7 Slow Burn Romances That Will Make You Tingle
Slow Burn has been one of my favourite tropes of all time - the anticipation, the tension, the second-guessing, the little moments. I live for all of those. But unfortunately, this is not a trope that is found frequently in my experience. Or at least, well-written slow burn romances. It is not an easy trope to write and it shows. The littlest mistake or impatience in the plot makes it all drain down the pipe. But when it works, oh, it works.
Here are some slow burn romances that really, really did it for me:
The first book in the list is, of course, by the Slow Burn Queen: Mariana Zapata. No one writes it better than her, tested and proven. Another trademark of her books is how the setting is usually in the professional sports world. From Lukov With Love follows two figure skaters who hate each other but now have to work together for at least one season. It is not my favourite book by her, but it is the first one I read and I was an instant fan.
Want a slow burn? Close your eyes and read any book by Mariana Zapata. You will never go wrong.
Some other tropes in From Lukov With Love: enemies-to-lovers, sports-stories, he-fell-first.
A young-adult novel about Carla, a teen who has never been outside her house because of her very rare malady SCID (also called bubble boy disease), which in simple terms is a genetic defect that result in a severely weak immune system. She is content living with her mother in their big, extremely-sterilised house, until a family moves next door and their boy, Oliver, becomes a frequent guest at Carla's house. It's a sweet, juvenile, clean romance with not-too-much emphasis on the SCID but enough to raise awareness.
Some other tropes in Everything, Everything: ham-and-deadpan-duo (but he is the hammy), forbidden-love, all-girls-want-bad-boys.
Read this one a few years ago, so I don't quite remember everything but the general plot is: the high school is playing matchmaker with the kids(because of the rapidly increasing divorce rates). It is a ridiculous experiment, with even more ridiculous results which are equally hilarious. Fiona is paired for a "year-long marriage" with a jock who she does not like, whereas the cheerleader she hates "married" Fiona's long-time crush who is probably unaware Fiona even exists. Teen drama with heavy hilarity and bitchiness ensues and we all fall for the bloke Fiona eventually ends up with.
Some other tropes in A Match Made in High School: high-school, actually-pretty-funny, small-town-big-hell.
In my experience, CoHo writes only two kinds of books: 5-stars and 2-stars (because I never rate a book 1 star). This was, of course, 5-stars. Focusing on romances of mother's and daughter's both simultaneously, this is full of angst and pity parties and healing and CoHo trying too hard to make her characters quirky. As usual, in short. Morgan's, and her daughter Clara's, life upends when her husband died in a car accident, while he was with her sister. Because they were in affair for years and no one knew. And now Clara hates her father (and everyone adult) and Morgan is trying to mend her shattered heart while at the same time trying to make Clara not hate her father because say what you will, Chris was an awesome dad.
Miller was an amazing boyfriend though.
Some other tropes in Regretting You: tear-jerker, accidental-pregnancy, midlife-crisis
Emily Henry is a wonder who just gets better and better with each book. Every book I read of hers, I heart it. They are all just so soothing. reading them is the best stress reliever. (Reading itself is a great stress reliever but Henry does it so much better.) Poppy and Alex are college best friends who had a ritual of taking annual thrifty vacations because Poppy is obsessed with travelling - until something happened that lead to them not talking for straight two years. Now Poppy wants to go back for one last vacations to see if she can try and get her happiness back and this time they actually, really connect.
Some other tropes in People We Meet on Vacations: savvy-guy-energetic-girl, friends-to-lovers, he-fell-first.
Even though Chetan Bhagat is one of the most famous writers in India, he is not particularly well-reviewed. And Five Point Someone is especially hated by the readers, even though it was adapted into a blockbuster movie years ago. It follows three college students who were good enough to get into IIT but not good enough to deal with the pressure that comes with studying alongside the most intelligent students in the country. Though romance is not the main plot, it is very realistic - exactly how an average teenage Indian boy is with a girl definitely out of his league. Maybe the readers did not like Hari's vengeful and pessimistic thoughts, but that was the perfect representation of an Indian engineering boy. I, as an Indian who also happens to be an engineer, loved it.
Some other tropes in Five Point Someone: cram-school, grumpy-sunshine, actually-pretty-funny.
This burn was so slow that the romance came 15 years after their kid. Matt and Grace met in college, got quite close, then fought, and then finally left their own ways because life must move on. After 16 years of feeling not-particularly happy, Matt is now recently divorced and stumbling upon Grace for the first time in forever. It has lots of angst, lots of apologising and healing, and lots of spice, too.
This book is heartbreaking and painful and amazing and it will definitely make you feel all that and more.
Some other tropes in Before We Were Strangers: second-chance-romance, accidental-pregnancy-romance, midlife-crisis.
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