Plot Points
| Accused | (by others -- different from False assumption!) -- falsely accused and searching for proof of innocence; or he's an investigator and she's the main suspect. |
| Adoption | trying to adopt an orphan; or long-lost or adopted adult returns; or adult searches for child given up for adoption. |
| Amnesia | loss of memory, real or pretended. |
| Arranged | arranged or forced marriage; or together because she's pregnant by him. |
| Bad Boy | (male or female!) -- was once considered a wild kid; or bad boy, forced to leave town, returns successful. |
| Blackmail | he blackmails her into becoming his mistress; or someone else blackmails one of them. |
| Buddies | they start out as pals, then realize they want more; or grew up together as best friends, even fixing each other up with dates. |
| Captive | kidnapped or held hostage by hero/heroine. |
| Challenge | contest or wager; or she tries to change his chauvinist beliefs about women; or she has the memory of his first wife to overcome; or one of them makes it extremely difficult. |
| Convenience | mock engagement; or marriage of convenience. |
| Cyrano | wooing for another but winning love for self. |
| Deadline | must complete task before it's too late. |
| Doctor / Nurse | medical romance. |
| Duckling | child or tomboy when they first meet, then blossoms; or initially dowdy; or plain sister of popular beauty; or is trained by him (or others) to become ladylike. |
| Escort | traveling together; or wagon train; or he's returning runaway heiress to father. |
| Fairy tale | story is based on a fairy tale. |
| False assumption | (between them -- different from Accused!) -- wrong impression of the other; he thinks she's a prostitute; or he believes she cheated on him. |
| Feud | family feud; Romeo and Juliet. |
| Fish out of water | overwhelmed at being out of one's element; city slicker
inherits a ranch.
(NOTE: Time-travels don't apply = a "given.") |
| Forbidden | (different from Feud!) -- cousins; step-siblings; brother's ex-wife; there may or may not be a forbidden feel to the story. |
| Forgiveness | overcoming anger or betrayal. |
| Friend's spouse | ex: dying friend asks army buddy to look after wife. |
| Goal | working together toward the same goal; join forces to go after outlaw who murdered family. |
| Guardian | she falls in love with her handsome guardian. |
| Guilt | overcoming feelings of unbearable guilt. |
| Handicap / Injury | physically or even emotionally scarred, injured, or handicapped; nurse back to health. |
| Hometown | returning to hometown after many years away. |
| Inheritance | brought together because of a Will or an inheritance. |
| Kidnapped | (different from Captive!) -- held for ransom by bad guys and rescued by hero/heroine. |
| Lies | villain/villainess or parent lies to separate them. |
| Limelight | one of them is famous. |
| Masquerade | (different from Secret Identity!) -- covering up true identity; she pretends to be a boy; he's an undercover FBI agent; she's the new schoolmarm but is secretly a former outlaw; runaway heiress is his new housekeeper. |
| Matchmaker | someone else conspires to bring them together. |
| MayDec | age difference, no matter how small, is part of story. |
| Mythology | actual mythological figures are in the story. |
| Neighbors | live next door to each other or within the same apartment building. |
| Office | work together; or are rivals in business; or one works for the other; foreman on her ranch; nanny; photographers competing on a news story; boss and secretary/assistant. |
| Opposites | odd couples of any combination; she's successful and rich, he's happy-go-lucky and poor; or he's industrialist, she's environmentalist. |
| Outcast | removed from society; loner; hermit; hated half-breed; or hated by villagers because his "beloved" first wife died suspiciously. |
| Psychic | Precognition, mind-reading, ESP, etc.
(NOTE: must be special in a world of non-psychics. Fantasies or Futuristics -- where they are surrounded by entire races who have psychic abilities -- do not count.) |
| Rags to Riches | she/he is poor but becomes wealthy/famous. |
| Rescued | damsel/man in distress; must be rescued by the other; bodyguard. |
| Reunited | come together after a long time apart; separated as teens; divorced years ago; find out divorce was invalid. |
| Revenge | one of them wants vengeance; her father stole his title and lands. |
| Runaway | to or from the other; from being forced into marriage; or from evil husband or uncle. |
| Sacrifice | one gives the other up; or she agrees to marry villain to save her father from debtor's prison. |
| Secret baby | he never knew he was a father. |
| Secret identity | (different from Masquerade!) -- Zorro, Scarlet Pimpernel, or [well-known] highwayman. |
| Single parent | one or both have children; he needs a nanny for his motherless children. |
| Spoiled | learns a lesson. |
| Stranded | cabin during a snowstorm; shipwrecked on an island; quarantined together. |
| Switch | twins; or lookalike strangers; time-traveling
lands her in another woman's body.
(NOTE: not necessarily impersonating the other.) |
| Triangle | other man or woman; heroine has fiancé but loves hero; or two good men vie for her and she doesn't want to hurt the other one; or she's not sure which to marry. |
| Unrequited | one of them has always [secretly?] loved the other; hero considers her to be one of the guys; or hero tries very hard to win her back. |
© 1994-2026 Connie Beck