Sometimes a book comes along that feels like it was written specifically for romance readers who understand the joy, comfort, and occasional absurdity of loving a genre that often gets dismissed as \u201cjust smut.\u201d Susan Lee\u2019s \u201cThe Romance Rivalry\u201d is that book \u2013 a charming meta-romance that both celebrates and gently pokes fun at the tropes we can\u2019t help but love.<\/p>\n
As someone who\u2019s spent countless hours categorizing books by their tropes and swooning over perfectly executed meet-cutes, I found myself nodding, laughing, and occasionally cringing with recognition as Irene Park navigated her freshman year of college with a romance-novel roadmap firmly in hand.<\/p>\n
Irene Park is a successful online romance book reviewer with over a million followers, but her real-life romantic experience is nonexistent. When she starts college at Brighton (her father\u2019s alma mater), she decides it\u2019s time to find her own happily-ever-after by methodically working through classic romance tropes.<\/p>\n
Her plans get complicated when she discovers her online nemesis, fellow romance reviewer Aiden Jeon, not only attends the same college but is in her literature class. When Aiden challenges Irene to see who can find love through tropes first, their rivalry escalates into an all-out competition.<\/p>\n
What follows is a delightful, self-aware romance<\/a> that uses every trope in the book \u2013 literally. From small-town romance to forced proximity, enemies-to-lovers to fake dating, Lee cleverly weaves these familiar scenarios into Irene\u2019s college experience while simultaneously showing how messy real-life relationships can be compared to their fictional counterparts.<\/p>\n Lee brilliantly captures the overwhelming transition from high school to college. Irene\u2019s struggles with coursework, imposter syndrome<\/a>, and finding her place feel painfully accurate. The pressure she puts on herself to succeed academically while pleasing her parents will resonate with many readers, particularly those who\u2019ve felt the weight of familial expectations.<\/p>\n This passage perfectly encapsulates the freshman experience:<\/p>\n Irene\u2019s journey from people-pleaser to someone who advocates for her own happiness feels earned. Her initial inability to recognize her own worth provides a solid foundation for growth throughout the novel. Similarly, Aiden\u2019s character arc from perceived rival to supportive partner unfolds naturally, avoiding the whiplash-inducing personality changes that sometimes plague romance novels.<\/p>\n The supporting cast is equally well-developed:<\/p>\n Jeannette, Irene\u2019s roommate, is a delight \u2013 boundlessly enthusiastic and supportive The book\u2019s greatest strength is its loving examination of romance as a genre. Through Irene and Aiden\u2019s reviews (cleverly placed at the beginning of each chapter), Lee explores how differently readers can interpret the same tropes and themes. Their conflicting perspectives on romance novels mirror their approaches to real-life relationships, creating a thoughtful commentary on the gap between fiction and reality.<\/p>\n The format itself is clever\u2014each chapter revolves around a specific trope, with Irene attempting to apply these structured narrative frameworks to her messy real-life situations. It\u2019s both highly entertaining and a smart commentary on why we love these familiar patterns.<\/p>\n While the episodic structure works well conceptually, it occasionally makes the narrative feel choppy. Some trope explorations get significantly more development than others, and the middle sections sometimes drag as Irene works through her list. The dating challenge aspect occasionally feels like a checklist rather than organic story development.<\/p>\n The professional rivalry between Irene and Aiden over the SKCupid brand deal sometimes gets lost in the shuffle of college drama and personal growth. The stakes are established early but then fluctuate in importance throughout the novel, making this particular conflict feel inconsistently handled.<\/p>\n Some of the conflicts, particularly between Irene and Aiden around his manuscript, feel too easily resolved. Given Irene\u2019s deep-seated insecurities, her relatively quick acceptance of Aiden\u2019s explanation doesn\u2019t entirely align with her established character traits. The miscommunication trope is acknowledged in-text but still employed in ways that occasionally feel contrived.<\/p>\n Books about books<\/strong>: The Romance Rivalry joins titles like Emily Henry\u2019s \u201cGreat Big Beautiful Life<\/a>\u201d and Jasmine Guillory\u2019s \u201cFlirting Lessons<\/a>\u201d in celebrating bibliophiles finding their own love stories Susan Lee\u2019s writing style perfectly captures the voice of a romance-obsessed college freshman. The prose is conversational and accessible, peppered with references that will delight genre enthusiasts. Irene\u2019s internal monologues are particularly well-crafted, balancing humor with genuine vulnerability:<\/p>\n The dialogue between Irene and Aiden crackles with chemistry and wit, making their eventual partnership feel earned rather than manufactured.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Romance Rivalry\u201d is both a delightful college romance and a thoughtful meditation on why we read romance in the first place. Despite some pacing issues, the novel successfully delivers on its premise, offering:<\/p>\n An enemies-to-lovers romance<\/a> that feels authentic For a debut adult romance (following Lee\u2019s YA novels), this book demonstrates impressive genre awareness while creating characters readers will genuinely care about. The college setting feels authentic rather than idealized, and Irene\u2019s journey toward self-acceptance resonates beyond her romantic storyline.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Romance Rivalry\u201d isn\u2019t perfect\u2014few books are\u2014but its flaws are easily forgiven because of its charming premise, engaging characters, and genuine heart. Susan Lee has crafted a romance that romance readers will love precisely because it understands them so well.<\/p>\n Like the best books in the genre, it reminds us why we fall in love with romance novels in the first place: they offer us visions of happiness that, while sometimes idealized, help us recognize the possibilities in our own lives. Irene learns that being the main character in your own story requires more than following a prescribed set of tropes\u2014it means embracing the unexpected plot twists that make real life both messier and more rewarding than fiction.<\/p>\n For readers who highlight passages in their romance novels, collect tropes like trading cards, and believe in the transformative power of a good HEA, \u201cThe Romance Rivalry\u201d feels like coming home to a genre that understands you as well as you understand it.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sometimes a book comes along that feels like it was written specifically for romance readers who understand the joy, comfort, and occasional absurdity of loving a genre that often gets dismissed as \u201cjust smut.\u201d Susan Lee\u2019s \u201cThe Romance Rivalry\u201d is that book \u2013 a charming meta-romance that both celebrates and gently pokes fun at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2945"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2945\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Strengths: What Makes This Book Shine<\/h2>\n
Authentic College Experience<\/h3>\n
\u201cI want to crawl under my chair. Or better yet, hightail it out of the office and never look back. Maybe it\u2019s not too late to change my mind and start all over, with something new, somewhere new. My mom\u2019s and dad\u2019s faces cross my mind, the disappointment painted all over them.\u201d<\/em><\/h4>\n
Rich Character Development<\/h3>\n
\nCharles provides the perfect foil as Aiden\u2019s friend and second
\nDr. Kingston evolves beyond the stern professor stereotype
\nEven Irene\u2019s family members, from her supermodel sister to her golf prodigy brother, feel three-dimensional<\/p>\nMeta Commentary on Romance<\/h3>\n
Areas That Could Be Stronger<\/h2>\n
Pacing Issues<\/h3>\n
Uneven Stakes<\/h3>\n
Conflict Resolution<\/h3>\n
Perfect For Romance Readers Who Love\u2026<\/h2>\n
\nCollege settings<\/strong>: The authentic portrayal of freshman year struggles will appeal to fans of Christina Lauren\u2019s \u201cThe Unhoneymooners\u201d and Sally Thorne\u2019s \u201cThe Hating Game\u201d
\nKorean American representation<\/strong>: Like Lee\u2019s previous young adult novels \u201cSeoulmates\u201d and \u201cThe Name Drop,\u201d this book thoughtfully incorporates Korean cultural elements without making them the focal point of the story
\nMeta-romance<\/strong>: Readers who enjoyed \u201cBeach Read\u201d by Emily Henry or \u201cThe Bookish Life of Nina Hill\u201d by Abbi Waxman will appreciate this self-aware take on romance tropes<\/p>\nThe Writing: Fresh and Engaging<\/h2>\n
\u201cI am going to fall in love. And I was going to use tropes to do it.\u201d I gulp back my embarrassment.<\/em><\/h4>\n
He stares at me.<\/em><\/h4>\n
He doesn\u2019t even blink.<\/em><\/h4>\n
I don\u2019t have it in me to go into further detail. I don\u2019t want to admit that in the first week alone, I\u2019ve flubbed two tropes, two dates, already. And I\u2019m worried that my foolproof plan to fall in love may not actually work.<\/em><\/h4>\n
The Verdict: A Love Letter to Romance Readers<\/h2>\n
\nThoughtful exploration of finding your own path
\nA celebration of romance novels as more than just \u201cguilty pleasures\u201d
\nComplex family dynamics and friendships
\nA satisfying happily-ever-after<\/a> that feels earned<\/p>\n