Fast Romances

Lifeboat, Frontier, Love at First Sight

Since I seem to write in a weird space that is “sort of” romance, or at least includes some romance, I’m very interested in viewpoints on how the genre works, and how some of the tropes work.

Caroline’s discussion of “Frontier Romances” over at her blog really opened my eyes, and gave me a lot to think about. She talks about three different “fast romance” tropes. Check out her examples and explanations of these tropes at Frontier Romance

Lifeboat

Desperate situation, so they get to know each other very well very fast so they can survive.

Frontier

They each gain self-knowledge under the stress of survival in a difficult "frontier" environment. It is not so much a desperate situation as a difficult, character defining situation. Example: Logan Cates, hero of Papgo Wells, by Louis L’Amour.

“Times like this, a man comes face to face with himself.” — Logan Cates, hero of Papago Wells, by Louis L’Amour

Love at first sight

Each already knows who he or she really is, and can also see the other person as he or she really is. Although that doesn’t mean they don’t still need to learn about each other. This is still the hardest one for me to comprehend, but I think I have a better idea of what it is, or could be, about.

Mary Kate from Quiet Man

Sean from Quiet Man