Tropes & Trifles was started by Lauren and Caitlin. Once upon a time, we met in a romance book club and found out that we have wildly different preferences in our romance novels—which certainly made them more fun to talk about.

Lauren was born and raised in the Twin Cities. As a child, she had a library card and a bicycle, so she could read whatever she wanted (mostly Sweet Valley High books—she is an Elizabeth). The first romance novel she bought was Married to the Viscount by Sabrina Jeffries, and she continues to love historicals with soapy plots. She lived a real-life romance trope when she and her now-husband tried secret dating (it lasted four dates). They live with their dog in south Minneapolis.

Caitlin read her first romance novel at the discerning age of eleven. (It was Leanne Banks’s Some Girls Do.) Originally from Kansas City, she’s also lived in Oregon, Texas, and Champagnole, France, before relocating to Minneapolis in 2018. Along the way, she’s worked as a barista, an educator, a comics copy editor, a book publicist, and a French translator. She now lives in Northeast Minneapolis with her partner, an incredibly clingy cat, and an indifferent rabbit.

Together, we’re excited to build Tropes & Trifles to be a space that fosters the growing community of romance readers and writers here in the Twin Cities and beyond. We can’t wait to meet you and chat all things romance.