We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl.

I was going to rogue today because my brain is kinda flagging after a long day and of course I’m doing this at the last minute. 🤣 But I decided to give it one big go and well, these are what’s top of mind at the moment!

Want to read it:

If I really sat down and thought about it, I’d probably come up with a better list. As it is, this is what we’re working with:

• “Cosy” — Anything with the word ‘cosy’ is pretty much a vibe that I rock with. I love cosy fantasies, cosy fantasy romances, and cosy mysteries. Give me all the cosy books!

• Found or Chosen Family — One of my favourite tropes/elements in a book and if you tell me a book has this in it, it’s guaranteed to wind up on my TBR. Seriously, there’s nothing I love more than a group of people finding and choosing each other, knowing that, through the mess and wonder that is life, these people will always be in your corner. Plus, the dynamic of this group usually comes with a great amount of banter and genuine good feelings. I love it!

• True Crime — I’m a sucker for true crime and although I don’t read a lot of non-fiction, I do have tons waiting to be read and a lot of them are of the true crime variety. I promise I’m not an aspiring serial killer or anything of the sort, I just really… Enjoy reading about them? 🙃 I find the human element of it all incredibly fascinating. I probably should’ve chosen the criminology route back at uni, lol.

• Fantasy worlds inspired by any non-Western setting — That’s not to say that I don’t read fantasies set in non-Western settings because of course I do, but I love non-Western settings because these fantasy worlds are rich in vastly different ways. It’s nice and refreshing to see the influences of other cultures, customs, histories, and myths infused in these fantasy settings.

• Marriage of Convenience or Fake Dating — I love a marriage of convenience or fake dating scenario. Maybe there’s not a whole lot new or exciting to these tropes, but I love the angst, the tension, the will-they-won’t-they or when-will-they moments as genuine feelings grow. It’s a comfort trope for my comfort genre (romance)!

Want to avoid it:

There’s really not much that will make me not want to pick up a book, aside from an author or genre that I won’t enjoy or am too scared of.

• Love Triangle — Absolutely miss me with this. I know people say that they can dig it ‘if it’s done well’ but no, I just don’t like this kind of angst in a romance because someone is always going to ‘lose’ or get hurt in the process, even if authors write it like it’s “no big deal”. Even worse when they give them a new love interest that comes out of nowhere, but then I think it just cheapens past feelings and also, makes me feel like characters are “settling for second best” because they couldn’t be with the one they truly wanted. I guess I have big feelings about this trope but it’s absolutely a nope for me, lol.

• Accidental Pregnancy — This is another romance trope that I don’t vibe with. There’s only one book that I really loved with this accidental pregnancy trope and it is one of my favourites of all time (because Lizzie Blake!) but for the most part, most of the romances I read with this have not worked for me. 🤷🏻‍♀️

The next few words/phrases all fall under the horror category which I (mostly) stay away from. It’s weird that in the past year I’ve more horror stories than I ever have in all my years of reading combined, so I guess there is some horror that I can handle. If it’s to do with the supernatural (ghosts, demons—but not like monster romance demons or fantasy demons, lol), hauntings/haunted houses, and possessions (of people, dolls, other items), then it’s a hard pass for me. No, thank you. Next, please.

Can you relate with any of these buzzwords or phrases?

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