Instructions for Dancing

High school senior Yvette “Evie” Thomas takes her many romance novels and packs them in her backpack to give away. These novels used to offer her escapism, but she doesn’t believe in love anymore. Ever since her parents’ recent divorce due to her father’s infidelity, Evie hasn’t spoken to her father, and avoids another of his calls. Evie’s mother, Grace, asks if she’d like to help bake brownies with her sister Danica. Baking has become her mother’s new obsession since the divorce. Evie declines, knowing Danica will be talking about her latest boyfriend and acting like their new lives are fine. She wishes she could be unaffected by the divorce, as she misses the version of herself who used to believe in true love.

In a list format, Evie shares her favorite types of romance. Her previous favorite was contemporary romance, with specific sub-genre pleasures. Evie loved the “enemies to lovers” trope the most, followed by “love triangles” and “second chances.” She thinks the “second chances” trope is the most ridiculous now. When it comes to paranormal romance, she loves vampires, angels, and shapeshifters; in particular, she enjoys vampires for being “sexy” and “loving you forever” (7).