Top Tropes of Romance Literature: Cowboys Edition

From mail-order brides to bad boy bull riders, cowboy romances feature some standard (yet sexy!) tropes. And for some of us, these irresistible scenarios are exactly what brings us back for more. Here are some of our favorite tropes from the genre.

Complicated inheritances

A fair number of Western romances are centered on a family ranch. And in several of our favorite romances, the characters are trying to sort out a real-estate inheritance that is far from straightforward. In Nora Robert's beloved Montana Sky, for example, three sisters inherit their father's ranch. The twist? None of them knew about each other before that point and the will stipulates that they must live together on the ranch for one year in order to collect their share.

Big Sky Country by Linda Lael Miller presents a similar scenario in which two estranged half brothers co-inherit their father's ranch when he dies. Not only that, they also happen to have their sights set on the same woman.

In Dirty Little Secret by Jennifer Ryan, Noah Cordero is not at all surprised to inherit the land where he's spent his life learning to ride and work the land, but upon his stepfather's sudden passing, Noah learns that he must share the ranch with Roxy, the secret daughter his stepfather never mentioned.

In a different take on this theme, Where the Road Bends by Rachel Fordham is a historical romance about Norah, a woman who is compelled to promise herself to a man she barely knows in order to save her family's land. But what happens when she falls in love with another?

Cute kid connections

Cowboys are tough, gruff, and stoic. It can be hard to crack through their calloused shells. That's where the rugrats come in. In The Promise of Jenny Jones, a historical romance by Maggie Osborne, six-year-old Graciela serves as an unexpected connection point between the unruly titular character and a handsome cowboy.

In Grumpy Cowboy by Max Monroe, Leah is a city-girl doctor who is summoned to care for Rhett, an injured rancher. Frustrated by his injury, the stubborn cowboy lashes out at his caregiver and the two are immediately at odds. Nonetheless Leah is won over by the heart-melting scenes of him as a doting single dad to his darling daughter.

Country Hearts by Cindi Madsen presents another single dad scenario. When Wyatt meets Jemma, it's the first time he's felt interested in a woman since his wife left. But since she's his daughter's new teacher, they try to keep their distance. Still, they keep finding plenty of excuses to spend flirty time together.

City girls braving the wilds

Quite a few Western romances face the classic city-country clash, as in Janet Dailey's No Quarter Asked about a woman who, after her father's death, retreats to a secluded cabin in a Texas valley. When the arrogant rancher next door tells her to go back to the city where she belongs, she digs her heels in.

In The Gamble by Kristen Ashley, Nina decides she needs a timeout vacation, flying from England to a Colorado mountain town, when she realizes her fiancé can't even remember how she takes her coffee. When she meets the gorgeous man who owns her rental cabin, her cold, lonely adventure suddenly heats up.

The delightful twist on this scenario presented in Katherine Center's The Bodyguard involves Hannah, an Executive Protection Agent, aka bodyguard, who is less than thrilled to be assigned to protect movie star Jack Stapleton. Then when his mom gets sick, she accompanies him to his family's Texas ranch where she begins to see a new side of him.

Bad boy cowboys

It's the Wild West, so there are definitely going to be a lot of sexy bad boys in this genre. Flawless by Elsie Silver tells the story of Rhett Eaton. He was the golden boy of professional bull riding until it all blew up in his face after a public brawl. Now his agent says he has to clean up his image and assigns his ball-busting daughter as Rhett's minder for the rest of the season.

In Hometown Cowboy by Sara Richardson, small town veterinarian Jessa is determined not to fall for Lance Cortez, an outrageously handsome rodeo star who is as famous for riding bulls as he is for breaking hearts.

For an erotica-infused take on this scenario, Pam Goodwin's Knotted Conor and Jake reconnect years after a devastating act of violence drove them apart. The boy Conor loved is now replaced by a ruthless cattle rancher knotted with secrets and dark cravings. But it doesn't change the fact that she still belongs to him.

Mail-order brides

Out on the range, a good woman can be hard to come by. Hence the mail-order bride solution. Here we have three very different takes on that scenario. Marrying Off Morgan McBride is the second book in a laugh-out-loud historical romance series by Amy Barry. Since Ma died and Pa ran off, Junebug is sick of being the only one cooking and cleaning up after her brothers on the family ranch, so she places an ad in the Matrimonial News to get them some wives.

Amelia feels immediately attracted to the man who is waiting for her at the train station in Fort Worth. But the cowboy standing before her isn't her betrothed, Dallas. It's his brother, Houston, who has been sent to accompany her on the three-week journey to the ranch. This is the juicy premise of Texas Destiny by Lorraine Heath.

In Mail Order Mix-Up by Cynthia Woolf, Josie and her mother have been brought to Settle as mail-order brides, but she isn't sure she wants to get married at all. Gabe, on the other hand, has decided he'll never marry for love. Both of them are in for some surprises.

As always, we love to hear from you, so let us know if you have any tropes or titles to add to this list.

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Read more by Ashly Moore Sheldon