Romance, as a genre of fiction, will always have its tried-and-true tropes. It wouldn't be a beloved genre without them. The more authors continue to take these tropes and bend them to their will, the better; it's all part of the fun, which many readers -- thankfully -- are in on to some degree.
But the third-act breakup is a romance trope -- especially in books -- that I just can't forgive anymore. It's not just tired; it sours my enjoyment of certain stories to the point of often lowering my star rating, which I despise doing. Because breaking into romance writing is hard, and if you've gotten this far, I'm genuinely proud of you and want to give you all the stars I can justify.
The third-act breakup doesn't always play out as an actual breakup. Sometimes the couple has an argument and stops talking briefly, or a grave misunderstanding leads them both to questioning whether or not they're really meant for each other. To me, it's just not interesting anymore. You know, if you're about to hit the 75 percent mark and the two main love interests split, they're going to be back together in less than 100 pages. What's the point in even finishing the book? (I always do, for the record, but I don't always like it.)
Authors can, and should, come up with more creative ways to create higher stakes toward the end of a story than forcing their two main characters to break up. Or if they do need to break up -- don't wait until the third act. One of the best "breakup books" I've ever read is of course one I'm having trouble remembering the name and author of as I write this, but the couple breaks up at the beginning of the book and, throughout the story, both realize they still want to be together -- and their reunion at the end is so rewarding, emotional, and magical because of it. (I realize I'm probably describing a good number of excellent books, but Goodreads is not helping me here.)
It's starting to feel cheap and uncreative to build up these love stories only to tear them down right before the end ... and then resolve the issue as if that whole breakup thing never happened. Maybe I'm just looking for love stories whose main players face conflicts but don't separate, temporarily or otherwise, because of them. Maybe I'm secretly itching to write my own romance novel -- no, that's not it. I'm just tired of the same stories over and over, and I know there are fantastic writers out there who can do better.
There are plenty of events that can bring couples closer together, challenge their perceptions or shift their ways of thinking that don't involve tearing them apart. It's been done plenty of times. More of that, and less of the relationship-ending arguments that almost instantly stop mattering all in the final act of the book. Collectively, as readers, and as writers, I know we can make it happen.