Any Trope but You was great. My first time reading a story from Victoria Lavine and it definitely won't be the last. I loved Margot and Forrest. They were perfect together. I loved how so many tropes were thrown today in this story! Forced Proximity, enemies to lovers and more. I always enjoy when stories are told in duel POV! This one was great!

Love love love this book. It's genius throwing every trope into one to create an unwanted romance. I've finally found a new author to obsess over.

Tropes:
Cool destination: Alaska
Only one bed (my fave!)
Forced Proximity
Enemies to lovers
Slow Burn
Chronic illness rep

This was a good read.

I loved that Margot secretly wrote other endings for her characters. I think that is hilarious and I love that you learn that about the character. Margot and Savannah's relationship is so supportive, and you love that about a sister duo!

And then Forrest and Margot? Their meet cute was 10/10, and the evolution of their relationship was awesome.

I really enjoyed this book, and think others would too.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5

This was such a good read! It reminded me of Emily Henry's vibe, yet the writing is still unique in its own right. I found myself often rereading the way Margot and Forrest describe their feelings, in all their metaphorical goodness, because the writing was so beautiful is made the feelings pang in my chest. In the same way, moments of love and laughter made me feel so lighthearted- my favorite part of reading the romcom genre.

I'll definitely be watching for Victoria's next book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC copy!

4.5⭐️If this book feels like it’s a little too on the nose it’s because it is. And that ends up being what is so charming about it.

Margot is a jaded romance author in need of break. Her sister sends her to Alaska to reinvent herself as a murder mystery writter. She meets Forest who checks just about all the check marks of the perfect leading man in a romance novel.

Forest is really too good to be true and I swear I tried really hard to not fall for this one but I did. It’s lighthearted, heart warming and fun and I found myself completely charmed by it.

Really solid debut novel. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced reading copy. All my opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
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A bestselling romance author flees to Alaska to reinvent herself and write her first murder mystery, but the rugged resort proprietor soon has her fearing she’s living in a rom-com plot instead in this earnestly spectacular debut by a stunning new voice.

Beloved romance author Margot Bradley has a dark secret: she doesn’t believe in Happily Ever Afters. Not for herself, not for her readers, and not even for her characters, for whom she secretly writes alternate endings that swap weddings and babies for divorce papers and the occasional slashed tire. When her Happily Never After document is hacked and released to the public, she finds herself canceled by her readers and dropped by her publisher.

Desperate to find a way to continue supporting her chronically ill sister, Savannah, Margot decides to trade meet-cutes for murder. The fictional kind. Probably. But when Savannah books Margot a six-week stay in a remote Alaskan resort to pen her first murder mystery, Margot finds herself running from a moose and leaping into the arms of the handsome proprietor, making her fear she’s just landed in a romance novel instead.

The last thing Dr. Forrest Wakefield ever expected was to leave his dream job as a cancer researcher to become a glorified bellhop. What he’s really doing at his family’s resort is caring for his stubborn, ailing father, and his puzzle-loving mind is slowly freezing over—until Margot shows up. But Forrest doesn’t have any room in his life for another person he could lose, especially one with a checkout date.

As long snowy nights and one unlikely trope after another draw Margot and Forrest together, they’ll each have to learn to overcome their fears and set their aside assumptions before Margot leaves—or risk becoming a Happily Never After story themselves.
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Oh, what to say about this book? I was very excited to get to read this ahead of print because the premise sounded so much fun. I am a huge romcom fan, and the idea of a book that was made up of all the tropes that contemporary romance fans loved sounded really promising. And there were a lot of things I really enjoyed about this book. The setting was great, and I really liked the sort of found family aspect that was touched on when Margot found herself in Alaska. And it was a good story. However, this wasn't the kind of book that I found myself rushing home from work to pick up and read before I did anything else, and I have to admit I set it aside a couple of times in order to read something else. That being said, I never considered DNFing it, and I was happy with the conclusion, so I would definitely recommend it to people who enjoy romance, and I do think that I will check out this author as she continues to write more in the future. It just maybe turns out that you can have too many tropes crammed into one book, and for me, it was not as much fun as I thought it was going to be.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

Holy wow! I was not expecting to love this book as much as I did!

First of all, right off the bat this book had me rolling with laughter! Immediately I was hooked as a wiped away tears from laughing so hard.

But if the humor wasn’t enough to sell me, the writing style definitely sealed the deal. For a second there I thought I picked up the wrong book because I have never read a romance so intellectually worded. It was like a nice scratch of the brain.

The characters were absolutely amazing! Both hilarious and genuinely selfless people. Their backstories were so similar that it was easy to see how they meshed together so perfectly. Honestly, I have never come across two characters who were more perfect for one another.

Forest is THE perfect book boyfriend and nobody can convince me differently. He is everything we want in our very real men and then some. He definitely is unrealistically perfect but let’s be honest, I loved every bit of it.

Like the title suggests, there were a ton of tropes. Enemies to lovers, forced proximity…. Etc. As if the book couldn’t be any more perfect, it was a fun little extra bit to spot all of the different tropes. I honestly doubt I found them all but I definitely enjoyed trying.

As for the spice, there definitely was some and it was delicious! This book wasn’t riddled with smut but the parts we do get are utterly perfect and go along perfectly with the story line. I never felt like there were added scenes for the sake of the smut gods. The story line never faltered and the spice was perfectly in line with the chain of events.

Specifically though…. I wouldn’t say this book was kinky by any means but the spice is definitely a bit spicier than average. It certainly doesn’t come anywhere close to dark romance or BDSM.

Hands down, I would read this again without hesitation.

I personally recommend this book to anyone looking for a romance with a great storyline and some genuine characters. Especially if you are looking to literary laugh out loud.

I will say, there is mention of a parent abandoning their children and another parent dying of cancer so if you are sensitive to either, I would proceed with caution.

Acclaimed romance author Margot Bradley has a secret—she doesn’t believe in true love. While her readers swoon over her happily-ever-afters, she secretly writes alternate, cynical endings for herself. But when a hacker leaks her private notes, exposing her disillusionment, she faces a brutal social media backlash.

To escape the fallout, Margot retreats to Alaska, determined to reinvent herself by writing a murder mystery. What she doesn’t expect is to meet Forest—a doctor who seems ripped straight from the pages of her own novels. He’s in town to care for his ailing father, and his kindness, intelligence, and undeniable charm make Margot question everything she thought she knew about love.

The banter in this book is top-notch, full of wit and chemistry, and the secondary characters bring even more depth and charm to the story. A must-read romance with heart, humor, and a touch of fate!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was ADORABLE and should be expedited to the top of your TBR lists.
This grabbed my attention and my heart from the jump and it was hard to put down. The way Victoria utilizes popular romance “tropes” but somehow makes it work so perfectly with the story without seeming overdone or redundant.
The main characters were incredibly well developed and I truly felt connected to them through both of their individual stories as well as their story together.
The banter was hilarious and was a great balance between some of the heavier moments in the story. The will-they-won’t-they chemistry was palpable and the physical chemistry whoooaaaaaa boy. 🔥
Way more than just a cute giggling-and-kicking-my-feet romance novel; this had a lot of depth and truly showed how well rounded Victoria is as a writer. I laughed, I cried, I giggled and I overall loved this so much.
This was her DEBUT novel!

If you are fans of Abby Jimenez and Emily Henry - you will LOVE this one.

Thank you to Atria and Netgalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️.5

Yall this book was so damn precious and had me teary eyed a handful of times 🥹

Margot & Forrest were such a breath of fresh air in all the best ways. I fear nothing was better than a pessimistic romance author enduring all the classic tropes of a romcom in real life with a classic book mmc who just happens to be that great of a guy.
The pace of this book was absolute *chefs kiss* and that ending???? Victoria you are clever for that I must say 🤣

Thank you again Atria from the gifted e-arc 🫶🏼

In this cute romance novel, a popular romance author retreats to rural Alaska after being "cancelled". She has a meet-cute with the resort owners son, Forrest (this name was kind of lame...sorry.) A very much enemies to lovers, slow burn romance with secret pining and lots of tension. Although it was steamy, the emotional connection just between the mc's was not clicking for me. Plot development felt very slow, but the writing wasn't bad. Very tropey.

3.5⭐️
--
A cute, generic romance read!

Margot is a bestselling romance author that writes Happily Ever Afters for a living.. but doesn't actually believe in them. When she gets canceled for it, she flees to Alaska to work on her genre shift to mystery. But she finds herself literally in every trope she's written about with the rugged man (who happens to be a doctor) who works at the resort.

“How can she write romance novels if she believes love is Satan’s pyramid scheme?”
Any Trope But You follows Margot, a famous romance book author who writes beautiful happily ever afters. The problem? She doesn’t actually believe in them. When the personal file of her books real endings-all Happily Never Afters- gets publicly leaked Margot finds herself in on an impromptu trip to the Alaskan Wilderness.

There she finds herself in the arms of Forrest (LITERALLY 😍), The living embodiment of all her books, MMCs. Can she break down his walls, and can he make her believe that happily ever afters exist after all?

Read if you love…
💕 Books about books
💕Alaskan Wilderness
💕Meet Cutes
💕Popular Tropes such as Forced Proximity, Enemies to lovers, grumpy x grumpy, slow burn , Fish out of water, One bed (or one sleeping bag)
💕Chronic illness and Chronic illness caretaker representation
💕sisterhood
💕Taylor Swift references
💕Saunas 🥵

TW- Open Door Romance, Contains themes or mentions of Chronic Illness, autoimmune disease, Cancer, hypothermia, death

Thank you @netgalley @victorialavinewrites and @atriabooks publishing for this free ebook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

So, picture this: Margot, a romance queen who's secretly a HEA skeptic (gasp!), gets majorly canceled when her "Happily Never After" files leak. 😬 Her sister, Savannah, bless her heart, ships her off to Alaska for a wild 6-week adventure. Honestly, I went in thinking, "Meh, whatever," but y'all... 4 solid stars! ✨

The dual POV? Chef's kiss! 💋 Margot and Forrest's banter? Pure gold! 😂 And the sisterly love between Margot and Savannah? Heartwarming! ❤️ Plus, Trapper and Jo's meddling? I was LIVING for it! 👏

As a romance junkie, I get that real-life HEAs can be tricky, but Margot's "Happily Never After" file? Genius! I need those endings, like, yesterday! 😜 And the way Margot and Forrest both put family first? So relatable! It made their connection feel so real. Sometimes, family trumps everything, and I'm so glad they found their happy place together. 🥰

Basically, if you need a fun, feel-good read with hilarious moments and a touch of realness, this is it! Trust me, you won't regret it!

This was a cute romance, and I love how just like the title suggests it throws a lot of tropes out there in a humorous way that says the author is in on the corniness of the situation with us. It didn’t have the depth to take it out of good territory, I felt like any time it was about to cross over into new territory it pulled back instead of diving in. I missed some of the tension that brings. One think I did appreciate in this book was the way the characters didn’t get mad for things that were accidental mistakes. They were understanding and talked things out and didn’t linger on mistakes. As soon as he googled her I was like “oh here we go”, but was happily surprised when he told her, they talked, and they moved on like adults!

Thank you Net Galley for this ARC!!

I really enjoyed reading about Margot & Forrest! The BANTER was bantering, the wit was so fantastic!! I loved everything about this book!! The only reason it's not a 5 star for me would be that the ending felt a bit rushed... but still really good!!

I love how Margot is real in her characterness.... does that even make sense? Like she feels like she could have been a real person or author, she's writing in a genre that she's not sure really exists and is a bit skeptical of... which fair.... not everyone gets a HEA.

Sweet little (not really😘) Forrest... he's a golden retriever of a man honestly!! He builds things with his hands, and helps his father, he's a doctor like yum sign me, I mean Margot, up!

I cannot wait to see what else Victoria Lavine comes up with!! Please say we get more of Savannah in her next novel!!

Any Trope but You was fun to read because it attempted to be an anti-romance novel romance novel - while also blatantly loving romance novels. I don’t think it took it quite as far as I would have liked, but I appreciated that this jaded heroine was also a romance novelist who doesn’t believe it love. It made for an exciting juxtaposition with this being, very obviously, a book about how great romance novels and the romance community are.

I liked how this tackled several heavy topics in a realistic and respectful way. While I found it a bit cheesy at times, I appreciated how it leaned into so many tropes while poking fun at them. And I thought the overall plot was enjoyable, and it kept me engaged enough to finish in one sitting (though, without getting into spoilers, there was one weird moment that I didn’t understand and that felt out of place, so I’d love to talk to someone else who has read this!)

In short, I liked this sweet, sometimes heavy, but ultimately happy romance book! Thanks to Atria and Netgalley for the ARC. Any Trope but You is out 4/1

Margot is a romance author that doesn't believe in Happily Ever After.
Forest is a cancer researcher that left his job to take care of his dad after a bad accident.
Margot has a "Happily Never After" file where she writes alternative endings to her books that gets released to all her fans and she gets 'cancelled'.
Her biggest fan (her sister) sends her to Alaska on a wilderness retreat where she hopes she can gather herself and write her next best seller and come back a new woman, what she wasn't banking on is meeting Forest. The doctor/ wilderness guide that embodies every hot mmc out there.

My thoughts: I loved this book and had a hard time putting it down, even when I was supposed to be doing "mom things". I'm a sucker for a good trope and this did not disappoint. Somehow the author was able to put all the commonly loved tropes out there, into one book. The writing was done well, the characters were well developed. I absolutely loved all the side characters, from Margo's sister Savannah to Forrest's dad Trapper and everyone in between, they all added to this story in the best way possible.
I'm going to give this book 4.5 stars out of 5. Only because i wish there was an epilogue. The story itself gets a 5 from me. and this new author has found herself a new fan and I can't wait to see what else she has in store.
Thank you @netgalley @atriabooks and @victorialavinewrites for allowing me to do an arc review for 'Any Trope But You'.
#netgalley #AnyTropeButYou #victorialavine #atriabooks #tropesgalore #enemiestolovers #forcedproximity #arcreview #april1st #bookstagram #bookstagrammer

Wow wow wow wow. This was such a heartfelt, emotional, beautiful read. Romance author Margot is famous for her Happily Ever Afters. But when her secret file, Happily Never Afters, gets released by a hacker, her whole world is turned upside down. Her fans refuse to move past her disbelief in happily ever afters. To combat this, Margot’s sister sends her to Alaska to work on her next novel. Where there’s no communication with the outside world. Except for Forrest, the one guy who will threaten to change everything for Margot. Both characters have so much depth woven in to their stories. Told from dual perspectives, you have an opportunity to understand their love for those around them and why their flaws help make them who they are. I truly loved every moment of this. It was incredibly relatable and so real.

I love romance books set in Alaska, so when I saw this one, I simply couldn’t resist!

Margot is a romance author who doesn’t believe in HEAs. After a rough incident, she decides to write her first murder mystery. Her sister sends her to Alaska, where she meets the sexy and broody Forrest—who just so happens to be the embodiment of her fictional dream hero.

Forrest is a thoughtful doctor, now running his family’s lodge, and he doesn’t let anyone get too close.

I really enjoyed how the characters slowly grew closer and broke down their emotional walls. Forrest’s jealousy, their banter, and that tent scene—so good!

The story also touches on health-related issues. The heroine is taking care of her sister, and Forrest is looking after his father. It highlights the struggles faced by loved ones of those who are ill, making this not just a romance, but also a story about loyalty and selflessness.

The book is full of both lighthearted and emotional moments. I absolutely loved the wintry Alaskan setting—it truly felt like I was there.

I had such a great time reading this and can’t wait for more stories from Victoria Lavine!

𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬:
❅ enemies to lovers
❅ forced proximity
❅ only one tent
❅ Alaska setting
❅ slow burn

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.