You’ll find every trope known to humankind within the romance genre, but there’s one that never fails to make my teeth itch. In the multitude of book promos that populate my social media feed, the trope of the female main character harboring secrets reigns supreme. The secrecy trope comes in two basic variations:
- The heroine has a “dark” background that she keeps secret, and it comes back to bite her. But all is forgiven, of course.
- The heroine is intimate with a dangerous man and gets pregnant. She keeps the pregnancy secret … until she can’t, of course.
The “Dark” Background
So-called dark backgrounds run the gamut from a history of childhood abuse to current illegal or illicit activity to present circumstances resulting in impending homelessness, joblessness, or other situational catastrophe. It’s almost always used as a reason for shame, something the heroine doesn’t want other people—especially the hero—knowing about because it reflects poorly on her.
In a (very) few such instances, the dark background is something actually does need to be kept secret, like the heroine’s employment as an undercover operator or integrated in WITSEC (the witness protection program). In those (very) few instances, I can accept the secrecy as necessary: she’s undercover. That rarely happens, however, because the heroine is usually employed as a waitress, primary school teacher, a secretary/administrative assistant, a student, or unemployed.
There’s nothing dishonorable about any of the above jobs, but the limited career options for romance heroines leads to another … er … discussion. I’ll save that for another post.
Mostly, however, the secret is used as a contrived device to elevate tension in the story. It justifies the failure of the heroine to have a candid discussion to explain her odd behavior, at least until the third act climax when all is revealed and explanations are overdue to facilitate the touching reunion of the romantically involved.
The Secret Baby
The secret baby trope comes in a couple of standard options.
First is the one night stand or brief affair in which the hero and heroine part (for whatever reason) before she realizes she’s pregnant. The heroine doesn’t bother to contact the hero to let him know of his impending fatherhood because … reasons. They’re usually really bad, ill-considered, downright stupid reasons. When the hero and heroine reunite, he’s always surprised by the revelation of his fatherhood—the child is usually a few years old by that point—and oftentimes angry she kept it a secret. Well, the hero’s immediate reaction is understandable. However, the revelation then leads to the hero taking over the heroine’s life: he compels her to move in with him, and they usually and quickly wed. Cue the violins.
The second secret baby option occurs primarily in mafia romances, but may be found in other sub-genres, too. A one night stand or brief affair results in pregnancy. The mobster hero finds out … and now she and their soon-to-arrive offspring belong to him. He forcibly takes over her life, marries her, and basically sequesters her on his estate, showering her with luxury and withholding freedom. But that’s okay because he’s keeping her safe. Ugh.
Twists on the Secret Pregnancy Trope
Every so often, I’ll come across a twist on the tired old trope that intrigues me, if only because I want to see how the author handles it. In 2024, I came across a paranormal romance that had the pregnant heroine approaching the hero to inform him of his impending fatherhood and responsibilities. He dismisses her as a liar and gold digger. That’s so unusual for the genre (not real life) that it sparked my interest.
Another book I read last year had to do with a single mother heroine whose child was a teenager. She did attempt to locate and inform the hero, but he was nowhere to be found. Of course, the surprise reunion had its prickly moments with sufficient name calling and self-flagellation of guilt, but the twist was enough to hook my interest.
The secrecy trope has become so ubiquitous that I’ve nearly gotten to the point I immediately dismiss a book from consideration if the back cover blurb even mentions the word “secret.”
What romance tropes would you like to less of?