Stories with romantic relationships where there is a significant difference in age between the two main characters.
I missed the memo that this trope was on fire, but I'm here now and ecstatic about it. There have been so many new Age Gap Trope books out lately, especially of the extra spicy "daddy" variety, but this trope is far from new.
This trope revolves around romantic relationships where there is a significant difference in age between the two main characters, often presenting challenges and complexities that add depth and intrigue to the narrative.
One of the primary reasons the Age Gap Trope persists in romance books is its ability to evoke strong emotions and capture readers' attention. The contrasting life experiences, generational gaps, and differing perspectives between the characters create a compelling dynamic ripe with tension, personal growth, and conflicting desires. This trope allows authors to delve into themes such as self-discovery, societal norms, and the transformative power of love. This trope can spark discussions around topics such as consent, power dynamics, and the fluid nature of love.
At its core, the Age Gap Trope can serve as a vehicle for exploring the complexities of human relationships and the boundaries of societal expectations. It raises questions about love's ability to transcend age and challenges readers to reevaluate their own perceptions and biases.
Many Age Gap Trope books cross over into the forbidden love territory, usually because the love interest is connected to the family as an older brother's or father's best friend/boss/family friend, etc.
Critics of the Age Gap Trope argue that it can perpetuate harmful stereotypes or power imbalances, particularly when there is an unhealthy dynamic or lack of agency for one of the characters. Many of the current hot books in this genre are taboo with extensive trigger warnings. With the Age Gap trope list below, I did not venture into the world of daddy kink - I'll leave that for its own Tropes List post eventually.
1. Irresistible
Author: Melanie Harlow
Series: Cloverleigh Farms Series book # 1
Category: Contemporary Romance
Blurb
I’m a full-time single dad to three daughters and CFO at Cloverleigh Farms. I don’t have time to fall in love—I’m too busy trying to run a business, keep the red socks out of the white laundry, and get the damn pillowcases on without owing a dollar to the swear jar.
Sure, Frannie Sawyer is beautiful and sweet, but she’s twenty-seven, the boss’s daughter, and my new part-time nanny—which means she’s completely off-limits. It’s bad enough I can’t stop fantasizing about her, what kind of jerk would I be if I acted on the impulse to kiss her?
(Exactly the kind of jerk you’re thinking.)
Actually, I’m worse than that—because I didn’t stop with a kiss, and now I can’t stay away. She makes me feel like myself again. She reminds me what it’s like to want something just for me. She’s everything I ever needed, but nothing I ever imagined.
I’m a former Marine. I should have had the strength to resist her from the start.
But I didn’t. And now I have to choose between the life I want and the life she deserves.
Even if it means giving her up.
2. Kulti
Author: Mariana Zapata
Series: Stand Alone
Category: Contemporary Romance
Blurb
When the man you worshipped as a kid becomes your coach, it’s supposed to be the greatest thing in the world. Keywords: supposed to.
It didn't take a week for 27-year-old Sal Casillas to wonder what she'd seen in the international soccer icon - why she'd ever had his posters on her wall or ever envisioned marrying him and having super-playing soccer babies.
Sal had long ago gotten over the worst non-break-up in the history of imaginary relationships with a man who hadn't known she'd existed. So she isn't prepared for this version of Reiner Kulti who shows up to her team's season: a quiet, reclusive shadow of the explosive, passionate man he'd once been.
3. Forbidden Hearts
Author: Corinne Michaels
Series: Whitlock Family Series book #1
Category: Contemporary Romance
Blurb
First rule of being a nanny? Don’t fall for the single dad, even if he is smoking hot.
But that’s exactly what happens when grumpy small-town sheriff Asher Whitlock reluctantly hires me to take care of his daughter for the summer. Neither of us is thrilled with the arrangement, but he’s desperate for help, and I need the money for grad school this fall.
All we need to do is keep our distance and remain professional . . . turns out, that’s easier said than done.
Instead of focusing on my future, all I see is the strong jawline, crystal-blue eyes, and rock hard body right in front of me. We try to resist each other, but we end up crossing every line until I’m in his bed.
I tell myself it’s just this once.
Okay, twice.
All right, every night.
But it’s got to end–he’s fourteen years older than me, with a kid and a stressful job. Have I mentioned my dad is his boss? Then there’s the past I’m trying to forget. Secrets aren’t easy to keep and mine are getting too big to hide.
Walking away is never simple but when I do, I can’t look back.
Even if it means leaving behind the man I was never meant to love.
4. Angels' Blood
Author: Nalini Singh
Series: Guild Hunter Series book #1
Category: Fantasy Romance
Blurb
Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux knows she’s the best—but she doesn’t know if she’s good enough for this job. Hired by the dangerously beautiful Archangel Raphael, a being so lethal that no mortal wants his attention, only one thing is clear—failure is not an option…even if the task is impossible.
Because this time, it’s not a wayward vamp she has to track. It’s an archangel gone bad.
The job will put Elena in the midst of a killing spree like no other…and pull her to the razor’s edge of passion. Even if the hunt doesn’t destroy her, succumbing to Raphael’s seductive touch just may. For when archangels play, mortals break…
5. The Kiss Thief
Author: L.J. Shen
Series: Stand Alone
Category: Contemporary Romance
Blurb
They say your first kiss should be earned.
Mine was stolen by a devil in a masquerade mask under the black Chicago sky.
They say the vows you take on your wedding day are sacred.
Mine were broken before we left church.
They say your heart only beats for one man.
Mine split and bled for two rivals who fought for it until the bitter end.
I was promised to Angelo Bandini, the heir to one of the most powerful families in the Chicago Outfit.
Then taken by Senator Wolfe Keaton, who held my father’s sins over his head to force me into marriage.
They say that all great love stories have a happy ending.
I, Francesca Rossi, found myself erasing and rewriting mine until the very last chapter.
One kiss.
Two men.
Three lives.
Entwined together.
And somewhere between these two men, I had to find my forever.
6. Gabriel's Inferno
Author: Sylvain Reynard
Series: Gabriel's Inferno Series book #1
Category: Contemporary Romance
Blurb
Enigmatic and sexy, Professor Gabriel Emerson is a well respected Dante specialist by day, but by night he devotes himself to an uninhibited life of pleasure. He uses his notorious good looks and sophisticated charm to gratify his every whim, but is secretly tortured by his dark past and consumed by the profound belief that he is beyond all hope of redemption.
When the sweet and innocent Julia Mitchell enrolls as his graduate student, his attraction and mysterious connection to her not only jeopardizes his career, but sends him on a journey in which his past and his present collide.
An intriguing and sinful exploration of seduction, forbidden love and redemption, "Gabriel's Inferno" is a captivating and wildly passionate tale of one man's escape from his own personal hell as he tries to earn the impossible...forgiveness and love.
7. Dipped in Holly
Author: Dana Isaly
Series: Nick and Holly Series book #1
Category: Contemporary Romance
Blurb
Holly was just dumped.
Less than a week before Christmas. In public. Dressed as a slutty Mrs. Claus.
All she wants is to hide in the bathroom and have a breakdown in peace.
But the Silver Fox who owns the bar has other plans.
The moment Nick takes in Holly’s grey eyes and sassy attitude, he’s hooked.
There’s no denying the attraction that has sparked between them.
And when that tension finally snaps, he finds himself taking Holly to bed.
A kinky one night stand later, and they’re left questioning if it was enough.
8. Mistakes Were Made
Author: Meryl Wilsner
Series: Stand Alone
Category: Contemporary Romance
Blurb
When Cassie Klein goes to an off-campus bar to escape her school’s Family Weekend, she isn’t looking for a hookup—it just happens. Buying a drink for a stranger turns into what should be an uncomplicated, amazing one-night stand. But then the next morning rolls around and her friend drags her along to meet her mom—the hot, older woman Cassie slept with.
Erin Bennett came to Family Weekend to get closer to her daughter, not have a one-night stand with a college senior. In her defense, she hadn’t known Cassie was a student when they'd met. To make things worse, Erin’s daughter brings Cassie to breakfast the next morning. And despite Erin's better judgement—how could sleeping with your daughter’s friend be anything but bad?—she and Cassie get along in the day just as well as they did last night.
What should have been a one-time fling quickly proves impossible to ignore, and soon Cassie and Erin are sneaking around. Worst of all, they start to realize they have something real. But is being honest about the love between them worth the cost?
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