A bestselling romance author flees to Alaska to reinvent herself and write her first murder mystery, but the rugged resort proprietor soon has her fearing she’s living in a rom-com plot instead in this internationally bestselling debut by Victoria Lavine. Beloved romance author Margot Bradley has a dark secret: she doesn’t believe in Happily Ever Afters. Not for herself, not for her readers, and not even for her characters, for whom she secretly writes alternate endings that swap weddings and babies for divorce papers and the occasional slashed tire. When her Happily Never After document is hacked and released to the public, she finds herself canceled by her readers and dropped by her publisher. Desperate to find a way to continue supporting her chronically ill sister, Savannah, Margot decides to trade meet-cutes for murder. The fictional kind. Probably. But when Savannah books Margot a six-week stay in a remote Alaskan resort to pen her first murder mystery, Margot finds herself running from a moose and leaping into the arms of the handsome proprietor, making her fear she’s just landed in a romance novel instead. The last thing Dr. Forrest Wakefield ever expected was to leave his dream job as a cancer researcher to become a glorified bellhop. What he’s really doing at his family’s resort is caring for his stubborn, ailing father, and his puzzle-loving mind is slowly freezing over—until Margot shows up. But Forrest doesn’t have any room in his life for another person he could lose, especially one with a checkout date. As long snowy nights and one unlikely trope after another draw Margot and Forrest together, they’ll each have to learn to overcome their fears and set their aside assumptions before Margot leaves—or risk becoming a Happily Never After story themselves. "This is a fantastic debut rom-com, and a love letter to the tropes we romance readers love…This book is snarky and swoony in equal measure, and even though it takes place in Alaska, don’t worry: the smoldering chemistry more than makes up for the cold and snow. And I have two words: sauna scene. You’re welcome.” —Amazon, Best Romance Books of 2025 "Lavine turns many of the common romance novel tropes on their heads in this stunning debut. Top-notch banter will have readers laughing out loud as they root for Margot to finally achieve her own happily-ever-after." — Library Journal , starred review, Romance Debut of the Month "A love letter to 'romancelandia' and the tropes it celebrates." — LibraryReads Top Ten Books for April 2025 “In Lavine’s often humorous, sometimes heart-wrenching debut, a jaded romance author navigates a slew of rom-com tropes…It’s sweet to watch the leads bond over their mutual understanding of caretaking and sacrifice. Readers will have no trouble rooting for this pair’s happy ending.” —Publishers Weekly "Victoria Lavine's debut, the smart, sexy rom-com Any Trope but You , is a witty send-up of common romance motifs and a sweet tribute to the power of second chances...While Lavine's narrative has plenty of heat (including a very sweaty sauna scene), she also plumbs Margot's backstory with sensitivity and depth...With appealing characters, witty banter, and plenty of Alaskan touches (including a moose named Bullwinkle), Any Trope but You is a spicy confection for avid romance fans." —Shelf Awareness "Fans of Emily Henry’s Beach Read , prepare to be wooed by Victoria Lavine’s debut book, which follows romance writer Margot Bradley as she attempts to reinvent herself as a murder-mystery novelist...As the title hints, Any Trope But You is a swoon-worthy celebration of the most beloved tropes in the rom-com genre, from the enemies-to-lovers plot to a forced proximity situation." —Harper's Bazaar, 25 Best Books Coming Out This Spring "There are few things as good as a romance about cynical romance writers, and this one adds a wink and a nod to today’s “trope”-based romance culture, too!" — Paste Magazine , The Most Anticipated Romance Books of 2025 "This debut romance is beautifully written, nicely balancing humor and heat with realistic drama and conflict...Margot and Forrest’s roles as caretakers to their relatives ground the story in deeper emotion and lead to refreshing attitude shifts and insights for the characters."— Kirkus "This is a sharp debut novel that spicy romance readers will eat up. First, there is an abundance of classic romance tropes to entertain you. Second, the main characters have substance and “real life issues” beyond their physical spark, from caretaking duties to grief and career setbacks. Beyond that, the Alaskan resort setting adds charm and coziness."— The Literary Lifestyle "I got fully sucked into this book....if you like Emily Henry and Abby Jimenez, it's very much in that vein without being derivative...I loved it...this author has a very big year in store."— Bad on Paper "In many of the summer’s hottest rom-coms, characters are fleeing th