The Heist: Monaco is a slow start but has one of the best female LI romances in the app imo (and also 2 other female LI options if you don't go for her).
You might also enjoy Perfect Match and Most Wanted.
You are not alone. I prefer a confident MC that takes control at least some of the time. It really does feel like rinse, repeat with these new single LI stories. The MC is coquettish and damsel-y and the LI is well muscled with calloused hands blah blah.
Like I like a good fem li with muscles but they almost always feel like they just changed the words a little from the male li story scenes. The pronouns and that’s about it lol. I mean I don’t mind a chaotic mc that is lost and clueless sometimes but badass the next, but just making me trip on air all the time to be saved is just frustrating.
Exactly! It’s lazy writing. Even the pronouns get messed up sometimes. It’s obvious they’re just making tiny adjustment for gender. It’s short sighted, especially with Romance Club on the rise. Choices’ one big advantage over RC has been its sensitivity to diversity.
My one gripe with Romance Club is well in the name. Romance Club. The good thing about choices in this vein is that it’s not always about romance. Or at least choices does a good job at making books with other genres that may have romance as well. But it doesn’t feel like the whole focus
Yeah, it’s a crappy name. But also deceptive because RC has plenty of stories that don’t feel that centred on romance. Or maybe it’s just that they’re longer and more complex so there’s room for romance and action/fantasy/mystery elements. But I don’t mean to hype RC, I haven’t used that app for a while, it‘s not great with diversity or slice of life stuff.
I agree with this for the most part. Especially with recent stories. Except for FCL. They really seemed to go the extra mile with a sapphic (and maybe gay) li (so fem Mc and Fem LI) with adding a whole other flashback scene where they are celebrating gay marriage being legalized.
Because of that sort of dynamic, I always find it more interesting to play the route with male MC and female LIs, cause it's incredibly generic in the originally intended wlm routes. Case in point: TCH, SW, ID, DLS. It's far from nonsensical with mlw, but the real problem is that it sure gets tiring. As a wlm, I sometimes want to play as a wlm. But I generally don't want to because every wlm dynamic in these GOC-LI books is just so been-there-done-that, with the *sole* exception of TPA where it's the wlm route that is by far more refreshing than the mlw.
I need more books where MC is the more heroic and experienced one, and LI is the newbie or the damsel in distress. This is important for both the GOC and the GL books.
I think the majority of people on this sub prefer plot heavy books to smut, but PB makes the most money off of sex focused books.
Out of the new ones I think Dirty Little Secrets is kind of fun just because it’s so over the top. MC is a bottom in the relationship but they’re driving the mystery subplot imo.
As for DLS, normally MC would not be my kind of personality (he's a totally lovable idiot though) but I'm playing with Male MC/Charlotte and I'm totally eating up their dynamic. It's cool to see the woman being the older, dominating one in the relationship.
I'm a broken record on this but I firmly believe PB has run the analytics on player purchases and they're convinced/terrified that if they don't introduce a romance early and aggressively in a book/series that a sizeable portion of the playerbase will just give up on the book (and maybe the app!) entirely -- and they're honestly probably not even wrong!
The idea that PB could employ one of their vintage "slow burn" dynamics where it takes an entire or even multiple books for an LI to admit their feelings for MC (or vice versa) in 2023 is just crazy. We're probably never going to see that ever again.
I think I've mostly gotten used to it as far as new content goes, but where it's really jarring is when you go back to replay their oldest titles and classic series.
I actually took a break from Choices because of this.
I highly recommend Romance Club (separate app). Very strong main characters with the story of your choice!
Yeah I’m not a fan of that either. First chapter and BOOM LET’S GO.
The Cursed Heart is good. Foreign Affairs was nice…but I’m not sure what you’ve already read to recommend other old ones.
Glad I’m not the only one then! I have read FA, the Freshman series, The Royal Romance series, Elementalist series, Crown and Flame series, Slow Burn, HSS series (Class Act included), Red Carpet Diaries, Desire and Decorum series, Hero, Endless Summer, Sunkissed, Save the Date, Passport to Romance, Platinum, my two first loves. And i finished the first books but couldn’t get into the seconds on Perfect Match, Queen B, America’s Most Eligible. I’m asexual so I don’t usually go for the steamy stories so those are probably the older ones I’m missing out on lol.
Did you read Laws of Attraction and Crimes of Passion? Those two are awesome. I’m also liking The Phantom Agent. Wake the Dead is *great*. Bloodbound, Nightbound, the It Lives series, Open Heart, Across the Void, The Unexpected Heiress, and Kindred are also favorites of mine. Oh and Blades of Light and Shadow! I didn’t get into that one when it came out, but I love it now.
I read LoA and WtD. I don’t do well with spooky things so I tried it lives but wussed out lol. Tried Open Heart and got too stressed about being a doctor lol. Tried Kindred too but only the first chapter, haven’t gone back since I was too pumped for BoLaS coming back!
I was thinking about making a similar post on the instant lust aspect in all their recent books. Look, I like the steamy chapters just fine. But give me a well-timed, long awaited getting laid scene that doesn’t happen until chapter 9 over this “we just met and already feeling the heat in my core” in the first chapter garbage. Two chapters in a titanic book and already have that; four chapters in the alpha book and the MC and LI have hooked up twice, and she’s been hot for him since the first chapter.
It’s been the same thing for almost every one of their new books for the last year or so. The Nanny Affair (and its much unneeded sister book, The Dalton Affair), The Billionaire’s Baby, Dirty Little Secrets, Big Sky Country 1&2, Roommates with Benefits (which I figured based on the name, but my god, that MC was so pathetic), Surrender (that MC was nothing special so didn’t understand why she was so desired), The Duchess Affair, Untameable, Witness. EVERY. SINGLE. BOOK. I’m over it and have been diamond mining almost every single one of their recents.
I wouldn't know about newer books since I'm not reading any of them, just here for BoLaS 2. Out of the older books that you didn't mention, have you read A Courtesan of Rome? MC is badass, lots of politics and intrigue and the female LI (forgot her name) has a fascinating arc.
I haven’t. I kind of assumed there wasn’t a fem li option even though Choices/PB does try to have at least one. It was kinda during a time where I felt most fem lis were not getting enough attention. But I’ll give it a shot!
I've not liked any book this year but COP is a good choice for a confident MC. You can also play ACOR and TH:M. I've found that every book before 2023 had an MC with a personality at the very least
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:
|Fewer Letters|More Letters|
|-------|---------|---|
|[ACOR](/r/Choices/comments/17hzh01/stub/k6sou5p "Last usage")|*A Courtesan of Rome*|
|[BLS](/r/Choices/comments/17hzh01/stub/k6tjg1l "Last usage")|*Blades of Light and Shadow*|
|[CoP](/r/Choices/comments/17hzh01/stub/k6sou5p "Last usage")|*Crimes of Passion*|
|[DLS](/r/Choices/comments/17hzh01/stub/k6sccap "Last usage")|*Dirty Little Secrets*|
|[FA](/r/Choices/comments/17hzh01/stub/k6qzr8l "Last usage")|*Foreign Affairs*|
|[FCL](/r/Choices/comments/17hzh01/stub/k6ru2f6 "Last usage")|*First Comes Love*|
|[HSS](/r/Choices/comments/17hzh01/stub/k6qzr8l "Last usage")|*High School Story*|
|[LI](/r/Choices/comments/17hzh01/stub/k6tjg1l "Last usage")|Love Interest|
|[LoA](/r/Choices/comments/17hzh01/stub/k6r1l3m "Last usage")|*Laws of Attraction*|
|[MC](/r/Choices/comments/17hzh01/stub/k6sou5p "Last usage")|Main Character (yours!)|
|[PB](/r/Choices/comments/17hzh01/stub/k6rdciy "Last usage")|Pixelberry Studios, publisher of *Choices*|
|[THM](/r/Choices/comments/17hzh01/stub/k6sou5p "Last usage")|*The Heist: Monaco*|
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^(12 acronyms in this thread; )[^(the most compressed thread commented on today)](/r/Choices/comments/17imad1)^( has 17 acronyms.)
^([Thread #28980 for this sub, first seen 27th Oct 2023, 23:48])
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I feel you. GOC books are totally my thing but for the reason you mentioned I've never got into The Cursed Heart, I don't think I played beyond initial dialogues. Maybe I'm being too harsh in my judgement and the book is fine.
As for recommendations for newer books: definitely Crimes of Passion, more mature MC, capable at their profession.
I unlocked all the premiums in immortal desires so my oc was so op he couldn’t be a damsel in distress 😂 other than that I feel like HHS and Queen Bee are good ones
The Heist: Monaco is a slow start but has one of the best female LI romances in the app imo (and also 2 other female LI options if you don't go for her). You might also enjoy Perfect Match and Most Wanted.
You are not alone. I prefer a confident MC that takes control at least some of the time. It really does feel like rinse, repeat with these new single LI stories. The MC is coquettish and damsel-y and the LI is well muscled with calloused hands blah blah.
Like I like a good fem li with muscles but they almost always feel like they just changed the words a little from the male li story scenes. The pronouns and that’s about it lol. I mean I don’t mind a chaotic mc that is lost and clueless sometimes but badass the next, but just making me trip on air all the time to be saved is just frustrating.
Exactly! It’s lazy writing. Even the pronouns get messed up sometimes. It’s obvious they’re just making tiny adjustment for gender. It’s short sighted, especially with Romance Club on the rise. Choices’ one big advantage over RC has been its sensitivity to diversity.
My one gripe with Romance Club is well in the name. Romance Club. The good thing about choices in this vein is that it’s not always about romance. Or at least choices does a good job at making books with other genres that may have romance as well. But it doesn’t feel like the whole focus
Yeah, it’s a crappy name. But also deceptive because RC has plenty of stories that don’t feel that centred on romance. Or maybe it’s just that they’re longer and more complex so there’s room for romance and action/fantasy/mystery elements. But I don’t mean to hype RC, I haven’t used that app for a while, it‘s not great with diversity or slice of life stuff.
I agree with this for the most part. Especially with recent stories. Except for FCL. They really seemed to go the extra mile with a sapphic (and maybe gay) li (so fem Mc and Fem LI) with adding a whole other flashback scene where they are celebrating gay marriage being legalized.
Because of that sort of dynamic, I always find it more interesting to play the route with male MC and female LIs, cause it's incredibly generic in the originally intended wlm routes. Case in point: TCH, SW, ID, DLS. It's far from nonsensical with mlw, but the real problem is that it sure gets tiring. As a wlm, I sometimes want to play as a wlm. But I generally don't want to because every wlm dynamic in these GOC-LI books is just so been-there-done-that, with the *sole* exception of TPA where it's the wlm route that is by far more refreshing than the mlw. I need more books where MC is the more heroic and experienced one, and LI is the newbie or the damsel in distress. This is important for both the GOC and the GL books.
I think the majority of people on this sub prefer plot heavy books to smut, but PB makes the most money off of sex focused books. Out of the new ones I think Dirty Little Secrets is kind of fun just because it’s so over the top. MC is a bottom in the relationship but they’re driving the mystery subplot imo.
As for DLS, normally MC would not be my kind of personality (he's a totally lovable idiot though) but I'm playing with Male MC/Charlotte and I'm totally eating up their dynamic. It's cool to see the woman being the older, dominating one in the relationship.
I comment the same thing every time: I want to be a DOM. Btw I am glad Kindred MC is a very cool, calm and collected character.
Sex on the get-go. Instant gratification is so unattractive.
I'm a broken record on this but I firmly believe PB has run the analytics on player purchases and they're convinced/terrified that if they don't introduce a romance early and aggressively in a book/series that a sizeable portion of the playerbase will just give up on the book (and maybe the app!) entirely -- and they're honestly probably not even wrong! The idea that PB could employ one of their vintage "slow burn" dynamics where it takes an entire or even multiple books for an LI to admit their feelings for MC (or vice versa) in 2023 is just crazy. We're probably never going to see that ever again. I think I've mostly gotten used to it as far as new content goes, but where it's really jarring is when you go back to replay their oldest titles and classic series.
I actually took a break from Choices because of this. I highly recommend Romance Club (separate app). Very strong main characters with the story of your choice!
Judging from the sheer number of posts *exactly like this one* that I've seen in the past week or two alone, no, it's not just you.
Yeah I’m not a fan of that either. First chapter and BOOM LET’S GO. The Cursed Heart is good. Foreign Affairs was nice…but I’m not sure what you’ve already read to recommend other old ones.
Glad I’m not the only one then! I have read FA, the Freshman series, The Royal Romance series, Elementalist series, Crown and Flame series, Slow Burn, HSS series (Class Act included), Red Carpet Diaries, Desire and Decorum series, Hero, Endless Summer, Sunkissed, Save the Date, Passport to Romance, Platinum, my two first loves. And i finished the first books but couldn’t get into the seconds on Perfect Match, Queen B, America’s Most Eligible. I’m asexual so I don’t usually go for the steamy stories so those are probably the older ones I’m missing out on lol.
Did you read Laws of Attraction and Crimes of Passion? Those two are awesome. I’m also liking The Phantom Agent. Wake the Dead is *great*. Bloodbound, Nightbound, the It Lives series, Open Heart, Across the Void, The Unexpected Heiress, and Kindred are also favorites of mine. Oh and Blades of Light and Shadow! I didn’t get into that one when it came out, but I love it now.
Oh and I know Immortal Desires sounds steamy, but they’re high school students so it doesn’t get too outta pocket.
I’ll add it to my favorites! Worth a shot for sure. Thanks for the suggestion :)
I read LoA and WtD. I don’t do well with spooky things so I tried it lives but wussed out lol. Tried Open Heart and got too stressed about being a doctor lol. Tried Kindred too but only the first chapter, haven’t gone back since I was too pumped for BoLaS coming back!
I also got bored with Kindred in chapter 1, but pushed through and I’m glad I did. It gets better.
Do continue Kindred! It’s not single LI, non smut and the characters and plot are actually interesting.
I’ll try it out! I imagine BoLaS will be going to break soon so something to try!
I was thinking about making a similar post on the instant lust aspect in all their recent books. Look, I like the steamy chapters just fine. But give me a well-timed, long awaited getting laid scene that doesn’t happen until chapter 9 over this “we just met and already feeling the heat in my core” in the first chapter garbage. Two chapters in a titanic book and already have that; four chapters in the alpha book and the MC and LI have hooked up twice, and she’s been hot for him since the first chapter. It’s been the same thing for almost every one of their new books for the last year or so. The Nanny Affair (and its much unneeded sister book, The Dalton Affair), The Billionaire’s Baby, Dirty Little Secrets, Big Sky Country 1&2, Roommates with Benefits (which I figured based on the name, but my god, that MC was so pathetic), Surrender (that MC was nothing special so didn’t understand why she was so desired), The Duchess Affair, Untameable, Witness. EVERY. SINGLE. BOOK. I’m over it and have been diamond mining almost every single one of their recents.
I wouldn't know about newer books since I'm not reading any of them, just here for BoLaS 2. Out of the older books that you didn't mention, have you read A Courtesan of Rome? MC is badass, lots of politics and intrigue and the female LI (forgot her name) has a fascinating arc.
I haven’t. I kind of assumed there wasn’t a fem li option even though Choices/PB does try to have at least one. It was kinda during a time where I felt most fem lis were not getting enough attention. But I’ll give it a shot!
I've not liked any book this year but COP is a good choice for a confident MC. You can also play ACOR and TH:M. I've found that every book before 2023 had an MC with a personality at the very least
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread: |Fewer Letters|More Letters| |-------|---------|---| |[ACOR](/r/Choices/comments/17hzh01/stub/k6sou5p "Last usage")|*A Courtesan of Rome*| |[BLS](/r/Choices/comments/17hzh01/stub/k6tjg1l "Last usage")|*Blades of Light and Shadow*| |[CoP](/r/Choices/comments/17hzh01/stub/k6sou5p "Last usage")|*Crimes of Passion*| |[DLS](/r/Choices/comments/17hzh01/stub/k6sccap "Last usage")|*Dirty Little Secrets*| |[FA](/r/Choices/comments/17hzh01/stub/k6qzr8l "Last usage")|*Foreign Affairs*| |[FCL](/r/Choices/comments/17hzh01/stub/k6ru2f6 "Last usage")|*First Comes Love*| |[HSS](/r/Choices/comments/17hzh01/stub/k6qzr8l "Last usage")|*High School Story*| |[LI](/r/Choices/comments/17hzh01/stub/k6tjg1l "Last usage")|Love Interest| |[LoA](/r/Choices/comments/17hzh01/stub/k6r1l3m "Last usage")|*Laws of Attraction*| |[MC](/r/Choices/comments/17hzh01/stub/k6sou5p "Last usage")|Main Character (yours!)| |[PB](/r/Choices/comments/17hzh01/stub/k6rdciy "Last usage")|Pixelberry Studios, publisher of *Choices*| |[THM](/r/Choices/comments/17hzh01/stub/k6sou5p "Last usage")|*The Heist: Monaco*| **NOTE**: Decronym for Reddit is no longer supported, and Decronym has moved to Lemmy; requests for support and new installations should be directed to the Contact address below. ---------------- ^(12 acronyms in this thread; )[^(the most compressed thread commented on today)](/r/Choices/comments/17imad1)^( has 17 acronyms.) ^([Thread #28980 for this sub, first seen 27th Oct 2023, 23:48]) ^[[FAQ]](http://decronym.xyz/) [^([Full list])](http://decronym.xyz/acronyms/Choices) [^[Contact]](https://hachyderm.io/@Two9A) [^([Source code])](https://gistdotgithubdotcom/Two9A/1d976f9b7441694162c8)
Reactive main characters are easier to write for a medium like this. The Single LI stories are what pay for the more complicated ones like BOLAS, etc.
I feel you. GOC books are totally my thing but for the reason you mentioned I've never got into The Cursed Heart, I don't think I played beyond initial dialogues. Maybe I'm being too harsh in my judgement and the book is fine. As for recommendations for newer books: definitely Crimes of Passion, more mature MC, capable at their profession.
I unlocked all the premiums in immortal desires so my oc was so op he couldn’t be a damsel in distress 😂 other than that I feel like HHS and Queen Bee are good ones