As a big fan of romantic comedies, both in movie andbook form, I have a shortlist of beloved tropes. Enemies to lovers? Sunshine and grumpy? Second chances after a missed connection? Love, love, love.

But I also have a shortlist of my most hated clichés. I know it’s a me thing, but I just don’t like a workplace romance where one party is clearly working directly under the other. I also don’t like romances that kick off when one party is in a relationship with someone else. Or romances where someone is pining for their best friend’s partner. And I absolutely loathe rom-coms where we’re supposed to buy the strength of a couple based on some sort of alternate-reality-slash-dream situation where literally everything else about their lives is different, and only one person remembers the details. When the tropes are the premise, there’s often no hope for me latching on.