Discussion - Trope Talk - Age Gap Romance

This Week's Topic

Trope Talk - Age Gap Romance

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I always remember being at a BookCon panel, and an author (YA author who I cannot remember, a big one) talked about tropes, and she said, "I love all the tropes!" I sort of agree with her to some degree. So, I decided I would do a trope talk, here and there, to share my thoughts and get yours on some I recently encountered. 

This one has been simmering in my mind ever since I read Sweet Thing. I liked this book, however, I always got a little bit of an ick-factor when the age issue arose. The rest of the story was good enough to make me forget it, but I seem to have some big opinions about age gap romances. 

In Sweet Thing, the heroine falls in love with one of her father's teammates who is twelve years older than her. In my mind, I was thinking about how he was in middle school was she was born. She was just starting grade school when he graduated high school. I know the older man-younger woman thing dominates in society, but I struggle with it. I have read many older hero-younger heroine books, but I definitely try to forgot about the age difference. The only book I could not finish with that kind of age gap was one where the romance was between a woman and her best friend's father. That's just too much for me. 

Oddly enough, I have no issue when the heroine is older. It could be the practicality of it for me. On average, women live longer than men. If you man is younger, there is a better chance of you growing old together. Or maybe it's something rooted deeper in the way I find old men dating young girls gross, and it's my subconscious way of rebelling against that. Whatever the reason, I never have an issue with older woman-younger man, and I am just fine acknowledging the age gap. I feel like the gap was within ten years in these books, too. It's hard for me to understand people crossing those generational lines. I know, it's my hangup, but I seem to not let it keep me from reading any books. 

Here are some age-gap romances I loved. These are all older heroine-younger hero. 

• Secret or Shutout by Leah Brunner
• Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez
• Well Matched by Jen DeLuca
• Tools of Engagement by Tessa Bailey
• Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center
• Swept Away by Beth O'Leary
• Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan
• Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes
• The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
• Is She Really Going Out with Him by Sophie Cousens
• Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan
• Off the Map by Trish Doller

Now it's your turn!

Thoughts on age gap romance?
Let us know in the comments!