Any Trope But You is a stunningly heartfelt debut that pays homage to the romance genre, while also discussing why people feel the urge to pick up fiction in the first place. The story explores many tough realities of the world, such as dealing with health issues and learning to find reason to put yourself out there. I absolutely adored this story. From start to finish, I was compelled to keep reading. The romance is swoon-worthy and perfectly paced, but the character growth and thematic writing was the highlight of the book. Victoria Lavine manages to write with such maturity, while still keeping levity in her novel. I really loved this book and can't wait to see what she puts out next.

This is really cute! I kind of wish it came out more so in the winter time because I really enjoyed reading it on a snowy day. I really loved the banter between Margot and Forrest, and it had excellent spice!

This book is an unapologetic love letter to romance tropes, and that premise alone should give you a good idea of whether you’ll love it or hate it. I definitely didn’t hate it, but given my very rocky relationship with the whole concept of tropes and the way they’re used in the romance genre, I didn’t love it either.

I’ll say the writing here is solid, especially when it comes to the spice. Those scenes were the best, most skillful part of the book for me—sexy, emotional, and detailed without being cringe. Some of the dialogue throughout is clunky and veering into therapy speak, which isn’t unsurprising given some of the heavy themes the book deals with. But for the most part, ATBY’s prose goes down easy—I flew through the back half of it on a long flight.

The concept of a romance writer having tropes happen to her in real life was harder to swallow. Pretty much everything about this book is pure fantasy on purpose, especially when it comes to money—Margo is a wildly successful romance writer who makes enough money from writing to comfortably buy and renovate an old house, pay for her disabled sister’s healthcare, and get a random boob job; Forrest is well over 6 feet, effortlessly jacked with visible abs, a brilliant doctor at the top of his field—oh, and he doesn’t spend much money so he’s also rich. Then Margo suffers multiple medical ailments that have no long lasting consequences other than Forrest having to be close to her so he becomes more and more enamored with her. Both characters are SO selfless, and those that have hurt them are SO nasty and irredeemable. It’s obviously meta, and I would think the idea is for the tropes to be subverted in some way, but…they’re not subverted. It’s just like yeah, forced proximity DOES make you fall in love, and Forrest really IS that perfect. The only thing stopping you from having a 6’4” sexy doctor for a boyfriend is that you haven’t met him yet. And everyone in this book has unlimited money to deal with any logistical or health-related problems in their lives, because they just do.

I suppose it’s just a little bit too fantastical for me, especially when I’ve never liked tropes only for tropes’ sake. Only one bed or exposed forearms do nothing for me just by virtue of being stated; it’s the way they’re executed by the writer that makes them soar or fall flat. I get that romance marketing lives and dies by tropes now and that makes this type of meta book catnip to publishers (this is the second one I’ve read in a few weeks) but I can’t say I’m happy about that, lol. Now Levine does often write these tropes well, or at least competently, but the whole wink-wink premise just wasn’t totally for me. And I hated how many of the tropes (pretty much all of the ones that occurred during any wilderness activity) relied on Margot being a complete idiot.

Going back in time a bit, the reason for Margot’s canceling did not make sense to me. The idea that romance readers would react the way they did to a revelation like the “Happily Never After” document being leaked didn’t sit right with me. As HEA-obsessed as readers are, I don’t think they’d be more shocked by the document than they’d be to someone doing a hostile takeover of a zoom call to leak a writer’s private documents. It was a bit of a weak setup. But it sure sounds nice in the back cover blurb, lol.

Not sure how I feel about the resolution of the chronic illness/disability plots for both characters, since they pretty much resolved the same way and that way leaned heavily, imo, on having astronomical sums of money that were kind of unacknowledged by the characters. Idk, I don’t WANT them to talk about money and insurance a bunch, so it was probably written in the best possible way, but it felt a little surface level.

This is a very solid debut that doesn’t shy away from the tough stuff and has genuinely killer sex scenes, but your enjoyment will likely hinge on how many tropes you can stomach.

I absolutely fell in love with this book, and it gave me a great escape from the chaos of life. The way it was written made you become so infatuated with all of the characters, and like you were in the book. Completely predictable, but 1000% worth the read!

This had a fun premise, but fell lacking for me. I liked parts of it, but other parts felt rushed? Overall I didn't think it was terrible, I think many people could enjoy it. It just wasn't for me

The debut from Victoria Lavine is a fun exploration of romance tropes and a wonderful love letter to romance novels. Margot is a romance novelist disillusioned from love. Forrest is helping out at his family’s retreat in Alaska.

A love story between two fundamentally good people. I laughed and I cried. I could not put this one down. Loved the banter, the families and all the supporting characters, especially Trapper and Savannah. Heartfelt and relatable…congratulations to Victoria Lavine on this incredible debut!

Thanks to Netgalley, Atria Books and Victoria Lavine for this eARC in exchange for an honest review

So sweet and swoony! I had a blast reading this wintery, cozy, spicy delight. ANY TROPE BUT YOU is very funny, and I immediately fell in love with the voice of Margot. What’s so great about ATBY is that delicious Forrest sounds totally different, which is so hard to do in dual POV. The sauna scene was hot hot hot and the sister relationship and the relationship between Forrest and his dad were so meaningful and lovely. Fans of Christina Lauren and Abby Jimenez will go feral!!! Sign me UP for whatever Victoria writes next.

Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria for providing this ARC!

A jaded romance author’s Happily Never After list is leaked, resulting in her getting cancelled by her fans. She goes on an Alaskan wilderness trip to write her first murder mystery novel, where she meets the hunky resort proprietor who she subsequently finds herself in various romance tropes with.

What I loved: the catchy premise, the hilarious first chapter, funny writing, witty banter, dual POVs, the Alaskan setting, the first 50% of the book

What didn’t work for me: the countless TS references, the countless “sweethearts”, back to back to back sex scenes crammed in the second half of the book

This book started off great for me. I didn’t mind all the tropes and actually enjoyed the build-up and chemistry between the MCs. While I thoroughly enjoyed the first half, it unfortunately lost me at around the 60-70% mark and dragged for what felt like 400 pages. I also felt like the MMC was too perfect/too good to be true—I kept waiting for his flaws to be revealed, but even the huge conflict only painted him as more perfect.

Overall this was still a fun read and perfect to read on a snowy winter day (which is exactly what I did)!

I mostly enjoyed this story about Margot the romance novelist who doesn't believe in her own happy endings. It is quite humorous watching her experience every romantic trope with her very own hero in the Alaskan wilderness. Couple that with a very sweet ending and you could have had a very delightful romance. However, the overly abundant use of the word f--k and the overly graphic bedroom scenes will keep me from recommending this one to my friends.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Any Trope but You is a Hallmark style, enemies to lovers rom-com. This book made my heart happy, and I felt ALL the emotions while reading this book. The FMC, Margot, is on a 6 week forced vacation in Alaska, after her “Happily Never After” document gets release, and let me tell you, Margot is like a fish out of water in Alaska. There were some scenes that were definitely on the corny side (the moose scene, the whole camping problem, etc.) but, it works well for the style of the book. The only thing that annoyed me slightly was that I felt like Margot was constantly a damsel in distress who needed saving from her lumberjack not-boyfriend. Overall, this book still managed to make me smile, though, and I enjoyed it.

I think an all trope book is actually kinda fun. At first I was feeling very hallmark cheesy but I enjoyed that.
Overall this was a love letter to the romance genre and its readers of how they long for a HEA and it’s hard to accept anything different, but also understanding the real life struggles that don’t always have a HEA. My only real complaint with this book is it was a little more spicy than I would’ve liked. But in the end it was a cute read!

Thanks to Netgalley & Atria Books for the E-ARC! Loved this so much! Cute characters & loved the wintry setting. Great palate cleanser romance. Will definitely read more.

Margot is a romance author who - record scratch - basically doesn’t believe in love. Untilllll - Forrest. The epitome of every good and wonderful love interest trope out there. Plus they’re in the wilderness of Alaska and I LOVE a good forced proximity vibe.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well the humor flowed within this. The relationship between Margot and her sister was also very enjoyable. Lastly, the raw emotion of both main characters having to be a caretaker for someone - but also in turn allowing themself to never grow was done very well. Overall, I hope Margot and Forrest truly live their HEA (sans beer bellies, hair loss and divorce).

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC.

4.25 - thanks for the eARC NetGalley! All opinions are my own


This book was a fun romcom that hit the mark for me. It was also the perfect mix of spicy and sweet!

Following Margot to Alaska, after her career as an author took a dive, we are graced with all of the typical romcom tropes in ALL of the best ways! Also bonus for the rugged mountain man ;)

Would recommend and excited for it to be released!!

🌟 BOOK REVIEW 🌟
Any Trope But You
By @victorialavinewrites
5 ⭐️/5

🖇️ Forced proximity
⛺️ One tent
🩹 Hurt/comfort
❄️ Cozy setting
🌶️ Some spice

Thank you @netgalley and @atriabooks for this ARC!

Margot is a best selling romance author who no longer believes in happily ever afters. After she gets canceled for a leak of her Happily Never After file where she wrote realistic endings to her stories, her sister books her a six week retreat into remote Alaska for her to reinvent herself. Enter Forrest, the grumpy son of the owner of the lodge where she’s staying. As Margot comes face to face with the tropes she’s scorned, can she change her mind about happily ever afters?

Y’all. This book was adorable and funny and everything you want in a romcom. As a romance writer main character, it’s humorous how aware Margot is of the tropes she’s encountering- “this is just the forced proximity getting to you,” and it’s so fun how the tropes are interwoven into the story. You get so many great ones! I also appreciated that there were several points in the story that smelled like miscommunication and ended with the characters actually communicating like, oh I don’t know, adults. It was refreshing! This book also deals with the tension between the love and responsibility you feel for your family and what you desperately want for your own life. It’s done in such a beautiful way that for those of us who have found ourselves in similar situations this story is especially meaningful. While this book is a debut novel, it certainly doesn’t read that way. No notes, no complaints, just an absolute joy from start to finish!

This debut novel from Victoria Lavine was such a delightful surprise! It’s the perfect love letter to romance readers everywhere! It’s full of heart, adventure and some really great laugh out loud moments. But, most of all there was the tension! And oh what sweet tension there was! I cannot wait to see what Victoria writes in the future. This one was a hit for me!

Jaded by love, author, Margot Bradley has just landed herself in some hot water when her Happy Never After file is leaked to her readers. The file where all her happy endings get their alternate, no so great ending. Now canceled, her sister convinces her this is the perfect time to reinvent herself and write her next novel in a new genre in peace. That’s how she finds herself at a remote Alaskan lodge, clinging to a man in flannel with a moose behind her. Almost immediately all the romance tropes she writes in her books are happening to her in real life. She’s definitely not looking for love. But as she learns more and more about Forrest she’s finding that good men actually exist and he may just be worthy. And, just maybe happy endings really can happen.

I love that this story touches on chronic health issues and the role their caregivers have to play. It’s not easy on both sides. The sacrifices and feelings of being a burden. Margot and Forrest found empathy with each other as they both knew that role well and all they gave up for those they loved. I could totally relate to all the weight you carry being a care giver.

Thank you NetGalley, Atria Books, and Victoria Lavine for allowing me to read an advanced complimentary copy of the book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

An okay read; unfortunately, it wasn't my cup of tea, but that doesn't mean it won't be for some readers.

The story lacks character development, and communication, and has too much internal dialogue. This was supposed to be a romantic comedy, but I didn't find any humor in the story. I didn't like Margot; I found her a little immature for my liking. I couldn't see anything relatable. I can see why other readers will love this story; it has lots of sweet moments and interesting characters, but it also has too many tropes. Unfortunately, it isn't for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Publishing

This one had a charming setup, setting, and cast of characters. It offers an exciting debut from Victoria Lavine. Fun for fans of Sarah Morganthaler.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

I loved this book! I am a novice to the Romance world (not including Romantasy😁). But, despite being a romance beginner, I am familiar with all of the tropes. This book was sooooo cute! And I genuinely laughed out loud numerous times while reading this. Victoria's writing style is so descriptive but never overdone. When setting the scene, the awkwardness that, Margot, our main character would go through, had me cracking up LOL. Also, the genuine love story that was set up between her and and executed was very cute. I felt like I was in a hallmark movie. Victoria Lavine has a new fan in me. I can't wait to see what else she comes up with! 💗

This was a laugh-out-loud, heart-stealing gem that takes everything we love about rom-coms and gives it a fresh, witty twist. Victoria Lavine’s debut masterfully blends humor, heartfelt emotion, and swoon-worthy romance with a dash of self-discovery, all set against the breathtaking (and hilariously inconvenient) backdrop of Alaska.

Margot’s journey from a cynical romance author to someone grappling with the tropes she’s always poked fun at is both relatable and endlessly entertaining. Forrest, the rugged and broody resort owner, is the perfect balance of grumpy and soft-hearted, making every interaction between the two a delightful spark-filled dance.

Lavine expertly weaves together classic rom-com tropes in a way that feels self-aware and fresh, all while delivering a slow-burn romance that’ll have you grinning and fanning yourself in equal measure. Packed with charm, spice, and just enough emotional depth to tug at your heartstrings, Any Trope but You is a must-read for anyone who loves a good laugh and a happily-ever-after (or at least a solid chance at one).