Tropesick by Lauren Okie
Katie Caruso is a completely normal twenty-five-year-old girl. At least, for the past eight years, she’s tried to be. She likes glitter and sequins and flirting with cute boys at New York City bars. She’s also a ghostwriter for Meredith Bradford, the bestselling romance novelist of all time. But then Tyler McNally walks back into Katie’s life, and that bedazzled facade crumbles at her platform-sneakered feet.
Katie and Tyler haven’t seen or spoken to each other since the overdose death of Katie’s older brother, a standout MLB pitching prospect. Tyler was her brother’s best friend, and Katie—naturally—was the girl next door. But now, Tyler is a sleeve-tattooed, Ivy League-educated aspiring literary fiction novelist, nine years sober . . . and Katie’s writing partner for the summer.
As genre conventions require, Katie and Tyler soon find themselves removed from Manhattan and instead writing their love story in “forced proximity” at Meredith’s isolated Southampton home. As the summer unfolds, the tropes Katie and Tyler have written into their novel begin to play out in their own lives. Call it destiny, fate, or magic It’s clear their love story is unfinished. This time, though, they’ll fight for their happy ending.
Heart-wrenching and tender, Tropesick is a love letter to the romance genre. With a wink and a nod, Okie has packed the novel with listeners’ favorites:
Grumpy/Sunshine Brother’s best friend Girl next door Forced proximity Forbidden love Kissing in the rain Groveling hero Second-chance romance Slow burn Only one bed.
Review: A huge thank you to author Lauren Okie and Avon Books for an ARC!
Katie Caruso is trying to live her best single girl in her 20s life in New York City, working as a ghost writer for bestselling romance writer Meredith Bradford. All is well until the day Tyler McNally walks back into her life, assigned to be her writing partner. For years, Katie has tried to forget Tyler and move on. Tyler was her brother's best friend, and she was the girl next door. But it was all shattered years before when Kate's brother died of an overdose and Tyler left. Now, they're holed up together in Meredith's isolated Southampton estate. And as they write their novel, the tropes they are incorporating slowly and inexplicably play out in their own lives one by one.
If you've been following me on Instagram (@bookswithsarahbeth) for any length of time, you know my great love for Lauren Okie's debut novel, The Best Worst Thing. This was one of my most anticipated (if not THE most) read for 2026 and I am so beyond delighted that I received an advance copy.
No one does angsty, messy romance like Lauren Okie!! I said on my Instagram that the tension between Katie and Tyler reminded me of the difficult heft of trying to cut through a sweet potato and I stand by this!! The yearning! The longing! The history and attraction between these two, built up over literal years had me sat. The rain scene???? Screams The Notebook! When Tyler catches her as a teenager reading that romance about the brother's best friend?? I died. There were also just so many moments that broke my heart for these two hurting people who should have had a different story, a different past that didn't include 8 years apart and hurting.
I know some authors get complaints that many of their characters (and MMCs in particular) feel the same. This is absolutely not a problem Lauren Okie has. Katie and Tyler have such distinct personalities and personas. I especially loved the very defined sense of style that Katie has with her glitter, heart-shaped sticky notes, platform shoes, and itty-bitty shorts and bikinis.
But this book is so much more than a romance. I think one of the reasons I love Okie's writing is because her books really defy being boxed into any one genre category. This is such a compelling, taut love story. But it's also literary fiction in its beautiful prose and its darker themes of parental abandonment, sibling loss, and addiction and recovery. And the ending of this really bridges out into supernatural fiction!
Beyond the central love story, this book is a love letter to writing and storytelling itself. I think many times this can come across as corny or forced, but writing - and writing together - is at the core of who Katie and Tyler are. I loved all the many references to writing, tropes, and different writers and titles littered throughout this text. The way the tropes begin happening to Katie and Tyler at first feels very meta and tongue-in-cheek poking fun at the romance genre while also acknowledging its these very tropes that make us love it.
As the novel progresses, I think it becomes increasingly clear that there is going to be a big reveal/twist. I had several theories and all of them were DEAD WRONG. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but this book has a very surprising twist that had me yelling WHAT and staying up until 3am to finish this. It was a bold move but listen, I'll allow it: ""I think some stories, they're just too big to be told without a little magic. Without a little make-believe."
A few more favorite lines:
"That," I said, "is the beauty of romance. We don't let the fact that things are a little implausible get in the way of a good time."
"There was everyone else, and then there was you."
"Turns out it was a love story all along." She laughed. "Yes, well, most stories are. Even when we do not care to admit it."
"There's this idea," she said [...] "That art is suffering. That only suffering is art. It's nonsense." [...] How sad. How selfish. To feel all the ugliness on this Earth and think, I'll multiple it."
Sexy, raw, moving, gritty, visceral. Many love stories, you enjoy them, you consume them, you move on and hardly remember any defining details later on. I can't stop thinking about this story, this writing, these characters. If she writes it, I'll read it.
Stars: 4.5
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