Hi dear friends!

Today’s discussion came to me while I was scheduling a book promo. When reading the very engaging blurb I thought :”OK but I bet THAT would not happen to ME in real life”.

And I wanted to write a little funny post about some situations and tropes that we find in books, especially romance and YA that would never turn out like that for me (and you?) in real life!

Let’s dive with some example into : The BOOK versus My LIFE

The “fender bender” situation

You drive to your job interview and bam! You collide fender bender first with another car in New York.

The Book says : A huge handsome man comes out of the other car. He is not very happy but reins it in as you have your “best red bombshell dress”. You see some interest in his look. As you are both in a hurry you part ways and of course, when you enter the room for your job interview, you notice that your future boss is sexy stranger. By the and of the story you’ll end up happily married with him.

My life says: A big hulk comes out of the car. He is berserk verging on green and I am so frightened that I morph in a squeaky mouse. It does not help that today was a bad hair day and that I burgeoned like a bush in the spring. No hope to mellow him with my radiant beauty. It ends with my insurance company asking for a bigger insurance premium.

The “fake fiancée” trope

You own a shop and one of your customer begins to send you gifts all the time. He looks like a nerd with his big glasses. When you confront him and ask him why,  he asks you to play his fake fiancee for a family gathering. He hopes that his mother will leave him alone about finding a nice girl and marrying.

The Book says: You discover that behind his glasses he looks like Clark Kent! And when you are about to drown in a lake on his family’s huge property he will save you like superman! It will make him realize that he’s loved you for years and will propose before the end of the weekend. Convinced by his heroics you agree.

My life says: Behind his glasses hides no Clark Kent but just an average guy who really does not compensate with any humor or brilliant mind. You realize that he is a mommy’s boy afraid to let his mother know that he is gay. He very much wants to eat his favorite mom made meatball for a long time. Said mom thinks you’re not good enough for his son but no one would and you leave that hell after finding your fake fiance screwing the pool boy in the garden shed.

The babysitter trope

You’re hit by an unlucky streak for months now, having been dumped by your fiancé, becoming homeless as the appartment was his and jobless as you worked for his father. You answer an add asking for a babysitter.

The book says: When you reach your destination you discover a real mansion! The owner is a sexy but broody young widow looking for someone to care for his charming and cute young daughter of two years old. Working for him at all hours, you listen to his painful memories and become a valuable member of the family. One afternoon he’ll come back early, surprising you in your tiny itsy bikini by the pool and will realize that a dazzling beauty was hiding under the plain clothes. Mesmerized by your kindness and your charm he’ll propose.

My life says : When I reach my destination it is a real dump. I already wonder how the owner of the house will be able to pay my services. When the door opens, I am met with a woman looking as kind as a dragon. She is even breathing fire expelling her cigarette smoke in my face. Already apprehensive, I enter her den to meet a three year old boy, unkempt and with a demented smile. He still has a bloody kitten in his hands. I turn tail and flee, never to be seen again.

It would be the same with tropes like:

-the hot doctor while visiting the hospital for a busted knee;

-the handsome firefighter saving the girl from a raging inferno;

-the sexy nerdy new teacher;

-the rugged police officer controling your driving license;

etc.

In real life it does never ends like the romances I read. Well not true as my husband rescued my car who was stranded in the mud but … 😀

So why do I like these impossible tropes so much?

Probably because they make me dream and swoon like fairy tales did when I was a little girl.

And you? Does your life look like a romance? Or are you rather like me? Do you have “tropes” to share that happened to you and turned out either like real disasters either like a romance story?

Thanks for reading!

Sophie