Stories with a plot point that forces characters to spend time together. These scenarios can vary in forcefulness and isolation but are often when the characters do not want to be with each other.
Piggybacking on the Tropes List - Marriage of Convenience post I did a few weeks ago, this week we are talking forced proximity and all of the tension that comes with it.
The Forced Proximity trope is versatile, and various degrees of it can be found in practically any romance book. I love the banter that comes from putting characters in uncomfortable situations. Both main characters usually experience some needed character growth as they learn to lean on each other to overcome an obstacle or situation.
This trope is an umbrella over many others, including a marriage of convenience, fake dating, small town, and opposites attract just to name a few. For the sake of this list, I am defining forced proximity as books that force the two main characters to either a) work together on a common goal, b) spend a lot of time with one another for any reason or c) share a house/room/bed.
As always, I tried to put a wide range of books on my list this week. In no particular order, these books span my definition of forced proximity and the trope makes up a heavy portion of the story's plot.
1. Hearts in Darkness
Author: Laura Kaye
Series: Hearts in Darkness Duet Series book # 1
Category: Contemporary Romance
Blurb
Two strangers...
When accountant Makenna James finds herself stranded in a pitch-black elevator, she can’t help but wonder about the stranger stuck with her. All she noticed about him before the lights went out was a dragon tattoo; all she knows now is his sexy, gruff voice in the darkness.
Four hours...
Caden Grayson is inked, pierced, scarred on the inside and out—and terrified of the dark for reasons he’d rather not remember. Trapped in his worst nightmare, only the sweet voice of the red-headed beauty distracts him from his fear. And, oh, man, as the hours pass and the darkness heats up, that’s nothing compared to her touch.
One pitch-black elevator...
He’s all rough edges and she’s pin-striped skirts, but in the darkness they open up and reach out without any preconceptions to hold them back. But as attractions grows and sparks fly, will they feel the same when the lights come back on?
2. Bound to the Battle God
Author: Ruby Dixon
Series: Aspect and Anchor Series book #1
Category: Fantasy Romance
Blurb
When I went to my neighbor's apartment to investigate strange sounds, I never expected to fall through a portal into another world. Yet here I am, a stranger in an even stranger land...and I'm stranded. In this world, might makes right, men carry swords, and gods walk the earth. Within minutes of arriving, I’m enslaved.
Fun place.
How do I get home? GREAT question. Wish I had an answer.
The one person that might be able to help me is also the one person I want to throttle most. Aron, Lord of Storms, Butcher God of Battle, is my new companion. Or rather, I'm his. As Aron's anchor to the mortal realm, I'm the one that's supposed to be guiding him through his exile in the mortal world.
Ha. Joke's on him. I know nothing about this place.
But Aron and I have a common goal - get home. And we're bonded - anchor and god - with a bond unlike any other. So we travel together. We bicker. We bathe together. We fight our many, many enemies together. And sure, he’s a god, but he’s also an arrogant jerk. Brawny, smoking hot, irresistible jerk. I should want nothing to do with him. I certainly shouldn’t want to do things to him.
Mortals and gods don’t mix. We stick to the plan and ignore our attraction. Focused, with one goal in mind.
One task. One goal.
Focused.
3. Lead
Author: Kylie Scott
Series: Stage Dive Series book #3
Category: Contemporary Romance
Blurb
Can rock n' roll's most notorious bad boy be tamed by love?
As the lead singer of Stage Dive, Jimmy is used to getting whatever he wants, whenever he wants it-now he's caught up in a life of hard partying and fast women. When a PR disaster serves as a wake-up call and lands him in rehab, he finds himself with Lena, a new assistant hired to keep him out of trouble.
Lena's not willing to take any crap from her sexy boss and is determined to keep their relationship completely professional, despite their sizzling chemistry. But when Jimmy pushes her too far, he just might lose the best thing that's ever happened to him. Can he convince his stubborn assistant to risk it all and let her heart take the lead?
4. Twisted Games
Author: Ana Huang
Series: Twisted Series book #2
Category: Contemporary Romance
Blurb
Stoic, broody, and arrogant, elite bodyguard Rhys Larsen has two rules: 1) Protect his clients at all costs 2) Do not become emotionally involved. Ever.
He has never once been tempted to break those rules...until her.
Bridget von Ascheberg. A princess with a stubborn streak that matches his own and a hidden fire that reduces his rules to ash. She's nothing he expected and everything he never knew he needed.
Day by day, inch by inch, she breaks down his defenses until he's faced with a truth he can no longer deny: he swore an oath to protect her, but all he wants is to ruin her. Take her.
Because she's his.
His princess.
His forbidden fruit.
His every depraved fantasy.
***
Regal, strong-willed, and bound by the chains of duty, Princess Bridget dreams of the freedom to live and love as she chooses.
But when her brother abdicates, she's suddenly faced with the prospect of a loveless, politically expedient marriage and a throne she never wanted.
And as she navigates the intricacies-and treacheries-of her new role, she must also hide her desire for a man she can't have.
Her bodyguard.
Her protector.
Her ultimate ruin.
Unexpected and forbidden, theirs is a love that could destroy a kingdom...and doom them both.
Do not become emotionally involved. Ever.
5. Hold
Author: Claire Kent
Series: Hold Series book #1
Category: Sci-Fi Romance
Blurb
Find the strongest man there. Give yourself to him in return for protection. It’s the only way you’ll ever survive.
Convicted of a minor crime, Riana is sentenced to a prison planet—a dark primitive hold filled with convicts vying for power. Her only chance of survival is with Cain, a mysterious loner who has won his territory in the prison through intelligence and brute strength. Sex is all she has to offer, so she uses it.
She’s under no delusions here. No one is ever released, and no one ever escapes. Survival is all she can hope for—until Cain.
6. The Gamble
Author: Kristen Ashley
Series: Colorado Mountain Series book #1
Category: Contemporary Romance
Blurb
Love is the greatest gamble of all . . .
Nina Sheridan desperately needs a timeout vacation. With a fianc?àö¬© who can't even remember how she takes her coffee, Nina wants some distance to rethink her engagement. Flying halfway around the world from England to a mountain town in Colorado should do the trick. But when she finds a gorgeous man at her rental cabin, Nina's cold, lonely adventure suddenly heats up.
The owner of the house, Holden "Max" Maxwell is surprised by the beautiful woman who turns up at his door. But when Nina becomes ill, Max spends days nursing her back to health. A private man with a broken heart, Max finds himself drawn to the strong-willed woman. Soon it becomes impossible for Nina and Max to deny their growing attraction to one another. Yet even as these two wounded souls think about taking a chance on a relationship, a secret from Max's past emerges-and threatens to end their love for good.
7. Go Hex Yourself
Author: Jessica Clare
Series: Hex Seriesbook #1
Category: Fantasy Romance
Blurb
When Reggie Johnson answers a job ad in the paper, she’s astonished to find that she’s not applying to work at her favorite card game, Spellcraft: The Magicking. Instead, she’s applying to be an actual familiar for an actual witch. As in, real magic.
The new job has a few perks - great room and board, excellent pay, and she's apprenticing to a powerful witch. Sure, the witch is a bit eccentric. And sure, there was that issue with the black cat Reggie would prefer to forget about. The biggest problem, however, is warlock Ben Magnus, her employer's nephew and the most arrogant, insufferable, maddening man to ever cast a spell.
Reggie absolutely hates him. He's handsome, but he's also bossy and irritating and orders her around. Ben's butt might look great in a crystal ball vision, but that's as far as it goes. But when someone with a vendetta targets the household, she finds herself working with Ben to break a deadly curse. Apparently, when they're not fighting like cats and dogs, things get downright...bewitching.
8. Wallbanger
Author: Alice Clayton
Series: The Cocktail Series book #1
Category: Contemporary Romance
Blurb
Caroline Reynolds has a fantastic new apartment in San Francisco, a Kitchen Aid mixer to die for, and no O (and we’re not talking Oprah here, folks). She has a flourishing design career, an office overlooking the bay, a killer zucchini bread recipe, and no O. She has Clive (the best cat ever), great friends, a great rack, and no O. Adding insult to O-less, she also has an oversexed neighbor with the loudest late-night wallbanging she’s ever heard. Every moan, spank, and—was that a meow?—punctuates the fact that not only is she losing sleep, she still has—yep, you guessed it—no O. Enter Simon Parker. When the wallbanging threatens to literally bounce her out of bed, Caroline, clad in sexual frustration and a pink baby-doll nightie, confronts her heard-but-never-seen neighbor. Their late-night hallway encounter has…well…mixed results. Because with walls this thin, the tension’s gonna be thick. A delicious mix of silly and steamy, this is an irresistible tale of exasperation at first sight.
9. The Deal
Author: Elle Kennedy
Series: Off-Campus Series book #1
Category: Contemporary Romance
Blurb
She’s about to make a deal with the college bad boy…
Hannah Wells has finally found someone who turns her on. But while she might be confident in every other area of her life, she’s carting around a full set of baggage when it comes to sex and seduction. If she wants to get her crush’s attention, she’ll have to step out of her comfort zone and make him take notice…even if it means tutoring the annoying, childish, cocky captain of the hockey team in exchange for a pretend date.
...and it’s going to be oh so good
All Garrett Graham has ever wanted is to play professional hockey after graduation, but his plummeting GPA is threatening everything he’s worked so hard for. If helping a sarcastic brunette make another guy jealous will help him secure his position on the team, he’s all for it. But when one unexpected kiss leads to the wildest sex of both their lives, it doesn’t take long for Garrett to realize that pretend isn’t going to cut it. Now he just has to convince Hannah that the man she wants looks a lot like him.
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