Flirting Lessons Author Jasmine Guillory's Favorite Rom-Com Tropes
From slow burns to love triangles and everything in between, author Jasmine Guillory is certainly no stranger to romance tropes.
She’s even been known to create some of her own. Indeed, Guillory’s wildly successful 2018 novel The Proposal follows Nikole, who—after her boyfriend of five months unexpectedly, undesirably and very publicly proposes to her—is swept away by a mystery bystander, Carlos. Inevitably, the two fall in love in a high-stakes twist on your typical strangers-to-lovers story.
Guillory has written seven books since, spanning a variety of interesting characters put in thrilling, and often complicated, romantic situations. But there’s one trope that she often finds herself returning to.
“Oh my gosh, I love fake dating so much,” Guillory told E! News in an exclusive interview at the 30th Annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. “I would write another fake dating book in a heartbeat, but I feel like I can't keep going back to that well too much. But I love reading it and I love writing it. I think it's so fun.”
And as for her least favorite? There’s a few that Guillory wouldn’t mind breaking up with.
“I don't love secret baby, and I'm less fond of enemies-to-lovers, which I feel like a lot of people love,” Guillory noted. “But for me, so often it starts off with them just being mean to each other, and that makes me sad. But I also think in the hands of a great writer, I like any trope.”
Guillory’s ninth and latest book Flirting Lessons (out now) explores a new and unfamiliar trope for regular readers: love coaching. The story follows the newly single Avery, who is looking to explore her bisexuality and start playing the field. Enter Taylor: an also freshly broken-up-with winery owner who’s known as Napa’s biggest heartbreaker.
She offers her romantic expertise by giving Avery lessons on how to flirt, but the teacher truly becomes the student when Taylor ends up falling for her.
Not only was the premise of Flirting Lessons new for Guillory, but it was also her first queer love story. And although it was unfamiliar, the process of bringing their story to life came to her quite naturally.
“I feel like I am usually writing from the female gaze, so it was very easy to write two characters sort of writing from that direction, and it was fun,” Guillory explained. “This is Avery's real first queer experience, and she has known that she was bi for a while but has only had a series of boyfriends. So, it was also fun to think about it from both of their perspectives.”
Guillory is currently in the writing process for the second book in the Flirting Lessons series, with plans to further develop Avery and Taylor’s relationship and possibly explore new tropes.
In the meantime, keep reading to discover more romance novels to add to your TBR list…
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