Lovelight Farms

Lovelight Farms falls into the genre of contemporary romance. Although the novel deals with serious subjects, such as complicated family dynamics, grief, and financial insecurity, it is underpinned by lighthearted and comedic moments. Contemporary romances are categorized by their happy endings and familiar plotlines but often focus on the main characters’ personal growth and the obstacles they must overcome to achieve their happy ending. As in Lovelight Farms, most contemporary romance heroines and heroes are flawed; these narratives often show protagonists helping each other overcome barriers to not only becoming romantically involved but also being better, happier people.

Just as contemporary romance novels rely on familiar narrative structures, they also often feature tropes, archetypes, and common situations, such as enemies-to-lovers relationships, marriage-of-convenience plotlines, and quaint settings. Lovelight Farms uses many conventions typical of contemporary romance novels, including the friends-to-lovers trope, in which two friends must navigate the complexity of their feelings while considering their history and their futures. Fake dating is another common romance convention used in Lovelight Farms; the act of pretending to have feelings for one another forces Stella and Luka to confront the feelings that they had been hiding from each other to not ruin their friendship.