Skip to main content

Member Reviews

As a huge fan of most tropes in rom coms, I was so excited for this book. And it did not disappoint! I loved that while the romantic plot for Margot and Forrest was a huge focus of the book, the caretaker relationships between Forrest and his dad, and Margot and her sister were such huge components. Victoria Lavine wrote every character in this book with such care and depth that I found myself quickly invested, and empathizing with so many of the choices that Forrest and Margot made. I loved Margot’s letters from Savannah after every outdoor excursion, and the way that the bond between the sisters grew even while apart. I wish we would have been given an epilogue!

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC! My review will be posted to Goodreads upon the publication date, and this review will be edited to include the link at that time.

Was this review helpful?

What a delight! Any Trope But You follows romance author, Margot. When it's discovered that she doesn't really believe in Happily Ever Afters, her sister sends her off to spend six weeks in remote Alaska as an escape. While there, she meets Forrest, who left his job as a cancer researcher to care for his disabled father and run the family wilderness lodge. The las thing he needs is to get involved with a guest.

This book was so cute! It had alllll the romance tropes that blended perfectly. The Alaskan setting was cozy and filled with wintery vibes.

I loved the two main characters and found their love story easy to root for! This book wasn't too cheesy and had the right amount of depth that I prefer in romance novels- a la Emily Henry. And a few moments of humor too!

I highly recommend this debut romance! I like some but not all romance novels- I can be a little picky! If you're like me, I think you'll love it too! Thank you Atria Books for the advanced copy! It releases on 4/1.

4.5 stars

Was this review helpful?

Well this was just the most unexpected delight of a book! I really enjoyed reading this one. If the title and synopsis doesn’t tip you off, this romance pretty much has almost all the tropes you know and love covered. And it’s done in a way that completely works and it’s at all cliche.

The characters felt real. Yes, even the too good to be true main male character. The setting seemed idyllic. And the romance felt authentic.

There are books about books and while lots of people love those, I never really do. Until this one. This felt like a love letter to romance readers. It was about romance without being cringy. And to think this is the author’s debut?! Wow!

There was a little bit of cheese and eye rolling happening, and the lack of an epilogue was just a bit disrespectful… but not enough to not thoroughly enjoy reading this book.

Was this review helpful?

I genuinely loved this book. Starting out I wasn't sure about it but as I continued to read and learned more about Margot, Forrest, Savannah, and Forrest's dad it was hard not to fall in in love with these characters and to find some sort of connection to the issues and struggles that they were facing. Levine did an amazing job of talking about readers and things that readers do which was super fun to read about and agree with. I think it is a a powerful topic to talk about Happily Ever After and how it has changed our society and expectations in a relationship.

Overall I would highly recommend this book to any reader especially the hopeless romantics.

Was this review helpful?

5 ⭐ 3 🌶️

This book was everything I was hoping it'd be and more. I absolutely adored these characters; Forrest and Margot are both so broken, and watching them heal each other (with the help of their family) was so wonderful. This one brought tears to my eyes if I'm being honest... The angst followed by their love was practically unbearable and I loved it so much.

Savannah, Jo and Trapper were amazing too. I loved Van's letters and the love between Jo and Trapper and their push to get Forrest to finish out his dreams. These are the family members you want in your corner.

Margot and Forrest's journey was not only beautiful, but fricking hilarious too. I laughed out loud a few times and almost always had a smile on my face.

I can't wait to see what Victoria comes out with next. I'm ready to fall in love again.

Was this review helpful?

I loved these characters and the premise of this book. It was so fun and I love the wilderness aspect of it being in Alaska.

Was this review helpful?

This was a cute romance that will appeal to a lot of readers! While I did enjoy my reading experience, there are some other books that I have read with similar plots that I liked just a bit better. The comparison led to my three-star rating, but I still would put this in the hands of romance readers who enjoy a fast-paced, charming book with loveable characters.

Was this review helpful?

The tropes were definitely troping in this cute winter romance ❄️💕


Fun, easy read with a great setting and adorable main characters. Fans of enemies to lovers and forced proximity will enjoy this!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eArc!

Was this review helpful?

This was an interesting premise, but this one didn't quite hold my interest.

I've learned something about myself from reading this book...if I don't like a main character, I can't force myself to like the book. I didn't like Margot at all. She came across as entitled and her inner thoughts made me cringe.

The actual romance was fine, but it didn't come across as anything special for me. I felt like I connected with the side characters more than the main couple, and that was the major problem for me with reading this book. I ultimately didn't care about the couple.

Was this review helpful?

This is a really cute romance I really enjoyed it. It had lots of cozy winter vibes and I would highly recommend it for fans of the enemies to lovers trope.

Was this review helpful?

A prerequisite to being a romance author is to believe in Happily Ever Afters. Right? Wrong.

Margot Bradley is a bestselling and widely adored romance author who despite her entire livelihood being centered around writing epic love stories, does not believe in Happily Ever Afters. Not only does she simply not believe in Happily Ever Afters for her characters or herself, she keeps a top-secret file with alternative endings of each of her novels. These endings are far from happy and tend to end in flames.

When her top-secret file gets leaked to the public while she is live on camera, she faces a very public cancellation both by her readers and her publishers. With her career in ruins, Margot decides it is time to pivot into murder mystery. With the story set in remote Alaska, Margot’s sister secretly books Margot a 6-week stay at a remote Alaskan resort, landing Margot straight in the middle of her very own real life romance. Begrudgingly she finds herself experiencing trope after trope with the handsome resort owner.

Any Trope But You is a love letter to the classic romance genre tropes and is clearly written by an author who loves romance novels. Lavine’s writing shines through the entirety of this book. The writing is fun, fast-paced and witty without being overly cliche.

Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for providing me with a digital review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Was this review helpful?

I sincerely enjoyed this debut novel by Victoria Lavine...I especially enjoyed the representation of disability and chronic pain in this book and I feel like the author did a good job with it. The main character were well rounded and fun and Forest has my heart ❤️ I loved the idea see of different troupes and the idea of basically living out your own rom com.
With that being said the only major issue I had was that I wish this would have been released either last winter or this coming winter because with the wintery setting it just feels like that's when I would want to read it and not in the spring when it is set to release...outside that I would recommend to anyone wanting a ROM Com full of troupes and heart!

Was this review helpful?

3.5 ⭐️

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and Victoria Lavine providing me this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts!

The storyline obviously takes part during the winter at an alaskan vacation lodge so I don’t quite understand why this wasn’t released last winter or even winter 2025, it would’ve been a better time imo 😩 That being said, Forest has my heart! He was a picture perfect boyfriend, on and off the page. As someone who is really close to her family, I love how the characters also loved their families.

Tropes:
- Forced Proximity
- Romance Author FMC x Doctor MMC
- Enemies to Lovers
- Snowed In

Was this review helpful?

I was really torn between a 3 and a 4 for this one. Some pros: I really loved the disability representation, it was easy to read and I kept wanting to come back for more. The setting was vivid and fun to return to over again and I love that it didn’t drag out the will they/wont they plot.
Some cons: some details and logistics are unclear and took me out of the story. I wished there was more detail into what she was writing her book about. Sometimes I felt like it was going by a little too fast and skimmed over the time she was there - I don’t think any part of the book passed the Bechdel test. It felt the point of everything ever discussed was to relate back to the love story, even when it was supposed to be about them being their own person or a support for others.
Overall, I’d recommend it! Easy read, nothing crazy or life changing.

Was this review helpful?

Any Trope but You is a 5-star debut novel by Victoria Lavine. I immensely enjoyed the author’s writing style. I couldn’t put the book down. This romcom was such a fun read. The main characters, Margot and Forrest, had depth and chemistry. It was easy to root for a happily ever after for these two. Must read.

Was this review helpful?

I really enjoy books about authors so I knew I’d enjoy this one! It was a fairly easy read and I loved the setting in Alaska. It didn’t stand out too much against other romance books but I still enjoyed!

Was this review helpful?

Oh tragic personal crisis - Oh handsome brawny hunk in the woods who can right any wrong with his handsome brawny-ness! Any Trope But You is a mostly lightweight romantic comedy that will walk you through the set up for The Next Great American Romance, because despite trying to run away from romance novels entirely, the main character Margot is literally walking into one.

It's a cute story, yes, and if you really love romantic comedies, you'll probably like this one. It just wasn't my favorite.

The one thing I do applaud here is the inclusion of characters with disabilities and chronic pain, characters who need full-time carers and have unpredictable health patterns. Both of the main characters have family members they feel responsible for, and I think the topic is handled very well (without one of the characters actually being one of the disabled themselves...somehow the lead characters are always the normies).

That being said, I think my main complaint here is that given the sincerity of the themes implied by those circumstances, this novel leans far too heavily in the almost-stupid romantic comedy hijinks. Of course, we're expecting to go through a long list of cliched tropes (hey-it's in the title), but I think it was the air-headedness required for Margot to fall into all of them that bugged me. Was it her actual personality? Eh. The two sides of her just didn't seem to match up very well for me.

The romance, however, seemed quite genuine once it got going (given that the first of the tropes was dumbfounding-attraction at first sight), and by the end I didn't need any further convincing that it had legs to stand on once they got into the 'real world'. Also, the spicy scenes in this book were particularly good, in my personal estimation.

The themes, as well, are valuable. Throw yourself into new experiences, pick yourself back up when the world knocks you down, don't erase yourself within the needs of others, and, of course, you'll always find your true love once you hit rock bottom and decide to take a spontaneous trip to Alaska in hopes of rearranging your entire life!

I wish I could give this book a higher rating, but with issues previously discussed and some elements of the ending that also felt a little too convenient in a way that put a bad taste in my mouth, this is sitting at three stars from me.

Note:: I received this book for free through the publisher and netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Was this review helpful?

While it was a slow start to get into, it kinda grew on me.

Funny, slightly tragic and a light read, but also just like a lot of the recent romance novels I've read.. I found myself wishing for more..


Thank you Net Galley and Atria books for the advanced copy!

Was this review helpful?

This is absolutely everything I want in a romance book and more. The emotional depth and character growth??? Incredible. But even better, the handling of grief and chronic illness????? Victoria Lavine has my eternal gratitude for writing this.

Was this review helpful?

*Thank you, Netgalley & Atria Books, for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Unfortunately, I'm debating between a two and two-and-a-half stars for this one. While I loved the concept and was super intrigued, I got bored halfway through, and it just lost me. The spice scenes were awkward and felt misplaced. It took me forever to get past some points because I was just not interested in reading. Their conflict was super drawn out; you see it a mile away. Wished the plot had more going on. And honestly, if they were a real couple, they wouldn't have a chance of lasting, I'm sorry. The ending left much to be desired.

Was this review helpful?