The ThriftBooks Blog

By Ashly Moore Sheldon • August 15, 2025

One of our favorite romance tropes has to be enemies-to-lovers. There's just something delicious about the fiery push and pull of a pair of would-be lovers treading the fine line between love and hate. Learn about the long history of enemies-to-lovers lit and explore some of our favorite subtropes. Plus a new TropeTote™! 

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By Amanda Cleveland • July 27, 2025

Whether written in the stars or connected by the red string of fate, readers of Fated Mates romance books know that some people truly belong together, like you and our latest TropeTote!

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By Amanda Cleveland • June 08, 2025

Happy June! We’ve welcomed another Trope into the TropeTrove™, this time one of my personal favorites, Grumpy x Sunshine. Read on for some recs that will have you melting...

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By Terry Fleming • May 01, 2025

Welcome to Morally Grey fiction, where motives are ambiguous, intentions are ambivalent, and every flaw has a corresponding virtue! Morally Grey characters exist in many genres of fiction, but today, we'll be covering three: Fantasy, Thrillers, and Romance. Read on for book recommendations and more on the latest nuanced, dynamic trope added to our collection.

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By Ashly Moore Sheldon • April 02, 2025

The fact that romance novels often employ familiar tropes doesn’t make them any less enjoyable. In fact, some of us never tire of certain delicious scenarios like getting out of the friend-zone or workplace competition. Here we review some of the top tropes in slow-burn romances. 

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By Barbara Hagen • February 04, 2025

All of us at ThriftBooks believe tropes deserve to have their time in the sun. So, we are kicking off a bit of a Trope Era by introducing the ThriftBooks TropeTrove™, a collection of book titles organized by various tropes. In this dedicated section of ThriftBooks.com you can search for books by popular tropes or seek out recommendations based upon certain book tropes you enjoy.

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By Ashly Moore Sheldon • July 18, 2023

The fact that romance novels often employ familiar tropes doesn’t make them any less enjoyable. In fact, some of us never tire of certain delicious scenarios like split inheritances or cute-kid connections. Here we review some of the top tropes in cowboy romances. 

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By Ashly Moore Sheldon • October 20, 2022

The fact that certain subgenres of romance often employ familiar tropes doesn’t make them any less enjoyable. In fact, some of us never tire of certain delicious scenarios like secret societies and elite boarding schools. Here we review some of the top tropes in dark academia.

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By Ashly Moore Sheldon • February 27, 2022

The fact that romance novels often employ familiar tropes doesn’t make them any less enjoyable. In fact, some of us never tire of certain delicious scenarios like love triangles or . Here we review some of the top tropes in second chance romances.

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By Ashly Moore Sheldon • February 17, 2022

The fact that romance novels often employ familiar tropes doesn’t make them any less enjoyable. In fact, some of us never tire of certain delicious scenarios like love triangles or the highly relatable friend-zone dilemma. Here we review some of the top tropes in friends-to-lovers romances.

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