A Guide to the Rockstar Romance Trope #MondayBlogs

I am in my rockstar romance reading era and its AMAZING. My reading life has been shaken up good and proper with my desire for stories based on unattainable rock star fantasies.

Oh my days – someone pass me my handheld fan and a cold compress for my forehead. I am here for rock star characters who are desperate to run away from their fame, troubled rock star characters who bump into their biggest fan years later and fall in love with them, rock star characters who are too wild and need taming plus broken hearted rockstar characters who can’t sing anymore because music reminds them of a past love. Also I like a good serving of rockstar life, band drama, band fall outs, dark shades, gelled hair, a lot of leather, fame, money, snippets of lyrics, screaming fans and both music and romantic conflict. I have been consuming both closed and open door rockstar romance books so my feelings and emotions are all over the place.

Why haven’t I fallen into this romance book vortex before? It’s so appealing and you can lose yourself for days in it.

At the centre of the rockstar romance trope is the troubled rock star. They can be male or female. Generally most of the book will be spent with them working through their feelings, figuring out their music issues / future music career and processing some strong emotions for their new love interest. They will normally be facing a pivotal time in their music career; either things will be in decline or they will be out of control. The secret with these characters is that they will always be wanting to push boundaries and break rules. There could be a band involved and if there is you will see two worlds being created; internal band life and external life / love interest.

Rock stars in general get to be noticed by industry if they look visually “marketable”. So, the characters are always breath taking to look at and utterly gorgeous plus know how to dress. They will also come with bags of charm and swagger. To get to their level of success they are going to have to know how to entertain. They will have a presence when they enter a room and they will attract attention.

There is so much conflict to be found within these stories:

Rockstar life – lengthy periods apart and the worry of wondering what they are getting up to when they are not performing. Plus concerts in different countries, time zones etc. Social media – photos, fan selfies, curated images and tabloid photos being plastered all over social media will test any fledgling romance. Fans – will the new love interest be accepted by the rockstar’s loyal fan base? Normal life – can a rockstar lead a normal life? Can they put out the recycling, cook a meal, buy a pint of milk without being mobbed by fans or mow the lawn? Their past relationships – they always have interesting pasts in terms of romance and somewhere there is a whiff of scandal…Their relationship with music. This is quite important in terms of conflict. Hopefully finding love will help put them in a better relationship with their music and career by the end.

Mixed into this swirl of emotions and tension are the standard tropes. Here are a few examples:

Friends to lovers – or should I say fan / groupie to lovers. Bad boy / girl – the wild rockstar who can’t be tamed.Second chance – the childhood sweethearts who were together before one found fame. Small town Rock Star – they both grew up in the same small town and now they find themselves back home – one because their music career failed / they fell out of love with the rockstar lifestyle and the other because life dealt out some unfair cards.

Rockstar life does tend to include sex, drugs and rock and roll so expect some dark themes running through a rockstar romance read.

Reinvention of the rockstar will always be a key theme. They will always be looking at ways they can reinvent themselves. They want to stay current and no matter how hard they try to ignore it – they crave the spotlight! Again – how will love impact this?

I think Rockstar Romance is pure escapism. It’s about reconnecting with your inner fan girl / fan boy and those teenage crushes you once had. These stories are packed full of angst, moody musicians, intense music concerts and high drama. It’s about being attracted to those bad and wild musicians and never ever expecting them to turn up in real life.

Here are some of my favourite reads:

The Words – Ashely Jade. Enemies to Lovers. My Own Personal Rockstar. Kirsty McManus. Friends to Lovers. Dirty Like Me: A Hot Rockstar Romance. Jane Diamond. Maybe Someday, Colleen Hoover. Second Chances. Call Me, Maybe. Stephanie Chapman. Friends to Lovers.

It’s a wild ride reading rockstar romance Can you imagine writing this – oh my days!! One day I must try and live out my own rockstar fantasy *sigh*

Enjoy