I probably write this trope more than any other, mostly because I love to write barbed banter, and there's something delicious about putting two people on the page who send sparks in all the wrong directions. I love that moment when they realize the reason the other person gets under their skin might not be hate so much as that pesky other thing...
Now here's a trope that I could write over and over again! Two people that have to "fake" being in a romantic relationship for some reason that would probably not happen in real life. Pretend kisses? Confusion as to why their stomach is fluttering? Anxiously wondering if the other person feels the same way? Yes, please!
Confession: I've been reading romance for 25+ years, writing it for 10+ years, and I just recently learned that "grumpy sunshine" was a term for my all-time favorite books to write: what I think of as "The Mr. Darcy Books." Those books were the hero is cold and disapproving. Or so the heroine thinks. My very first book was Grumpy-Sunshine, and I didn't even know it. So was my second! So is my favorite of my books. And my other favorite!
Okay, this isn't a trope so much, but since so many readers except NYC glamour from me, I like to call out the books where I take a little "vacation" from stories featuring men in suits, women in heels, with a Manhattan backdrop.
Full-disclosure: Some on this list are not small-town so much as not my usual "big city vibes."