The setting of this book was really good. And I also really enjoyed the concept. I'm all for a jaded romance author. There was just something about this that had me struggling to connect to the characters and to believe the romance between the FMC and MMC. I really did enjoy how the story wrapped up at the end. I think it was very well done in that regard. Definitely would read another book by this author.

3.5 stars ⛧

“there are some people who come into your life—even for just a moment—who have the power to fundamentally change you forever.”

⤹ my thoughts
this book would be a perfect winter romance. i thought the premise was interesting—a romance author who doesn’t actually believe in love. and when her “never ever after” document gets leaked her whole career starts careening. she retreats to alaska and meets a guy who encapsulates all she’s trying to escape. and their tensionnn 🤭

⤹ characters
margot
you gotta love when our mc is an author 🙂‍↕️ it was so funny whenever she would compare her and forrest to romance tropes! it was interesting to see her view on romance as a someone who didn’t believe in it, but then how forrest slowly changed her mind <3

forrest
he was like your stereotypical romance hero—or maybe that was just how margot described him lol. i loved how protective he was over margot. i mean, he literally carried her down a mountain when she sprained her ankle 🙈 seeing his reason he got into medical research and also how he gave up everything he built to take care of his dad was touching.

⤹ concluding thoughts
overall, i’d recommend this for any rom-com lover. it felt a little cliché at times but i didn’t mind too much. i feel like this would definitely be cute to read in the winter too with the setting!

thank you netgalley and the publisher for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

One word - obsessed!! This was everything I love in a romance. Humor, banter, depth, and spice. The characters were all great, and of course I was rooting for Forrest and Margot the whole time. Who doesn’t love a bearded mountain (doctor) man? I’m excited for this author to put out more books! Hopefully soon.

Any Trope But You by Victoria Lavine was an absolute blast. I enjoyed this book so much and I honestly cannot wait for the author to release more of her work. I breezed through this book because it was just that enjoyable. I would recommend this to anyone who is a fan of Romance novels.

Thank you @atriabooks for the gifted ARC and final copy of this gorgeous book! & thank you@simon.audio for the complimentary audiobook!
ANY TROPE BUT YOU is Victoria Lavine's debut, and wow, I was impressed. This story is everything I want in a romcom: hilarious banter, heartfelt moments, slow-burn tension, and just the right amount of spice.

Margot, a romance author who's given up on love, escapes to Alaska to write something new, and instead finds Forrest, a broody, swoony lodge owner who feels like he walked straight out of one of her novels. Their chemistry is instant, their bickering is perfection, and the emotional build-up? Chef's kiss!

I also loved the deeper themes around caregiving and grief, which gave the romance so much more weight. Plus: he's read all her books!!! Instant bonus points forever.

I listened to this one on audio and it was fantastic! totally pulled me into the snowy Alaskan setting and made the characters feel even more real. A stellar debut, and I already can't wait to see what Victoria Lavine does next!

Read if you love:
Slow burn
Caregiving for family members
Romance Author FMC
One tent (forced proximity)
Discovering one's self

4.5 stars!

You really don't know who or what you can trust, especially cloud storage. Margot Bradley's life has imploded following the leak of her alternate endings folder. She writes those HEAs, but she has happily never afters for each one stored in a folder on her computer. She knows the HEAs sell, which in turn make her the money she needs to support herself and her chronically ill sister. After Margot is basically cancelled, her sister sends her to Alaska to regroup, renew, and relax. Then she meets Forrest, proprietor of the resort where Margot ends up staying. Every trope you can think of happens during the course of her stay, especially with her encounters with Forrest. There were many laugh out loud moments as I read this book. They're both hiding from something; Margot from embarrassment and Forrest from guilt. They believe in the ties that keep families together, which ultimately make them think they're shackled.. They both try to resist the pull that brings them together, but they have family members, both real and found, who make it their life's mission to meddle.

I received an advance copy of this book at my request and voluntarily left this review.

I am so glad I got this novel as an Arc. This book had me hooked from the first chapter. I haven't read a book like this in quite awhile and I enjoyed every page of it!

Margot has a rather embarrassing moment where her fans find out she doesn't really believe in happily ever after. Which is strange because she is a romance novelist. Her sister suggests she goes to unplug and write a new novel in Alaska.

This is where Margot meets the ever handsome Forrest. She is trying to resist the attraction between them. He seems to be checking every trope possible. As time goes on they try to fight their attraction. It gets juicer by the page and they may have more in common than they thought.

This is the best romance novel I have read in quite awhile. I urge you to pick up a copy today.

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for this arc

I absolutely devoured this book. I loved how Margot and Forrest kept getting pushed together and how their stories intertwined once they began opening up to one another. Forrest is an absolute dream of a mmc. I felt like there was not a single side character that I did not like. The hiking bros were a little annoying at times but parts of them were still likeable enough or at least tolerable. I adored Margot's sister and the initiative she took to help both of them move forward with their lives. This book was absolutely adorable and I was kicking my feet with every Forrest and Margot interaction

This book took me a while to finish. Personally I did not connect with the characters or the story. I did enjoy the setting in Alaska but the characters and plot did not stick out to me personally. If you enjoy small towns, banter and “tropes” then this is for you.

I didn’t dislike this book but it’s not one I would read again or recommend off the bat

This was surprisingly so cute and so so good! It included so many of the rom-com tropes, but the author totally made it work. This was such a great pick me up after reading a couple disappointing books and had me literally zooming through the story. I think I need to re-read it in the winter though for all the cozy vibes!

4.25 stars!! I really loved this book and there were parts in the book that were hilarious. The book also touched on some really deep topics, the most touching was Forrest's relationship with his parents and how he felt responsible for both of them. The side characters were also great :) Thanks to Atria Books for the ARC (and thanks Netgalley!)

Though the synopsis sounded up my alley, this unfortunately was not for me. I personally found the characters so annoying. There’s a point at the beginning where the main character doesn’t even know the work for “antlers” … like c’mon, you’re a writer! I found some of the language cringey. I didn’t like how both main characters were immediately obsessed with each other and would have preferred more of a slow burn or to at least now have the MMC’s chapters to tell us he already feels the same way.

i liked this! i typically like a book when it’s set in alaska because i miss living there so much. for a debut, this was SO GOOD. i think the author will go so far in the book world. the FMC being a romance author nut not believing in romance was so hilariously ironic. everything with the MMC made me cry so much. i feel for him. it couldn’t be easy becoming his dad’s caretaker especially after losing his mom to something as hard as cancer.

i love them so much & bonus points for being so correct about alaska!!

There was no way she wasn't going to fall for that mountain man
I loved watching this author live all her favorite tropes
and that ending
amazing

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley.

Loved the premise of this book - a romance author disillusioned with love goes on an Alaskan retreat and is confronted with every romance trope imaginable. It was a good device for the author to incorporate all these cliches in a tongue in cheek and self aware way. I enjoyed this story, even though I did find myself skimming some parts. The chemistry was enjoyable and I thought the challenges they faced were rooted in real issues.

I wanted to love this one but I just couldn’t. I’m sorry but an author cant’ get mad at their fans when they act hurt when they find out that their favorite author has basically lied to them. It’s the author’s job to find a way to fix their mess.

I’d had my eye on ANY TROPE BUT YOU from the moment I saw the cover, and then I was thrilled to see it as Read Now on NetGalley. I downloaded it immediately! After reading a few “just okay” books in a row, this caught my eye when I was scrolling my Kindle. And wow, it was just what I needed!

Lavine plays with common genre tropes in such a memorable way. It felt like a fun wink to readers of romance! The heroine is a romance writer who doesn’t believe in what she writes and ends up on a six-week sabbatical in Alaska after readers discover she’s written “happily never after” style epilogues for all her couples! With her career in jeopardy, a shift in genres seems like the right move for her… but the handsome hotel employee might have her re-thinking some things.

The heroine’s conflict between her career and her personal feelings about love reminded me of an earlier 2025 release — UNROMANCE by Erin Connor — and her trip to the Alaskan wilderness was reminiscent of STAY WILD by K.A. Tucker, but the book still felt fresh and all its own. I was hooked from the very first page and couldn’t believe it was a debut!

There was a lot of humor, as to be expected, but I most appreciated the emotional depth as both the hero and heroine were caregivers for family members with chronic illness. The situations were different but both so badly wanted to do what was best for their loved one, even when it was to their own detriment. I really appreciated that facet of the book! The ultimate conflict between the couple felt very realistic, and I appreciated how it was resolved.

My only real complaint about this one is that it was too steamy for my personal taste. Reading the e-book made it easy to quickly skim past those scenes, but it was something I noted as I read. But since the overall book just felt like such a breath of air as I read it, I felt good about giving it a full 5-star rating. I look forward to more from Lavine and am excited for more readers to discover this particular book!

🩵🫎🏔️🩺
I loved this book. I was hooked from the very beginning, this just read as a love letter to the romance genre and to romance readers directly.
The story starts out near to home for me in sunny Southern California but we are quickly whisked sway to cold yet beautiful and picturesque Alaska after a crazy super fan ripped the rug out from our fmc Margot during a zoom press conference for her upcoming romance novel debut.

Without giving too much away, our fmc has her reasons for losing her faith in love but this is the last thing she expected after struggling to care for her sister alone. However, this disaster becomes a life-changing detour that Savannah not only plans but forces Margot to do. Her plan goes a little too well and not only derails Margot’s Happily Never After beliefs but reinforces many romance tropes and everyone in the story gets their HEA. 🥹 I adored all the characters honestly. Each side character brought 🤌🏼✨
Margot Bradley was the most one of the most relatable fmc’s EVER. Her inner monologe cracked me up on multiple occasions and her relationship/sisterhood with Savannah was nothing short of heart-warming. Forrest was just a hunky shiny green flag of a man the entire time who’s Achilles heel is his ailing father… still making him a green flag and is now one of my favorite mmcs of all time. He’s a cancer research doctor, a complete whiz kid, again HUNKY and has a heart of GOLD. So yup, SOLD.💚🌲

All in all this was such a fun, heartwarming, and downright ROMANTIC palette cleanser of a novel. I wasn’t expecting to be swooned and swept off my feet but Victoria surely did do that! Thank you so much for trusting me to read your ARC and thank you as well to NetGalley! Truly couldn’t be more grateful to be an arc reader! 🩵❄️🫎

While I did find the premise of this super fun, the execution was not, I'm afraid, and I'm kinda sad about it.
The idea of a romance author secretly rewriting the endings of her novels to reflect the harsh reality (in her opinion) only for everyone finding out and basically upending her whole career and then her going to Alaska to change it up and write a thriller while meeting a hot doctor? That sounded great to me.
My reading experience though was mostly filled with some serious second-hand embarrassment, an unlikeable fmc and a romance I didn't care about.
I just couldn't stand Margot. She came across very rude and entitled and defensive. I can't for the life of me figure out why Forrest would ever be interested in her, seeing the way she acted towards him.
And with an unlikeable main character, you can't win in a romance setting. I need to like the main characters in a romance, or it won't work for me.
I did enjoy the Alaska setting but that was about it.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars!

I thoroughly enjoyed Victoria Lavine's "Any Trope but You." If you love books about writers/romance novels, this is the story for you. If you like tons and tons of tropes that all come together in perfect harmony, this is also the book for you. I had a ton of fun reading this one. The idea of an author who gets blasted for rewriting the happy endings of her most popular stories into realistic, not-so-nice ones felt fresh and new to me. I was, at first, a little turned off by the main character, Margot's, seemingly selfish and rude attitude towards everything, especially Forrest, the main male character. Over time, I softened to her as she broke out of her shell and became more adventurous and accepting of things that were out of her comfort zone. She's a complex personality, as is Forrest, though in different ways. I loved the humor of Forrest being a trope-filled man straight out of a romance novel. I loved seeing Margot change as a person and as a writer. They are both well-written and have terrific character arcs. I was wholly invested in Margot and Forrest's love story from the very beginning of the book. I also loved the dynamic between Margot and Savannah, her chronically ill sister. Savannah is the one who booked her a six-week stay in Forrest's Alaskan resort, hoping Margot will live *for* her since she is unable to do so due to her disability. All in all, this book has a wonderful setting, great humor, fantastic characters, splendid prose, lots of heartstring-tugging moments, and it's not too long! I can't wait to buy this one!

Thank you to NetGalley, Victoria Lavine, and Atria Books for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.