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 “just smut.” Susan Lee’s “The Romance Rivalry” is that book – a charming meta-romance that both celebrates and gently pokes fun at the tropes we can’t help but love.
As someone who’s 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.
The Plot: Tropes as a Life Guide
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’s alma mater), she decides it’s time to find her own happily-ever-after by methodically working through classic romance tropes.
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.
What follows is a delightful, self-aware romance that uses every trope in the book – literally. From small-town romance to forced proximity, enemies-to-lovers to fake dating, Lee cleverly weaves these familiar scenarios into Irene’s college experience while simultaneously showing how messy real-life relationships can be compared to their fictional counterparts.
Strengths: What Makes This Book Shine
Authentic College Experience
Lee brilliantly captures the overwhelming transition from high school to college. Irene’s struggles with coursework, imposter syndrome, 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’ve felt the weight of familial expectations.
This passage perfectly encapsulates the freshman experience:
“I want to crawl under my chair. Or better yet, hightail it out of the office and never look back. Maybe it’s not too late to change my mind and start all over, with something new, somewhere new. My mom’s and dad’s faces cross my mind, the disappointment painted all over them.”
Rich Character Development
Irene’s 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’s character arc from perceived rival to supportive partner unfolds naturally, avoiding the whiplash-inducing personality changes that sometimes plague romance novels.
The supporting cast is equally well-developed:
- Jeannette, Irene’s roommate, is a delight – boundlessly enthusiastic and supportive
- Charles provides the perfect foil as Aiden’s friend and second
- Dr. Kingston evolves beyond the stern professor stereotype
- Even Irene’s family members, from her supermodel sister to her golf prodigy brother, feel three-dimensional
Meta Commentary on Romance
The book’s greatest strength is its loving examination of romance as a genre. Through Irene and Aiden’s 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.
The format itself is clever—each chapter revolves around a specific trope, with Irene attempting to apply these structured narrative frameworks to her messy real-life situations. It’s both highly entertaining and a smart commentary on why we love these familiar patterns.
Areas That Could Be Stronger
Pacing Issues
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.
Uneven Stakes
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.
Conflict Resolution
Some of the conflicts, particularly between Irene and Aiden around his manuscript, feel too easily resolved. Given Irene’s deep-seated insecurities, her relatively quick acceptance of Aiden’s explanation doesn’t entirely align with her established character traits. The miscommunication trope is acknowledged in-text but still employed in ways that occasionally feel contrived.
Perfect For Romance Readers Who Love…
- Books about books: The Romance Rivalry joins titles like Emily Henry’s “Great Big Beautiful Life” and Jasmine Guillory’s “Flirting Lessons” in celebrating bibliophiles finding their own love stories
- College settings: The authentic portrayal of freshman year struggles will appeal to fans of Christina Lauren’s “The Unhoneymooners” and Sally Thorne’s “The Hating Game”
- Korean American representation: Like Lee’s previous young adult novels “Seoulmates” and “The Name Drop,” this book thoughtfully incorporates Korean cultural elements without making them the focal point of the story
- Meta-romance: Readers who enjoyed “Beach Read” by Emily Henry or “The Bookish Life of Nina Hill” by Abbi Waxman will appreciate this self-aware take on romance tropes
The Writing: Fresh and Engaging
Susan Lee’s 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’s internal monologues are particularly well-crafted, balancing humor with genuine vulnerability:
“I am going to fall in love. And I was going to use tropes to do it.” I gulp back my embarrassment.
He stares at me.
He doesn’t even blink.
I don’t have it in me to go into further detail. I don’t want to admit that in the first week alone, I’ve flubbed two tropes, two dates, already. And I’m worried that my foolproof plan to fall in love may not actually work.
The dialogue between Irene and Aiden crackles with chemistry and wit, making their eventual partnership feel earned rather than manufactured.
The Verdict: A Love Letter to Romance Readers
“The Romance Rivalry” 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:
- An enemies-to-lovers romance that feels authentic
- Thoughtful exploration of finding your own path
- A celebration of romance novels as more than just “guilty pleasures”
- Complex family dynamics and friendships
- A satisfying happily-ever-after that feels earned
For a debut adult romance (following Lee’s 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’s journey toward self-acceptance resonates beyond her romantic storyline.
“The Romance Rivalry” isn’t perfect—few books are—but 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.
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—it means embracing the unexpected plot twists that make real life both messier and more rewarding than fiction.
For readers who highlight passages in their romance novels, collect tropes like trading cards, and believe in the transformative power of a good HEA, “The Romance Rivalry” feels like coming home to a genre that understands you as well as you understand it.