What a delightfully fun read this was. It's every trope you could think of mashed together into a plot that feels so fantastical that it could only work in a romance, and that's why it's so good. Margot and Forest are both well-rounded characters with a host of motivations that are easy to relate to, even as their lives are straight out of fiction. Getting so humiliated that you want to run away is, unfortunately, infinitely relatable, as is dropping everything to care for a loved one. You're rooting for both of them almost as soon as you meet them. And with Lavine doing everything possible to put them in as many romantic, emotional, and awkward situations as possible, it's a pleasure to read that journey.

Delighted thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the fun romance!

Loved this book! Perfect for lovers of romance, especially with the nod to all the different tropes. Swoon!

Definitely a love letter to romance, its tropes, and its readers. I loved every minute of this - well, minus the 3rd act breakup, but it all pulled together so nicely I won't fault that. Thoroughly enjoyed this one and will certainly read more by the author.

Margot’s life has just been turned upside down after her “Happily Never After” document was leaked. Now, she finds herself in Alaska with a man named Forrest that just might change her whole perspective on romance and happily ever afters.
Well written with characters who have layers and suck you into the story.

Thank you to Atria and Netgalley for this sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review
—————
I really enjoyed the romcom aspect of this book. Margot goes through sooo many emotions and learns new things that could change her perspective on love and life. Dr. Forrest Wakefield…how you doin’ (Imagine this in Joey’s voice from friends😂).

After Margot’s sister, Savannah, books her a vacation in Alaska she meets Dr. Forrest Wakefield who wasn’t expecting this ex-romance author to come along and change up his world.

If you want a romcom filled with all kinds of things that you’ll love then look no further!!

A super trope heavy romcom but it was expected with the title. I loved the premise of it. A romance author who secretly writes alternate endings for her books where the couples don't get a happily ever after. These endings get leaked and she is "cancelled" by her readers. So she goes on a getaway to Alaska and attempts to write in a new genre.

Some of it was a bit much and felt over the top, but I did have fun with it! I was also laughing out loud a bunch. I adored the writing, and this is the authors debut if I'm not mistaken. My biggest complaint though is the pub date. This felt like a winter release given the setting and cover!

This was sweet and fun, but I really struggled with the disability rep. I would’ve loved to have seen this pass by more sensitivity readers before going to print.

Okay so I had SO many problems with this book, including the incredibly insensitive irritable bowel syndrome joke at the beginning of the book. Are we back in the 2000s again where that's a totally normal joke to tell? I've had IBS since 16. It was a traumatizing experience having stomach aches in high school, thinking that people would think I smelled bad because of that. So that joke about her saying she might "smell like his IBS" is actually a terribly insensitive joke.

On top of that, Margot is a horrible character to follow. She's insensitive, rude, unlikable, and kind of an idiot. Also it's really irresponsible to have a moose as a pet-like character when they are actually incredibly dangerous.

Basically it's really rare for me to actually get incredibly mad at a book and this did it... multiple times.

Any Trope but You was a hit for me! I thought the premise was clever and loved the setting. A romance book that plays with romance tropes in an obvious way where the character(s) acknowledge them is one of my favorite things! This book felt realistic, their romance wasn't in this perfect bubble, they both had lives outside of their interest for each other that affected how their relationship could play out. I'll definitely be on the lookout for Victoria Lavine's future novels!

Margot was a famous romance author who didn’t believe in HEA in real life. When her happily never after documents were leaked, her sister sent her to Alaska to disconnect from the outside world for a bit. She met Forrest, a doctor that returned home
to take care of his father.

The two of them didn’t get along right away. And Margot was very intent on staying away from
Forrest. He was all those romance tropes she didn’t believe in. But she couldn’t deny the pull she felt toward him.

Forrest was grumpy, but he was very soft-hearted when it came to those he loved. And he ended up falling hard for Margot.

There was angst, emotional moments, and yes, a third act break up. But it was done well and with no miscommunication (not that I mind miscommunication).

Even though this was a dual-POV story, it was more Margot’s than Forrest’s story. It was a journey of discovering herself again and not holding on so tightly to the past.

Margot is a romance author who’s been cancelled by her fans. Her sister sends her off to a remote “resort” in Alaska for 6 weeks to get her writing mojo back. Once there, she’s thrown into every clichéd romance trope you can imagine with handsome Dr. Forrest. This is a sweet, quick read that will have you longing to book a snowy retreat in search of your own HEA.

The idea for this rom-com was good and the idea was fun but I do feel like I've read something similar before, with some slight differences. The FMC is a romance author who no longer believes in love, and ends up taking a trip to a cabin in the snowy wilderness, and meeting a man that matches every romance trope that she's ever included in a book. Sounds familiar, right?

Margot just didn't interest me as a FMC. her and Forrest, the MMC, start off in some type of bickering relationship that I just wasn't a fan of the way that it was done in this case. Margot was just rude and unlikable from the very start. I get that she had a lot of stress and needed to take care of her sick sister, but there was no reason for her to be the way that she was to people who had nothing to do with that and just wanted to help her.

Now to Forrest. There literally is not much to say about him. He was pretty bland and to me, it seemed like he was just there to play the stereotypical perfect guy that fits into all of the romance tropes. What more could a woman ask for? Let me answer that. A lot more. He was kind. He was polite. He countered Margot's abrasiveness. But where was the personality? He didn't really have any kind of personality that set him apart from any other MMC that I've read about in a romance book, and he wasn't really memorable. Putting the two characters together? I don't really see any kind of actual connection.

Thank you to Atria Books, Victoria Lavine, and NetGalley for the eARC of this book. This is my honest review.

Did not read. Have way too many books on my shelf - need to cut back. Hoping to get to it in the future though.

Review: Any Trope But You
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This story was cute, emotional, and steamy. I’ll admit, it took me a bit to get into it at first, the reference to romance tropes made me cringe just a little—but around the 40% mark, the story really started to feel real. It started to feel deeper and more emotionally layered, and the connection between the characters became more meaningful than just physical attraction.

One of the things I appreciated most was how guilt and grief were portrayed. The emotional weight of losing a loved one or caring for for family when ill, was handled with care, and I found that really rewarding. It gave the story more heart and depth than I was expecting.

The final stretch? A full-on emotional rollercoaster. Love, passion, heartbreak, revelations, and healing all came together beautifully. And Forest? He was thoughtful, intelligent, passionate, and yes, handsome. The kind of MMC you can’t help but fall for.

I already know I’ll be coming back to reread some of my favorite parts.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was so excited to read this book based on the blurb, and Victoria Lavine did not disappoint.

With a book that is heavy on the common tropes found in romance novels, you'd think that it would get old or feel forced, but it wasn't. Every single trope was masterfully collected and had it's place for reasons. Set aside the fact that the book was hyper aware of what it was doing (like it felt very break the fourth wall to me), the characters have so much passion and soul.

A cancelled author who runs off to a remote lodge in Alaska meets the grumpy former doctor now her lodge mate for six weeks. What could go wrong?
NOTHING!!!

Margot didn't believe in love/HEA but ends up being part of the quirky tropes she found to be silly but still wrote about.

Gah! this was such a cozy easy read.