As a romance reader, I definitely have tropes I love more than others. When I heard about Tropesick it caught my eye. I love when a story plays with things like that and that our main characters would be writing a book. Today I want to tell you all about this book and what I thought!
A big thank you to Netgalley and Avon Books for providing me with an eARC to read and review. This doesn’t affect my opinion in any way.
In this lush, slow-burning romance, two childhood neighbors, connected by a shared tragedy, unexpectedly reunite to ghostwrite a love story for a reclusive author. Spending the summer at her secluded Hamptons estate, they soon discover that dozens of classic romance tropes, including the ones they’re crafting on page, are mysteriously playing out in real life.
Katie Caruso is a completely normal twenty-five-year-old girl. At least, for the past eight years, she’s tried to be. She likes glitter and sequins and flirting with cute boys at New York City bars. She’s also a ghostwriter for Meredith Bradford, the bestselling romance novelist of all time. But then Tyler McNally walks back into Katie’s life, and that bedazzled facade crumbles at her platform-sneakered feet.
Katie and Tyler haven’t seen or spoken to each other since the overdose death of Katie’s older brother, a standout MLB pitching prospect. Tyler was her brother’s best friend, and Katie—naturally—was the girl next door. But now, Tyler is a sleeve-tattooed, Ivy League-educated aspiring literary fiction novelist, nine years sober . . . and Katie’s writing partner for the summer.
As genre conventions require, Katie and Tyler soon find themselves removed from Manhattan and instead writing their love story in “forced proximity” at Meredith’s isolated Southampton home. As the summer unfolds, the tropes Katie and Tyler have written into their novel begin to play out in their own lives. Call it destiny, fate, or magic It’s clear their love story is unfinished. This time, though, they’ll fight for their happy ending.
Review
When I heard about Tropesick I was sold because of the the fact that the tropes our main characters write about end up starting to play out in their lives. I’m someone who loves a little magical realism in my romances. Also, as a romance reader, I love a lot of the tropes that we see in this book. Tropesick was one of my most anticipated releases of 2026 and it didn’t disappoint.
Tropesick has short chapters and I love that and because of the short chapters, I flew through this book. Also, I can never say no to a book within a book, so I just couldn’t go wrong with this one. Katie and Tyler end up being put on a ghost-writing project together and their past makes this difficult. Both of these characters share trauma and some tragic events in the past. This was brought to life by giving us chapters in the past. Lauren Okie gave us so much angst and emotion by doing this. While I do wish we got just a bit more of certain events and relationships. I understand why the author did this the way she did.
The second chance romance between Katie and Tyler was filled with so much tension and angst. Add in their time with the author they’re writing for and things get interesting. I love the magical twists and I definitely wasn’t expecting how certain things played out. I don’t want to say too much about those because it’s something you really need to read for yourself. Lauren Okie has written another book and I will definitely be picking it up. I have a feeling she’s going to be an author I continue to enjoy.
Tropesick was a fun read and it reminds me why I love romance so much. If you’re a romance reader, what are some of your favorite tropes? If you don’t read romance, what are themes you love to see in the books you read? Let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear from you!
