“Reading novels is one of the most time-honored ways of understanding and processing the human experience.” Like Victoria Lavine says, this book is a love letter to the romance genre.

I laughed, I cried, I longed and yearned. This novel really highlights some very important topics: family, illness, sacrifice, independence/co-dependence, being seen, and taking chances. I could barely put it down.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC! Can’t wait to read more from this author.

Thank you Atria Books for my #gifted copy of Any Trope But You! #atriabooks #AtriaPartner #AnyTropeButYou #VictoriaLavine

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐀𝐧𝐲 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐋𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐞
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟏, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓

𝟰.𝟱★

This book was so much fun! When best selling author Margot Bradley’s Happily Never After document is hacked and released to the public, which shows the alternate endings she write for all her characters where their happy endings are swapped for divorce papers, she’s cancelled and dropped by her publisher. Desperate for a new start and a way to still support her sister who is chronically ill, her sister Savannah books a six-week stay in Alaska where Margot can work on her first murder mystery. Upon arrival, she doesn’t expect literally to run into the arms of a handsome proprietor, Dr. Forrest Wakefield, and land in the middle of a rom-com instead. With snowy nights and tropes bringing Margot and Forrest closer and closer, they will both have to set aside their own fears or risk becoming their own Happily Never After story.

Victoria Lavine, I’ll read whatever you write! I knew from the dedication page that I was going to love this book and I was right. From the characters, to one of MY favorite tropes (enemies to overs), to the setting in Alaska, to the chronic illness and caretaker rep, to the moose that stole the show! I even loved the Acknowledgments section. Lavine wrote this manuscript while going through a significant battle in her life, and knowing all that she’s gone through and her resilience makes me appreciate and love this book even more.

🫎Enemies to Lovers
🫎Forced Proximity
🫎Set in Alaska
🫎Author x Doctor
🫎One Tent
🫎A Moose
🫎Slow Burn
🫎Dual POV
🫎Chronic Illness + Caretake Rep

Posted on Goodreads on March 29, 2025: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/144922955?ref=nav_profile_l
**Posted on Instagram - Full Review- on or around March 29, 2025: http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
**Posted on Amazon on April 1, 2025
**-will post on designated date

Having read almost 400 romantic comedies since I stumbled upon this genre less than three years ago, I’ve discovered that my absolute favorites are the ones that poke fun at the tropes themselves (looking at you, Nora, from Book Lovers!). With Any Trope but You, Victoria does exactly that through Margot. All the tropes that make us smile, swoon, and giggle are cleverly woven throughout, almost like a game of “Where’s Waldo,” making the Happily Ever After even more rewarding - especially when the one person who knows all the rules does everything in her power to avoid falling victim to the magic they bring.

Bestselling author Margot Bradley has the life most romance writers dream of: adoring fans, a new book deal, and a monumental interview that promises to boost book sales, solidify the success of her upcoming book, and secure the lifestyle she needs to care for her sister. What the world doesn’t know is that Margot has been living a lie.

Happy Ever Afters are fairytales for the naive - at least in Margot's eyes - and her true feelings about romance are hidden in her secret "Happily Never After" file, where she writes endings grounded in harsh reality. This little outlet kept her balanced and is one of her best kept secret, even from her sister - until an interview goes horribly wrong, when someone hacks her files and shares them with the world.

Now canceled, ousted, and with her newest book (set in Alaska) officially scrapped, Margot is left reeling, unsure of what to do next. That is, until her sister comes up with a "brilliant" idea: six weeks off the grid in Alaska to reinvent herself and take a stab at a new genre - mystery. With no other options and an inability to say no to her sister, Margot reluctantly agrees and embarks on what she considers one of the worst ideas ever: a trip to North Star Lodge.

One moose encounter, a gorgeous lumberjack straight out of her novels, and a classic meet-cute later, Margot quickly realizes her new home (with no internet, by the way) is a prison of tropes. Determined not to become one of the characters in her own books, Margot steels herself, unleashes her icy demeanor, and keeps as much distance as possible between herself and Forrest. She’s in Alaska for one reason only: to salvage her career. No distractions!

Dr. Forrest Wakefield misses his life in Los Angeles, but for now, his home is North Star Lodge as he cares for his father, who is recovering from injuries sustained in an accident. Having left behind his work in cancer research, Forrest now focuses on helping maintain the lodge and caring for its guests - a role he almost single-handedly ruined when he got too cozy with a guest, leading to a scathing review.

The past is the past, and Forrest thought he’d learned his lesson - until the moment a gorgeous blonde literally jumps into his arms out of nowhere. Stunned by the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen, he quickly reminds himself of the mistakes of the past and vows to put as much distance between them as possible.

But as time passes, and both Forrest and his unexpected guest begin to let their guards down, they start to realize that maybe romance tropes hold a little more truth - and a little more magic - than they ever thought possible.

This book is hysterical! The wit is off the charts, and I’ve lost count of the number of one-liners that deserve recognition. Is it odd that my favorite character in the entire book was Savannah, Margot's sister? Don’t get me wrong - Margot nailed the woman-scorned vibe, and Forrest did every trope justice, but Savannah had me cracking up every single time she spoke.

I loved how realistic the third-act breakup was. Honestly, I appreciated how realistic the entire story felt (within fictional reasoning, of course).

I also loved how the secondary characters took the reins of the Happily Ever After.

Obviously, a book that’s a montage of the greatest tropes was bound to have steam, spice, and everything nice - and Victoria did not disappoint. What made it even more entertaining was Margot’s commentary as the “expert,” poking fun at how romance often hypes up certain situations, only to find herself validating their possibility in her own “real world.” It almost gave hope to the idea that, if we’re lucky, real life might just reflect fiction.

There were moments that could have cast shadows over this sunny story, but Victoria did a stellar job keeping it lighthearted.

What I loved most of all was how the story didn’t rely on a grand gesture or wrap everything up magically in the end. The continuation of the story felt grounded and realistic, more in line with what might actually happen to someone we know - again, within reason.

An ode to everything romance books stand for, Victoria knocked it out of the park with this debut novel. Any Trope But You pays homage to everything we know and love about romances, while shining a light on the most dedicated community out there - romance readers. As Victoria said (and my shelves can confirm): we buy all the books!

~ Spoilers have been removed

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!
I loved this one. It made me laugh, made me emotional, and was hard to put down. I loved the setting of an off the grid lodge in Alaska, the MCs being caregivers, and the wilderness adventures.

First thank you to atira books and NetGalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️💫

Synopsis: Margot is a romance writer that doesn’t believe in love. She secretly keeps a happily never after spreadsheet with different endings for her romances. When this spreadsheet is exposed, she is cancelled. Her sister forces her to go to Alaska on a research trip to write her new book. However the remote inn has a very cute staff and soon finds herself in all of the tropes she writes about.

What I liked : I think for the die hard romance fans this book is perfect, it covers all of the tropes and had some very sweet moments. Maybe I’m too cynical but I found it to be predictable and too much. I think I would have enjoyed it if it wouldn’t have covered everything.

𝑯𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒆. “𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍, 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒐𝒕.” 𝑵𝒐, 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌. 𝑰’𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍. 𝑼𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑰’𝒎 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕.

Okay, this was HELLA CUTE!! 😍 Obviously, as someone who only reads romance, I found it hilarious how Margot (a romance author) keeps using book jargon and points out all the tropes she’s in while experiencing her own love story 📖💘 The way she was basically screaming at the universe like, "Are you kidding me?!" while simultaneously falling hard for him?? PERFECTION.

𝑶𝒏 𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒐 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒔, 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕-𝒄𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝑰 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒎, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒂 𝒅𝒐𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒓.

The storyline was so good!!! Margot leaves California for a secluded lodge in Alaska to write after her scandal where she publicly declares that, as a romance writer, she doesn’t believe in love 😬 And then?? She literally jumps into the arms of the handsome man she’s stuck with for six weeks?? Tell me that doesn’t scream romantic comedy. I’m here for it!!! 🤭💖

The banter, the tension, the flirtatious touches I don’t know what it was, BUT IT WAS ELECTRIFYING🔥 And don’t even get me started on the one tent trope + the "stay close to me" skin-to-skin contact because she’s cold and needs to survive the night 💀 SCREAMING.

Now let’s talk about Forrest the handsome, broody man who, from the moment he sees Margot, you already know he’s gonna fall fast and hard 🥹 And let’s not forget he’s doing EVERYTHING in his power to not give in, even while we read this POV and you see she’s literally all he thinks about?? SWOON Period 😭❤️

𝑯𝒆’𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆. 𝑨 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒍, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒇 𝑰’𝒎 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒖𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒃𝒊𝒕.

I could keep talking about how freaking cute this book was, but then I’d spoil it, so I’ll leave it at this: read this super swoony book and then try not to romanticize your own life while counting how many tropes you are in right now actually experiencing irl ✨

tropes
📖 forced proximity
📖 enemies to lovers
📖 slow burn
📖 one tent + one sleeping bag

Thank you Atria books for my eARC in exchange for my honest review

4.5 ⭐️

Any Trope but You is every romance readers ultimate dream. It follows Margot Bradley, a disgraced romance writer who flees to Alaska to go off the grid and avoid the scandal surrounding her. What she doesn’t expect is getting caught up in every trope imaginable with the resort owner’s son.

This book had me hooked from the first chapter. A romance writer who doesn’t believe in HAE and gets caught was such an interesting plot. Margot’s chemistry with Forrest was insane right off the bat. I could tell that they would be an explosive couple the second they got together. Forrest was the perfect MMC! Every scene with him and Margo had me giggling and kicking my feet. I usually don’t love a grumpy x grumpy story, but this worked so perfectly for them! The pace moved PERFECTLY in this and not one single part dragged. Adding in a lot of popular book tropes worked in this book because of Margot’s career as a romance writer. I’m such a fan of enemies to lovers and only one bed (or in this case, tent). There were also some Taylor Swift references that I loved as a swiftie! Overall, this book was so cute and such a quick read! I highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy of this book!

I thought this book was really cute! The Alaska aspect of the story was fun and it was easy to see how the couple fit together in their real lives. A bit on the nose for romance tropes but I think that was kinda the point. Either way a fun read!

I finished Any Trope But You by Victoria Lavine (ARC- release day: April 3)

“How can she write romance novels if she believes love is Satan’s pyramid scheme?”

4 ⭐️

Margot is a successful romance author known for her love stories that all end with happily ever afters.

But her own personal life has been quite the opposite. She writes alternative more “realistic” endings from her books as a private outlet for herself. But when these accidentally get out to the public, her readers turn on her.

Escaping to a remote location in Alaska to write her new novel uninterrupted, all of the cliché romance tropes start happening to her as she meets Forrest, the owner of the lodge.

Forrest is a broody lumberjack who encompasses all of the main male character energy she’s written about all these years.

Both Margot & Forrest have reasons to not believe in happily ever afters but soon enough, cannot deny their connection anymore.

What to expect:
🫎 Broody lumberjack MMC
📚 Romance tropes
🫎 Close proximity
📚 Slow burn
🫎 Witty & sarcastic
📚 Autoimmune disease representation

Thoughts:
The sarcasm & witty banter in this book were top tier! I was laughing so hard & probably highlighted way too many times. My only negative thing to say is that the third act break up frustrated me.

Thank you @atriabooks #partner for the most adorable gifted romcom.

I loved LOVED loved this book so much! Give me all the Victoria Lavine books moving forward! This was SO adorable! I cannot think of one thing I would change in this book! From the Alaskan setting, the wholesome and sweet nature of the sisters relationship (reminded me of my own relationship with my sister), to the most wonderful moments between the hot doctor that’s there helping his family….all perfect. 🤩 I simply adored the banter, the wittiness, the overcoming of struggles and even the side character relationships! I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys romcoms. It’s a fresh, fun, fine star book for me!

Any Trope but You is a heartwarming story between Margot, a romance writer who has lost her faith in HEAs, and Forrest, a doctor from Alaska who left behind his life to care for his father. What they have in common is that they are both caregivers and they share similar struggles related to this. Forrest is the perfect book boyfriend and ticks all the trope boxes, reminding Margot what romance can be. The family members are very sympathetic characters and very supportive of Margot and Forrest. This is one that will leave you smiling with how endearing it is.

ARC BOOK REVIEW

Any Trope But You by Victoria Lavine

Thank you, Artia, for the free eARC of this book. I am so grateful!

SYNOPSIS: “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.”

REVIEW: What a cute and delightful romance! I seriously cannot get enough of Margot and Forrest. A romance set in remote Alaska? I’ll take it! I knew from the get-go that I would love this one.

The tropes of the book were so perfectly heavy-handed in the very best way. It just worked. A great debut.

I was immediately invested in Margot’s story, and was even more intrigued as I learned more about Forrest and the rest of him family at the North Star Lodge.

Overall, it was a joy to read, and I look forward to many more books from Victoria Lavine!

Publisher: Atria
Pub date: 4/1/2025

I really wanted to love this more and I’m sad that it didn’t work for me. There are certainly things to like, the setting was such a fun escape and the side characters really brought this book to life. With tropes galore how could I go wrong?! Well, while I admire what the author was trying to do I think the book was spread too thin by trying to check too many trope boxes. It was especially hard for me to buy the enemies to lovers when from the first moment our characters meet they have absolutely no reason to loathe each other on sight and yet they do, but also they are simultaneously plagued by crazy attraction. This story line continues for a good portion of the book but instead of breathing life into the narrative, it pounds away-an unyeilding attempt to convince me what I already didn’t buy. It actually ended up hurting my perception of the FMC since she was so awful to the MMC for reasons not at all to do with him specifically. Some of the tropes definitely worked (forced proximity, one bed, fish out of water) but the foundation of the plot was shaky at best.

The spicyness of this book will work for some people but it was too much for me. I want more emotional connection, less physical obsession. I want the spice to enhance the connection, this was spice purely for the sake of spice. The language was also completely unnecessary and over the top, to the point that it was distracting.

I wanted to love this, but there were too many hurdles to over come. Sadly, it was not for me.

After her Happily Never After file was leaked, a popular romance author Margot got cancelled. Her sister, Savannah, who suffers from an autoimmune disease and relies on Margot as her sole caretaker, signs her up for a six-week retreat in Alaska. There, Margot meets the charming Dr. Forrest, who might just help her believe in a Happily Ever After again.

This was such a delightful romance novel! It was steamy, funny, heartwarming, emotional and everything in between.
You can find almost any trope in this book, and I loved how Margot, being a romance author, could identify them as they unfolded.
It was just a little too sweet for my taste, but overall a great debut novel! I can’t wait to see what Victoria writes next!

Thank you so much NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC!

A beautiful story! Romances about authors can be tricky with the “meta” aspect of it, but Any Trope But You was so well done. There’s a healing aspect to the book that I appreciated.

Oh my goodness, I loved this! I love romances featuring authors, especially romance authors. And I love hot and sexy, yet soft and supportive book boyfriends. Check and check! "Meta" type books can be tricky to pull off, but this author nailed it. Margot was humored and frustrated that she was basically living in a romcom after escaping to Alaska to avoid all things romance, yet, the plot did not reply on this. The familial sub-plots were so well fleshed-out and I loved little sister Savannah almost as much as Margot and Forrest! This book is gem and it's hard to believe it's a debut.

What a clever, enticing, and sweet debut novel! I was hooked pretty immediately and felt connected to these characters throughout. The constant referencing and calling out of specific tropes got a little old, but that's also kind of the point of the whole thing. I was DEEPLY invested by the end and could not stop reading until I saw how things ultimately played out. The payoff was perfect and had a touching call back to the start of the story.

Any Trope but You comes out on 1 April 2025, and I recommend you check it out!! Thank you to the author Victoria Lavine, publisher Atria Books, and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Social post to @bostonkatreads will be up over the weekend on Instagram!

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.