The Unhoneymooners adheres to the tropes of the contemporary romance genre. Contemporary, as distinguished from historical, romances, take place in approximately the same time period as when they were written and published, rather than in the distant past. As described by the Romance Writers of America, to qualify as a romance, a work must focus on the relationship between characters, and the relationship must have a happy ending. Novels may have a romantic element or romantic subplots without being romance novels. Examining the book’ genre classification thus tells informed readers that while Olive and Ethan begin the narrative as adversaries, they will end the work a happy, committed couple. Marriage and explicit sex scenes, while they occur in some contemporary romances, are not essential genre requirements.

The romance genre frequently relies on familiar tropes, that is, aspects of the story that increase tension and interactions between the characters so that they can explore their relationship more deeply. Olive and Ethan’s story relies on the idea of enemies-turned-lovers, fake dating, and forced proximity. The presence of only one bed is not uncommon in forced proximity and fake dating romances. In The Unhoneymooners the authors use these tropes to force Olive to reassess what she thinks she knows about Ethan, in contrast to who he truly is.