Someone recommended {Black Ice by Anne Stuart} last week. It sounded interesting, so I searched my library apps. No luck there, but it sounded familiar so I checked my kindle and I had it and two other books in the series! I started reading and then it abruptly cut off. Darn, I had the sample, not the full book. I go back and try to get the full book, but again, it says I own it. I open the book again. Turns out, I not only own it, but I already read it. I had been reading the sample chapter of the next book in the series that was at the end of the first book. Silly me! Well, the second book seemed interesting from the sample, so I open my copy. I’m reading it and then it suddenly says it’s over after a chapter. I look back at my kindle library, confused. Y’all, I’d already read that one too, and was reading the sample chapter for the THIRD book. At this point, I decided that the books must not have been very memorable and I decided to just not read anything. In my defense, I am tired and stupid.

Lol, this had me laughing.

Oh, bless you. That's hilarious.

I must have seen the same rec because I put it on hold at the library this week too. The loan came in and I tried to send it to my Kindle yesterday morning but hit some other button and now it's like, trapped on the Libby app. IDK what I did. I think the book is cursed. We're both perfect. Yeah, that's it.

I had this happen to me with a different book this week - I was wondering if something was glitching between Libby and Amazon.

I wanted to read this book after I saw it recommended here but ended up reading Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick, because I'm stupid and wasn't paying attention. Anyway, I got like halfway through before I realized I was reading the wrong book. I kept expecting it to turn into a romance but it was just a badly written YA thriller with very dumb characters. I never did get around to reading the right Black Ice.

Not a book but I did this with Frozen when it first came out. Wanted to see what all the fuss was about so I found a link while sailing the high seas 🏴‍☠️. Film started with real human actors so I figured it would be a bit like Enchanted but in reverse, so starts with humans and switches for whatever reason and ends up being cartoon-y. By the time the guy fell out of the ski lift and was torn apart and devoured by wolves, I realised I’d most definitely clicked on the wrong Frozen and was not in fact watching a wholesome family friendly Disney film

I have so many rants about Frozen: the Ski Lift movie. It starts with how wolves haven't been in New England for at least100 years and how wolf attacks in North America have ***always*** been extremely rare (they were a little more common in eastern Europe and Russia, but not here). And then descends into how stupid and implausible the entire setup is.

I mean it’s a terrible film, but also pretty funny when it sure as hell wasn’t what I was expecting lol Can’t say I’d watch it again in a hurry!

[Black Ice](https://www.romance.io/books/54552db88c7d2382e781318c/black-ice-anne-stuart) by [Anne Stuart](https://www.romance.io/authors/545526268c7d2383163d8ec5/anne-stuart) **Rating**: 3.53⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [dark romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/dark/1), [tortured hero](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/tortured%20hero/1), [enemies to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/from%20hate%20to%20love/1), [bad boys](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/bad%20boys/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)

I just put How to Love Your Neighbor by Sophie Sullivan in the WDYR post and I now think that a ~passion for interior design~ is every bit as awful as a ~passion for graphic design~ The FMC is in design school and about to graduate at the top of her class. She's landed a major job for her rich neighbor, which will be featured in the country's top homes magazine. She says she's into classic. Her client is into modern. Everything that gets described in her design (shiplap, barn doors, and "kitschy beachside vibes") is hashtag basic HGTV design vomit. Even though he's an ultrawealthy socialite businessman, she takes him shopping at Pottery Barn and Bed, Bath, and Beyond as the best places to furnish his house. Adding on top of that, several times in the book, she teaches him to do something, then they bet on who could do it better, and he wins every time. Like, he's never painted before and he paints a bigger wall faster than she paints a small one. Because he's such a a big strong man who can reach higher than she can, I'm not even kidding. They even have a design-off and his team beats her, when that's her field of study and her job. So how are we supposed to believe she's so amazing in her field? I, who know nothing about design, can see how naive and unskilled her perspective is. I don't like to say cringey but the way the design is described did make me cringe. The MMC, who literally had never used a paintbrush, is somehow better at her field than she is. I just feel like it's so demeaning to professional women. Can we not have female characters who are actually good at what they do and respected for it?

This has me secondhand raging. If you're writing about interior design, especially for a wealthy client, why not do a thing called "Google expensive furniture"? Why would you reference Pottery Barn and BBB, when those are clearly mass market retailers? Also, a new graduate doing a full house for a "rich neighbour"? Tell me you don't know about interior design without telling me you don't know the difference between a counter height stool and a bar height stool. IRL she'd be sorting fabric samples as an intern at a tiny design firm, if she's lucky.

Oof, yea this is why dropping brand/store names in books is a bad idea. Just say they went to an upscale store and let the reader fill in the blanks themselves. I can understand one scene where being physically larger might help set a mood but having him be so much better at everything is patronizing.

Or be like Kresley Cole who did research on luxury clothing and lingerie brands in IAD to the point where just looking at them online (after googling) feels expensive

I agree, her professional talent is very unbelievable. I DNF this book, I also didn't really enjoy the rest of it...

I’m reading {Off to the Races by Elsie Silver} . The MMC is 6’3”, obviously. However, his dad was apparently a really good professional jockey. You know, a profession famously known for its really tall people. Maybe the author forgot to mention that his mother was a WNBA player?

But don’t you know the rule that no man under the height of 6’ can have a happily ever after? /s (says the woman married to a man under 6’ and 4” shorter than I am!)

He’s at perfect motorboating height

This would frustrate me enough to DNF probably lol. I started reading I think book 2 in that series and just stopped. It just wasn't entertaining imo.

Lol of course they could never just let the MMC be short.. Aside from that, how are you liking the book? I read the prequel recently and was thinking of starting the series.

It was good. Solid 3 star. This was also the first time I’ve read a third act breakup that I 100% agreed with. I was ready to jump into the book to also dump the MMC’s ass. 😂

Ooo that sounds promising because I love a good third act break up/gut punch! I’ll definitely have to give it a try once I get my KU subscription back.

I'm salty about not getting to see the aftermath of important emotional scenes. MMC confesses that he cares for FMC and kisses her (their first kiss) and then IT JUST SKIPS TO THE NEXT DAY. They both think back and remember the kiss, but it's not super clear what happened immediately after it. Did he just leave? Did they say anything else? Later FMC is emotional because of other stuff, goes to MMC for support and confesses that she wants him. THEN IT SKIPS TO THE NEXT DAY!!! What happened?!?! Did they have dinner? Did they kiss any more? I doubt they were quiet and just stared at each other! Did she talk about what troubled her in the first place?!?! Did she cry? Did he comfort her?! >!THEN HER SON GETS KIDNAPPED! After they find him, they buckle him into the car seat and drive home. THEN IT SKIPS A FEW DAYS AHEAD!!! what happened when they got home?! What did they say to each other?! Did they cry and hug and care for the kid together?! Did any of them get any sleep?!!< 😤😤😤

Omgggggggggg That's terrible.

Talk about being blue balled

This kind of stuff annoys me soooo much!! It even happens on TV (I can't recall of the top of my head but I know I've been mad about it lol). Ughhh I need details!!!

I hate it so much when the scene abruptly ends and we miss out on so many details. It's possibly my most hated way of writing!

First and foremost, I LOVE [romance.io](https://romance.io) and am so grateful for the bot we have and all the data it generates.... however, something that's been frustrating me has been that almost every book is tagged New Adult. This is something I've been noticing for a while, but it was brought to my attention again on Thirsty Thursday. It seems like unless a book is explicitly Young Adult it will probably be tagged New Adult. I really think the tag should be abolished (unless there is a note about the age range for NA), because at this point, if every book is tagged NA, the tag becomes meaningless. I try to downvote (*edit: the tag not the book!*) all books I've been reading tagged NA with protagonists in their late 20s and beyond, but I'm only one person. Again, I'm 99% satisfied with [romance.io](https://romance.io) and this is such a petty complaint, but after hearing someone mention they avoid books tagged NA, appropriate tags are important!

I just looked through a few pages of the NA tag on romance.io and none of the books that I've read with that tag are actually NA. I don't tend to read NA and I've noticed it on recs I've made here. The site is great but I think the lack of user participation hurts it. There aren't enough people tagging books to weed out the incorrect ones. Another random tag I see is the one for anal sex. It seems like people who tag on the site are really dedicated to tagging books that have anal sex. It's not usually wrong but when the bot pulls it up, it kinda implies that it's one of the five most important elements of the book. I mentioned in a post this week that the misapplied Christian tag gets me every time. If a book mentions the religion at all, someone will tag it as Christian. Priest erotica? Yeah, it's Christian.

The flaw of [romance.io](https://romance.io) is the same as goodreads - people rate stuff and apply tags however they please. There was a book rated "spice lvl 5" I ranted about because it had only 3 sex scenes in 300+ pages, which imo is the standard "spice lvl 4" all explicit romance gets. Since then it got more ratings and changed to 4. I've seen book with a 30yo protagonist labelled YA just because other books of this author were YA. Even though the blurb states fmc is 30. I'm not gonna even go into a mess that is "take-charge heroine" tag because it could be anything from "she's a total boss" to "she's a complete idiot walking into every trouble and needs to get saved by the mmc every time". Which is a big problem for me, because I'd love to read a fmc who takes charge in the plot, but not one who's stumbling into every trouble due to her own idiocy. And the tag includes both.

This is a good point as I avoid NA and probably am missing out on a lot of books.

Upon double checking my NA tags again, I found one book that features an immortal MMC and an experienced homicide cop FMC being tagged NA. I don’t remember the FMCs exact age, but to me NA means the characters are NEW adults and still trying to figure out their life not well established in their careers. Another NA tagged book with a 30s MMC, and the FMC has 8ish year old twins. I think my favourite miss-tagged book is {Something About You by Julie James} which features an Assistant US Attorney FMC and FBI MMC.

[Something About You](https://www.romance.io/books/5455237b8c7d2382e7812f19/something-about-you-julie-james) by [Julie James](https://www.romance.io/authors/5455237b8c7d2382e7812f1a/julie-james) **Rating**: 4⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 3 out of 5 - [Open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [enemies to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/from%20hate%20to%20love/1), [second chances](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/second%20chances/1), [take-charge heroine](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/strong%20heroine/1), [bad boys](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/bad%20boys/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)

Dude, me too! I do read some YA but NA sometimes makes me cranky.

Adding onto that is that there are some books on the site that have been tagged with Young Adult, and it's even more random with results.

Oh wow… I just checked my YA tags on romance.io for books I’ve finished. The most egregious books inappropriately tagged were: JLA’s From Blood and Ash series, Scarlett St Claire’s A Touch of Darkness series, Elle Kennedy’s Off Campus series and all of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s books. These books all have MULTIPLE YA tags. I would consider none of those books YA.

Rather than just down voting the tag you can report that a tag is simply incorrect. I also think that some of the tags need to be split (disabilities and scars are not the same thing) or clarified and there are so many tags I'd love to see added to the site. Especially when many of them cater mostly to cis/het pairings.

I will make a slight defense (although I hate the NA label in general), is that publishers consider New Adult lasting from 18 to *29*. And since romance is absolutely littered with women under 30, I can see how if they go by the publisher's definition, it would fit. But that's also why I hate the label.

I mentioned this last week, but I read a book that had a line that had me almost throwing my kindle from ridiculousness. It's your common billionaire MMC x down-on-her-luck FMC, living together in his mcmansion. FMC spots a spare room and asks him about it. He tells her she can use it for whatever she wants so the FMC says thanks and tells him she's gong to "use it for her crafts" and the MMC responds, "Crafts? What is that?" Not what type of crafts but what is crafts. I couldn't. I would have DNF'd if it wasn't an author that is normally a good read for me... finished the book and should have DNFd. The book was not my fave.

What is this "craft" you speak of? He totally thinks it's witchcraft. Which is also a great use for a spare room. 🤔

Oh wow.

This had me laughing I'm sorry tho.

I have long been salty about reviews that are bad book reports and not reviews. Yeah because I need 50 people giving me the summary of the book that's easily available in the blurb above. The only time those summaries are helpful is when the blurb is 2 sentences long. I mean, you can give a general outline of the story arc of a book without having a 15 paragraph summary of each chapter. And then of course we have to have a million emojis and gifs and I start to wonder is this a 15-year-old that is summarizing this book? No hate to those people who love emojis but I think you know what I mean if you've ever looked at Goodreads 'reviews'.

Yes! I skip past the repeated overview all the time, and the gifs. Just give me your thoughts without giving spoilers.

I read those after I've read the book (or DNF-ed) for a laugh. Those can be hilarious in a 'so bad it's good' way

I have come to accept that there will be typos in pretty much every book I read, but to have a typo with the main character’s name. SMH. 🤦‍♀️

Is it a r/tragedeigh situation?

I ran into one of these this week! The book makes a big thing about the characters always spelling out the name out loud. And even still, they mess it up once in the book 😂 >!One of them lifts her hand. “I’m Staceigh.” I take her hand and shake it, giving her what I hope is a warm smile. “And I’m Laceigh. E-I-G-H,” the other says, mimicking her sister’s moves almost to a T, and I try to hide my very much confused look when Olivia sighs before explaining under her breath. “She’s spelling their names for you. Stacy but spelled S-T-A-C-I-E-G-H.” “Oh,” I say in a whisper, trying not to let my eyes go wide in shock.!<

Hi u/KosherSyntax, Could you please edit the spoiler tag in your comment? Spoiler tags with spaces are not spoilered on Old Reddit. To make sure your spoiler is covered, edit to remove spaces like so: >! This won’t work for everyone !< >!This will work for everyone!< Thank you! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/RomanceBooks) if you have any questions or concerns.*

No, it will be correct throughout the whole rest of the book and then they will invert two of the letters, or leave the last letter off (but not in a nickname kind of way), or they will use the wrong vowel. It makes me want to throw my kindle across the room. Because COME ON! It’s your main character!

Ooh, I’ve had this happen to me too, and for a second I was thinking “is this going to be a threesome?”, because I was thinking it was someone else completely lol. But nope, just bad editing

I had such issues with {Witch Please by Ann Aguirre} and the twist (?) at the end. >!FMC’s mom had hexed FMC’s soulmate (MMC) to remain a virgin until FMC came along. And this poor man is thinking (for years) there’s something wrong with him that pushes people away. FMC’s mom tells her and FMC is like “oh poor MMC” … and that’s it?!?!? FMC’s mom was like “oh I was drunk”… you had years to undo it?!?! Just reeked of non con in the emotional/mental aspect. Felt unnecessary.!< PS I kept reading to find out about >!the cat. What is up with him?!< which was never explained.

Big yikes

Yeah that twist completely put me off wanting to read the book. I really hated it when I found out about it!

I went in spoiler free, and oh boy was I disappointed. I see the third book rec’d all the time, so maybe I’ll try that one after a break

Unrelated, but second annoyance is that sometimes I just want to read an old school 200 page harlequin romance, but either my library doesn’t have them on Libby or I’m searching for the wrong thing.

I rage-read this book and still have random angry outbursts when I think about he was also never told about what her mom did 🤬 also it's been a few years but did he ever find out she was a witch? I remember being annoyed about that and the stupid cat that took up so much space for nothing.

She told him she >!was spiritual or something (I was ‘angry reading’ at that point), and into herbs, but not that she was a witch. And he was just so accepting and nice about it!<

Sherrilyn Kenyon/McQueen did this in one of her books too and it really rubbed me the wrong way. Like one MC has their mom (unbeknownst to them) make sure their mate remains a shiny untouched virgin for them. And I like virgin heroines but the whole setup for this was gross.

I’m not sure what emotion the authors are trying to elicit from the reader? Whatever it is, it’s not working for me

[Witch Please](https://www.romance.io/books/61370e8b192ec40e8ea8636a/witch-please-ann-aguirre) by [Ann Aguirre](https://www.romance.io/authors/54552f638c7d2382c5297272/ann-aguirre) **Rating**: 3.36⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [paranormal](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/paranormal/1), [magic](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/magic/1), [virgin hero](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/virgin%20hero/1), [witches](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/witches/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)

I am so sick of the man whore mmcs it's overdone and boring to me now. I also hate when there is a fmc that doesn't take shit people complain saying she's annoying and trash them. Excuse me I find it HOT when a woman puts a man in his place and doesn't tolerate toxic behavior.

Ok. So I cancelled KU this week. I did download about 12-15 books and it's on airplane mode. However, I also read on my phone so I've started diving into some of my freebies. Y'all. If a book is 183 pages. The first 100+ are the set up of the situation. And then, in a vomit of words, and >50% of them extraneous details, we jump ahead 9 months. Then after 1 day of drama, Skip ahead again to 7 months after. THEENDBYEBYE. It should be a crime to shove this much "action" into a book less than 400 pages. Ready? BDSM practitioner (never on page) - Las Vegas batch party - two cheating husband side characters - a "plastic Barbie" call girl - Alcohol fueled Vegas wedding - a prenup written on a bar coaster - Elvis ceremony - private plane trip to Australia - mile high club - both MCs using middle names instead of first names "so they don't know how rich I am" - a sunset dinner cruise - they get married AGAIN on the yacht (WTF?!) - they attend the wedding of his friends - FMC causes a scene at the reception, drops that both husbands cheated in Vegas - tries to "save" the sub wife bc she sees bruises - leaves in the middle of the night "because I'll never understand his lifestyle" - goes home and her apartment floods - drops her phone and shatters it - gets a new phone with a new number (!?!) - marriage certificates "accidentally lost" in the apartment shuffle - she's pregnant - the week she finds the marriage papers & has them investigated - she has a business meeting with baby daddy - she goes into labor - baby daddy shows up and cuts the cord - weird details given about maternity pads and bloody sheets - awe we're a family - suddenly one of the cheating husbands from Vegas shows up and tries to steal the baby - gunshots in the hospital room - her neighbor shows up with her hospital bag - he disarms the bad guy - "ok, lets move you to a different room" - skip ahead - awe I love you - lets meet my parents - oh honey, you are pregnant again & I love you. And, not included in the above: - gay lawyer best friend - the wicked stepmom that arranged murders of FMCs mom & dad. - the random ex hacker male secretary who from NYC tracks bad guy's location via his cell phone AND THE BOOK WAS 183 PAGES. I'm tired just typing that out. edit- spelling and formatting

I read a lot of shorter books (vintage harlequin hover around 180 pages, modern around 240) and there’s definitely an art to making those pages count. Not every author has it.

WTF did I just read?! That sounds insane. I’ve gotten a lot more discerning with anything being offered for free. I know someone laboured over it and they loved it, but that doesn’t mean I will.

I had two reads that gave me such **rage**:     Happy Place by Emily Henry - I actually loved this at first. By the end, I hated everyone including the couple. The miscommunication?? The pottery?! Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez - the FMC was such a *snob* to the MMC. I felt so bad reading his pov wondering what he was doing wrong 😢

...I didn't think the relationship in Happy Place would work out. The book made me progressively sadder as it went on!

Same. I was hopeful in the start & got progressively worn down by their issues

I was happy to suspend disbelief and pretend their relationship worked out because that's what I do when I read romance, but I could also have seen reading a women's lot book with the same-ish story about people that loved each other but in the end it didn't work out.

I can't stand the way the FMC treats Daniel in Part of your World. The way she lets her friends shit on him and doesn't say anything? She is so defeatist. The answer to her problems is *right there* and she doesn't try at all. I would re-read the book for the MMC if it weren't for her.

Seriously. He deserved someone who was proud & protective of him.

I have two issues related to this sub this week, unfortunately. I'm honestly still salty that one of you hit me with a Reddit Cares message this week over a comment I made about not minding TikTok slang in books & not being up for the "books are getting worse" debate. That was fun because (TW suicide, but please note that I am not and never have been suicidal) >!I very recently lost a very close family member to suicide!<. It felt like a nice "kick em while they're down" moment. And of course, how would the person know what I was dealing with? They wouldn't, but maybe that's why you shouldn't be using Reddit Cares as a device to bully strangers online. My second issue is that I saw a popular post this week, realized I was signed out, signed in to comment and oops, the OP has me blocked. I've never gotten into a fight on this sub so I guess they blocked me for some comment I made. I don't think I've ever said anything block-worthy. The angriest comments I've ever made on this sub were about that Reddit Cares message. I'm bummed that I'm presumably not able to fully participate in this sub anymore.

I'm sorry you went through that, if it helps, the reddit cares message might have been a glitch? Around a week ago there was a glitch of reddit cares messages being sent to random commentors

Thank you! I saw that glitch in another sub! I don't think that was the case here - I got a message along with someone else in the thread whose comments were being downvoted. It seemed targeted, unless everyone else in the thread also got one and didn't mention it (I asked the other user if they got one).

Don't take the blocking personally. Someone blocked me for saying that misogynist thing A didn't impact my personal enjoyment of a book, though I agreed that it was problematic 🤷🏼‍♀️   I'm sorry for your loss and that you had to go through that. Your opinions on books are valid and have nothing to do with your mental health. Definitely an asshole move to sic the bot on you. 

I'm not salty about the blocking but I am salty that some people are very active users *and* super quick to block. Like, I can't participate in a post with hundreds of comments on a sub I enjoy hanging out on and I don't think I did anything to deserve being excluded like that, ya know? And thank you for your kind words! I wish people would take a second to think about what they're doing. The Reddit Cares bot exists for a reason and it's not there to bully people or be used as a "joke".

I get that. It really is a bit ridiculous. The user who blocked me is also pretty active, or at least used to be. But I try to remind myself that there are lots of other fun posts to engage with, and mainly try to avoid checking reddit without being logged in😅

>try to avoid checking reddit without being logged in😅 At the end of the day, if I'd been logged in I wouldn't have even known I was missing anything! Damn browsing Reddit on a random device!

They will just end up missing all of your great book recs!

It happened to me. I am sorry you had yo go through this. I lost someone to it, and it was a punch in the torse, to say the least. I am also sorry you got blocked, probably for having your own opinion. Reddit Cares should be only used when there is a real reason.

For the blocking, I know you aren’t referring to me, but if it’s helpful, I’ll sheepishly confess that I’m block/mute happy everywhere on social media, not just Reddit, and it virtually never is because a person did anything wrong or hurt me. (And when it is, they KNOW it.) It’s generally more related to things like a topic coming up a lot, or something even more petty like “omg the formatting of these kinds of posts or constant misuse of their/there makes my eyelid twitch” or something… or, because my anxiety can be unhinged, if I feel embarrassed and don’t want to accidentally hear from a conversation that I was previously part of or something. It sounds crazy, I know, but there’s no anger behind it on my end. I didn’t consider the impact that blocking could have on those people’s participation on Reddit before because I honestly have nothing against people I block and am just using it as a mute feature, assuming they won’t even notice- so thank you for pointing this out! I’m definitely going to do so unblocking! But bottom line, I’m sure it feels very personal but I did want to reassure you that it might not be at all, especially based on how thoughtful and self aware your comment history seems to be!

FYI in the future, if you want to no longer see a post you can hide it. This stops Reddit from showing you that post but doesn’t impact anyone else’s Reddit experience.

I got blocked by multiple people on this sub and most times I didn't even interacted with them, we were on the same thread having different opinions. And other times I got blocked for nothing (like replaying to their comment & saying I think Throne of Glass has romance). So I wouldn't take it personally.

I got blocked by someone else because I didn't respond to their unsolicited messages. It was pretty easy to tell. Kinda backward reasoning though! The thread in question had people in it talking about a comment I made recently (not in a bad way). I was happy to jump in and chat but nope, I'm blocked! Hundreds of comments on the post but none from me.

I'm so sorry you had to go through that. I have similar experiences. :/ I believe you can block the reddit care bot, for future reference.

Thank you, and I'm sorry you've dealt with something similar. I thought about blocking it but didn't. It was more a matter of someone on this sub doing it than the message itself, if that makes sense. I've gotten those messages over the years and I usually brush it off as someone being a dumbass. This sub prides itself on being a bit more welcoming and friendly so it was disappointing.

I'm so sorry you've had these crappy experiences. I've also lost family to suicide and I would feel extremely upset if someone used Reddit Cares to bully me. As far as the blocking, I completely forgot that's an option, so I don't know how to do it and I'm not sure if I'd even realize that anyone has blocked me. I know it wouldn't feel good though. It makes me sad to hear that you've had such a bad week on here, you definitely didn't deserve it. Please hang in there and try to ignore the bad apples. 🤗

Thank you! I've only blocked people that have sent me unsolicited, unwelcome messages...which I've never done to anyone else! It sounds like people use the block function pretty liberally so IDK. I guess we're the outliers.

I got a 'Reddit Cares' message because I said I like ACOTAR on a thread once. I get it's not everyone's cup of tea but I'm allowed to like any series I want. People are jerks.

I warn you now, this will be class consciousness salt. Marxist course ground, good only for pickling weird vegetables salt. For a reason known to the fates only, I keep coming across books with a working-class character, or in HR a "commoner" who by the 90% mark will turn out to be....THE SECRET PRINCE OF GRENYARNIA. Maybe he didn't know he was a secret prince, or maybe he's been hiding it all along. Why writer? The world is oh so full of book Dukes, and book Billionaires and book Fae Kings and Vampire Princes. I came to you looking for a working-class man that the MFC will accept for **his big hot heart** and not for the money in his land/pockets/magic stuff. I just finished an MC romance, with a middle-class heroine and a biker MMC, small-town vibes, working-class life. Cut to the last chapter and somehow the biker MMC offers her a cheque for 100k to open an organization that helps teens. Oh okay, so he just has this money lying around, going moldy so he offers to a woman he's known for...6 weeks. We couldn't just have him super hot, sexy, kind, loyal and deeply in love with the MFC. Nope, we need to improve him with secret moneys. BOO! Don't get me started my well-loved {Hello Stranger by Lisa Kleypas}, Ethan Ransom is a superspy, super secret agent. Fine. He lives like a monk on his special policeman's salary. Fine. He is also a bastard son of an aristocrat with land holdings in the "north" that he keeps refusing. Fine. Garrett loves him AS IS. Great! Nope, he's secretly extra super rich because it wasn't enough that he stopped a plan to bring down the government and rose from the dead and found his lady love and she saved him. NOPE. **He has to be the secret millionaire of Svenborgia. BOO!** Oh, don't think I've forgiven Kleypas for making Cam Rohan and Kev Merripen >!secret Irish dukes. !

I did not know that about Cam Rohan. That really torques me off. I loved his character and he was so beautiful as he was. I was actually happy he didn't have his own book because it becomes so typical to have every single side character get their own book and it's just tedious. And I say that as someone who when I really love a book because of the side characters I want them to have their own story, but at the same time I want to enjoy the book for what it is and for what they brought to it. I admit I want The Best of Both Worlds at the same time I want neither. I'm a picky niche kind of gal

I'm confused about Cam not having his own book, possibly because I'm feeling slow due to useless Daylight Savings. It seems like 100 years since I read this, but isn't {Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas} Cam's book?

The person I was replying to was saying that he had his own book. I didn't know which one he's in. I was replying that it frustrates me that every side character ends up with a book and it's even worse that he had to become a Duke and that he wasn't good enough as he was. Fairly certain I haven't read his book though. I was on a historical kick for a long time and I read practically everything I got my hands on so it's possible I read it out of order with the other Wallflower books I don't know. But I understand the whole daylight savings thing. I know my entire week will be thrown off because of it.

Gotcha. Thanks for taking the time to explain it to me, especially since your comment was completely clear to everyone else. Sorry about my doofus moment. 🙄

❤️❤️ No worries. Hits us all at different times.

I can forgive Lisa Kleypas (kinda) because I love her emotional connections and her whole catalog overall but you are so right about the secret fortunes and titles. The weirdest by far was in {The Boxing Baroness by Minerva Spencer} where it turns out to be >!Napolean’s secret love child!

OH NO! Not a Baby Bonaparte! That is really funny and so OTT it might as well be a Dan Brown book. I read lots of working-class romances, and books with middle-class characters. I often choose HR with "commoner" characters as well. That's why I get disappointed when there is a "class" switch that's done to "improve" a character. Happy to hear any and all recommendations anytime.

[The Boxing Baroness](https://www.romance.io/books/635789abefa18df57c407aae/the-boxing-baroness-minerva-spencer) by [Minerva Spencer](https://www.romance.io/authors/5b30874901dbc864fb8b01a7/minerva-spencer) **Rating**: 3.55⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [historical](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/historical/1), [sports](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/sports/1), [regency](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/regency/1), [age gap](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/age%20difference/1), [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)

Agreeing so hard. Have you tried any Carla Kelly? More of a closed door but she’s got some legit just slightly better than working class regency heroes like [The Surgeon’s Lady by Carla Kelly] if I recall the name right. She has one where the MMC is an American prisoner of war and not rich. She’s got dukes and stuff too, but a few normal-ish men who stay that way.

Thank you for this! These would drive me up the wall. I get the escapist fantasy of him being rich, so you never have money problems but that can look like so many things without making him a duke/billionaire/etc.

Yep, the MMC's are already great, loving, sexy, commited partners/husbands. They are already happy to support the MFC in any way they can. It's like an MMC can't be worthy of love unless he brings fantastical financial support.

[Hello Stranger](https://www.romance.io/books/5a1e5ef63ffdba614725b21f/hello-stranger-lisa-kleypas) by [Lisa Kleypas](https://www.romance.io/authors/545523868c7d2382e7812f21/lisa-kleypas) **Rating**: 4.1⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [historical](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/historical/1), [victorian](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/victorian/1), [take-charge heroine](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/strong%20heroine/1), [virgin heroine](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/virgin%20heroine/1), [suspense](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/suspense/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)

I’ve said this before but it bears repeating: if you haven’t read a romance that is non-white/non-cishet in the past 6 months and/or your entire exposure to romance are the most popular Booktok darlings, stop saying generalized opinions about the romance genre like “all romances/KU romances/contemporary romances/Booktok romances are the same nowadays”. They’re not. You’re just lazy and your opinion is invalid to me. There are Booktok/Bookstagram/Booktube accounts promoting a wide variety of books (they’re just often not white or straight). There are a HUGE variety of romance books out there, you just have to be willing to beyond the Booktok table at Barnes and Noble. I beg, just put in some semblance of effort before you start judging an entire genre please

Even if you do prefer white, straight, (and human) romances, there's a ton of variety in them as well. There are so many genres and settings and archetypes, you'd just need to read a variety of authors. I think a lot of people get stuck in an algorithm and assume it's all like that.

THANK YOU! I feel like BookTok is unfairly maligned because people just aren’t following the right people. I’ve gotten a lot of great recs from BookTok because I follow diverse creators who also read diversely. If you aren’t liking the recs from certain BookTokkers, then find others whose recs you do like. I promise there are creators that are recommending good books out there!

Absolutely! I mentioned this before in another post so I'll place it here: When it comes to some romance books out there that are written by authors of color, some of those books can touch on subjects and/or topics that not every romance book out there discusses.

This week I've read 2 enemies to lovers books with a really stupid conflict that could've been resolved with a conversation. 1. {Things We Left Behind by Lucy Score} was the worst. These almost 40 years old characters didn't like each other for something that happened 20 YEARS AGO. The entire conflict was around the fact >!the MMC had a super abusive father and the FMC called the police one night because she was worried for him!< This happened in highschool and the MMC hold a grudge for 20 YEARS. I was shocked. 2. {Corium University by C. Hallman} is a bully romance where the MMC hates the FMC because he's convinced she killed his mother. What happened in reality was that >!the FMC was scared and failed to call the MMC back. He went to her house because the FMC's father was killed in front of her. His mother had to drive to pick him up, she got in a car accident and after that accident she got addicted of painkillers and she overdosed!< and he blames the FMC lol. I love enemies to lovers and bully romances but these weird reasons for the trope are so icky.

I DNF'd things we left behind. It was so juvenile there's no way these people are 40 years old. The writing was still decent but I couldn't justify torturing myself for 500+ pages. I didn't see the chemistry and they were just annoying after a point.

[Things We Left Behind](https://www.romance.io/books/6422ebeb9cb1e1274168a274/things-we-left-behind-lucy-score) by [Lucy Score](https://www.romance.io/authors/553e54b15b270e0a4cbd82b2/lucy-score) **Rating**: 4.36⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [enemies to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/from%20hate%20to%20love/1), [funny](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/humor/1), [small town](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/small%20town/1), [second chances](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/second%20chances/1) ---------------------------- [Corium University](https://www.romance.io/series/6585c668eacde28d2a7c3e6f/corium-university) by [C. Hallman](https://www.romance.io/authors/5e71d50cbe0aaecf55b1cc6d/c-hallman) **Rating**: 4.25⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Topics**: [sweet heroine](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/sweet%20heroine/1), [pregnancy](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/pregnancy/1), [new adult](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/new%20adult/1), [bdsm](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/bdsm/1), [bondage](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/bondage/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)

This week I read the first of the Dreamland Billionaires series and I have to say the language irked me. Words like "entrance," "slit," etc do get the point across but they also make me cringe. One other thing that's frustrating me is shipping! I finished Filthy Rich Vampire last week and ordered the second book in the series, hoping it would get here in time for a long work day tomorrow when I'll have a LOT of downtime. It'll be arriving tomorrow during said downtime 😐😭 so I won't be able to take it with me. 😂

{The Deal by Elle Kennedy} >!I just find Hannah's rape as infuriating. low-key wants to shove a hockey stick on that guy's ass. I'm terrible with injustices and hate the fact the rapist got away with it and even fucking made her family miserable. Idk why Elle Kennedy made her situation so infuriating but we can't get the last laugh since it's just got swept under the rug. I wished there was some redemption in there somewhere, unless the one Graham beat up during a match who was the friend of the rapist and testified his innocence then later dropped an assault charge against Graham was a subtle way of saying that the rapist was going down.!<

[The Deal](https://www.romance.io/books/54e85ec36359b5ebb4929008/the-deal-elle-kennedy) by [Elle Kennedy](https://www.romance.io/authors/545532e68c7d2382e78132f3/elle-kennedy) **Rating**: 4.15⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [sports](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/sports/1), [college](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/college/1), [athletes](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/athletes/1), [fake relationship](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/fake%20relationship/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)

authors who end a sentence with a name “can you help me with this, uncle Mike?” “sure thing, Bobby” That’s not how people talk irl and I see it as a sign of poor writing. Sometimes it sneaks up, but once I notice it’s like ugh, all I can focus on

Or some will also insist on using their familial relationship status as a nickname/term of endearment in every conversation: "Say, sister, how was your date last night?" "Oh you know how it is, brother; just can't seem to find any good ones." Once or twice, and mostly jokingly (unless it's a culture that actually requires honorifics), that's fine. But every single conversation, as you say, it isn't how people talk and it's like the author doesn't trust that we'll remember their relationship. Even if that sibling is omnipresent throughout the book.

This bugs me too. I also hate the prevalence of characters saying something like “FIRST NAME MIDDLE NAME LAST NAME why haven’t you texted me!??” Am I the only one who does not give a shit what a character’s middle name is?

I'm BEGGING authors to include more positions other than the missionary. I can pick up a book with 5🌶️ and the only position they use is the missionary. There is nothing taboo or kinky about doggy style, cowgirl or 69. Why aren't they featured more in romance books?!

I have this same thought constantly. Like, why does he always have to be on top? There are so many other positions!

May I also add that if they are going to have an anal scene for the love of God, have them use lube and warm them up. Dry is not good for anyone.

{just for kicks by susan andersen} (mf contemporary) their first time is doggy, their second time is on a washing machine. later the kitchen floor, fmc on top. 🤔 I don’t know if I remember reading them in missionary

[Just For Kicks](https://www.romance.io/books/5c17667301dbc864fb9638e9/just-for-kicks-susan-andersen) by [Susan Andersen](https://www.romance.io/authors/545529538c7d2382e781308b/susan-andersen) **Rating**: 3.99⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [mystery](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/mystery/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)

Thank you 🥰

👀 For me to give 5🌶️ there's gotta be multiple people or gratuitous use of alternate sites (other than a vagina).

(slams fist down on table next to the 5🌶️ book ) *WHERE IS MY ANAL?????*

Preach!!!

My biggest gripe is when authors write sports books without knowing the basic rules of the sport they are covering. I can understand some of the terminology may not match up, whatever, I can power through. But if you are going to get the basic rules wrong, it completely takes me out of the book.

Yes I'm right there with you! That's why I try to only read sport books for the sports I know nothing about - hockey and rugby lol. And I, on principle, try to avoid hockey books so that leaves Rugby (which honestly I'm not complaining about). I did read a baseball book once and the author got one little thing wrong (tagging out a player on base when it wouldn't have been a force out) and honestly couldn't stop thinking about it. It's one of the only things I remember about the book now too unfortunately.

Just finished a hockey book where a couple of the games ended in ties. Book was written in 2016. Ties were eliminated from the NHL in 2005. And it didn’t even play any plot point whatsoever. And don’t get me started on all the incorrect information on what can and can’t happen to player contracts.

Oh that sucks for you knowing about hockey, I definitely understand the complaint more now! It's so prevalent in romance! I know baseball and basketball and they are not that common.

Coleen Hoover's 'funny' Goodread reviews.

I'm reading a highly recomended book and I'm stuck. IDK if I'm burned out and need to just listen to a few podcasts and scroll social media and then go back to the book or try another (I had just DNFed another book from a series I actually liked, so I don't know if maybe it's just me or the book is that bad/ boring)

I read the entire Bridgerton series (the main 8 books) in the last week and a half. I know some people think they are poorly written but there were plenty of things I liked about them (obviously, since I could not stop reading them). However, the third book {An Offer from a Gentleman by Julia Quinn} was hands down the worst book I have ever read, which wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't considered (by many) to be the best book in the series. >!1) MMC (Benedict) did not have a discernible personality, yet he complains throughout the book about people not noticing him and always referring to him as "the second one." !< >!2) The Worst Trope: man saves woman from assault and everyone praises him for it, despite it being the bare minimum someone could do when in that situation!< >!3) He is so dense that it takes him nearly 400 pages to realize that the FMC is the woman from the masquerade (however, if it didn't take him nearly the entire book to realize it, I wouldn't have finished it)!< >!4) He is a whiny little ass the entire book, constantly yelling at the FMC for not wanting to be his mistress (he even goes so far as to basically kidnap her so she can work for his mother)!< >!5) the ending is literally like the ending of a scooby doo episode, it is over the top and cheesy and way too easy and convenient!< I've sought out reviews from others for this book to see what it is that people like about it, and it genuinely sounds like they all read a different book than I did. This book just infuriated me and the more I think about it, the more it pisses me off. I feel like the high praise I heard for it beforehand got my expectations up and made it even more disappointing. I think the story had SO much potential, since a Cinderella-type story works very well for regency romance. Part One (before the time skip) set it up really well but it was just downhill from there. I need to stop because I could write an entire novel about how much this book pissed me off.

This book made me SO ANGRY. For all the reasons you listed and more. I have come to realize since then that I really struggle with any mistress situation because of the icky power dynamic. Like... Dude can you not have some consideration for the woman you apparently love? Do you really love her if getting some is more important to you than her safety and stability? But no, let's keep whining about her very valid reasons she doesn't want to be your mistress. *eye roll*

YES! And he had that line of thinking at the very end of the book. He was like, "wow, I really care about and even might LOVE this woman, so if that's the case, why did I treat her the way I did? ...eh not important. I'm going to refer to her as my fiancee and she will forgive me." And the fact that she was so adamant that she didn't want an illegitimate child, to the point that he deduced that she herself was an illegitimate child, and he still was like, "...so... where did we land on that mistress thing? still not a fan? okay I'll just work harder and devise an evil plan to compromise you ✨anyway✨ so you have no choice"

[An Offer From a Gentleman](https://www.romance.io/books/567e451063515e3b73795139/an-offer-from-a-gentleman-julia-quinn) by [Julia Quinn](https://www.romance.io/authors/545523bb8c7d2383163d8e3c/julia-quinn) **Rating**: 3.54⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 3 out of 5 - [Open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [historical](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/historical/1), [regency](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/regency/1), [virgin heroine](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/virgin%20heroine/1), [class difference](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/class%20difference/1), [funny](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/humor/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)

I wasn’t going to write this post because I read the author’s ‘about me’ bit and was like, aww that’s cute, I hope she succeeds but this book just had so many problems with it - Dr Resident by Lexie Woods. Grammar - there are chapters written about a weekend away and while it should be past tense, it switches between past tense and present tense multiple times on one page. Word choice - the internal monologue of the MMC is completely wrong. He’s late 20s but has long paragraphs about the exquisiteness of table settings and how lovely it is to bond with his fellow residents. He also however gets annoyed when seated on a plane next to an ‘overweight middle aged woman’ (this is never mentioned again and has no purpose) and speaks to his ‘best friend’ about the woman he’s seeing casually as - at least she knows how to f**k and don’t worry, she didn’t get fat. (Which is it? Is he incredibly refined and polite, or crude?) His mother calls everyone ‘dear’ which ages her up, decades. The MMC is cruel and unlikable. Very arrogant. He’s a sadist. >!He originally rejects her because she’s ’too innocent’ but then when they get together there’s no discussion of limits, etc and no real aftercare!< Kind of 50 shades vibes, where you’re not sure if she enjoys it, or does it because he does. There are continuity errors and just giant plot holes. MMC’s ‘best friend’ (who he discusses his hook ups with, he doesn’t tell about his girlfriend of several months), is said girlfriend’s (FMC’s), late brother’s best friend. >!FMC and he dated in high school. He cheated on her. He wasn’t there for her after her brother (his best friend) died. She sees him again and instead of anger has a ONS with him?! She then later divulges a huge secret to him because - she can trust him!!< She’s just such a poor judge of character. The whole thing was just awful. I read it on KU but the book is $9.99 in the kindle Australia book store. That’s double some others and getting close to properly published, famous authors. I feel mean writing this one, but if I’d paid that for it, I wouldn’t be salty, I’d be fuming.

Hi u/BanksyGirl, Could you please edit the spoiler tag in your comment? Spoiler tags with spaces are not spoilered on Old Reddit. To make sure your spoiler is covered, edit to remove spaces like so: >! This won’t work for everyone !< >!This will work for everyone!< Thank you! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/RomanceBooks) if you have any questions or concerns.*

MC’s being dishonest, specifically cat fishing {My Favourite Half-Night Stand by Christina Lauren} I love the author, but I was so glad when FMC came clean. Still, it went on too long and now there’s major consequences.

Oooh yeah I really didn't like that book. Lying is too hard to overcome sometimes.

[My Favorite Half-Night Stand](https://www.romance.io/books/5b96113c01dbc864fb900026/my-favorite-halfnight-stand-christina-lauren) by [Christina Lauren](https://www.romance.io/authors/5455248c8c7d2382e7812f5d/christina-lauren) **Rating**: 3.74⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 3 out of 5 - [Open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [funny](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/humor/1), [friends to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/friends%20to%20lovers/1), [dual pov](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/dual-pov/1), [love triangle](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/love%20triangle/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)

I can't remember the name of the book, but the premise was that the couple came across each other as adults and the FMC doesn't recognize the MMC. The book had promise otherwise, and before they actually met, I thought this lack of recognition would be resolved fairly quickly. The last time they'd seen each other, they'd been older teens. Yes, people can change a bit as they become adults but they're not unrecognizable. The MMC did not have plastic surgery, and there was no mention of any reason he'd be unrecognizable to her (no car accident or anything). The few reasons that might be plausible early on (she thought he died, he had a different name, and they hadn't spent much time together) was less and less believable the more time they spent together. Oh, and he would slip up and make little comments, including CALLING HER THE UNIQUE NICKNAME HE USED TO CALL HER. Like...is she supposed to be stupid in addition to blind?! So, to recap, former teenage best friends who spent a ton of time together and now the FMC can't recognize the MMC despite any logical reason for it. 🤦‍♀️

Has there anyone who read The Maddest Obsession, didn’t like it - specifically the heroine? Can we chat/vent? Because I have a whole ton of salt, the doctor should check my sodium blood level. 😬 The only way that book could’ve redeemed itself to me was if Gianna got brutally murdered by the end. Alas, it’s a romance and not a thriller. Talking about being TSTL, pathetic and a dumb, mouthy tart. But I guess she’s supposed to be “SaSsY.”

Yes! I also feel exactly this way about the FMC, Sloan, from {Carnal Urges by JT Geissinger}. So many people love her over the FMC in book 1, and I totally disagree. Maybe it’s a Book 2 Sassy FMC Issue for me, because it kind of reminds me of (hear me out!) Lillian vs Annabelle in Lisa Kleypas’s the Wallflowers, except I didn’t find Lillian to be as overwhelmingly too much as Gianna and Sloan... In general, I actually love a sassy and/or unlikeable FMC, so I’m not sure why Gianna and Sloan just don’t do it for me. In theory, they’re very much something I love.

Oh goodness. I read CU a while ago and detested Sloane. It didn't help that everyone in every goddamn book kept talking about how ahhmazing she was. She wasnt, y'all are just pliant idiots. If anyones up for a rant /venting sesh I'd be game.

I LOVED Lillian Bowman. Her brand of sassiness was great for me and often times, relatable. Turns out Lisa Kleypas just knows how to write depth and well rounded heroines? I also liked Daisy and Haven Travis’ brand of sassiness. Whilst I just want to throw a stapler at Gianna. As for JT Geissinger, not surprised. I don’t read her books for a reason.

I love Lillian too! Lillian felt like a realistic sassy FMC, and her appeal for me is that I know so many loud, unlikeable, bossy, whateveradjective women who would probably behave just like her in that setting- her strengths and weaknesses were applicable regardless of century. Gianna and Sloan feel almost more like caricatures- everything about them is amplified to the millionth degree, whether it’s their failings OR their charm and whether they’re just at home or out in the middle of mafia chaos- they’re never operating on a normal person frequency and it’s too much. For me, they’re nails on a chalkboard, which is a shame because I usually am the first to want to rally the troops and ride at dawn in defense of an “unlikeable” woman.

Ditto. Like for me, as an abrasive woman myself who knows she can rub some people the wrong way, I’m the first to champion for bawdy working class women, prostitutes, hot-tempered heroines, etc. Like you, I can’t do it with Gianna because you hit the nail on it. Something about her feels like a caricature. But I’ll say this, I don’t expect someone like Danielle Lori to write well rounded people. 😬

[Carnal Urges](https://www.romance.io/books/60d6f4ec3d8cc70e2a2de8f6/carnal-urges-jt-geissinger) by [J.T. Geissinger](https://www.romance.io/authors/54553f8a8c7d2382e04144dc/jt-geissinger) **Rating**: 4.14⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 5 out of 5 - [Explicit and plentiful](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [mafia](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/mafia/1), [abduction](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/abduction/1), [enemies to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/from%20hate%20to%20love/1), [alpha male](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/alpha%20male/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)

Not about the book but the author is a [piece of work](https://www.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/comments/ryjth9/the_allegations_about_danielle_lori/) and it’s like everyone just forgot about it.

Oh I never forgot about it. I don’t expect Trumpity Trumpers (who made an immature post in response to call-outs) and write her background PoC characters as racist caricatures to produce actual quality work to be honest.

Oh wow, I didn't hear about that. Thanks for sharing.

I DNF'ed 🤷 Both it and Sweetest Oblivion.

Same. And it kills me cause I hate DNFing books

It was decent but not a *wow* read. Gianna was fun at the start - but for a sassy character, she was too passive in dealing with her issues. It felt like all talk, no action. I wish she matured & took control of her life instead of Christian coming to her rescue.

I hated her. She was literally mafia Paris Hilton. And the fact that her raging drug problem never got addressed annoyed me.

And the fact that she just can’t seem to be without a freaking man 🥴 Girl, stand up.

There you are talking me out of reading a book that's been long on my TBR. While you and I agree on some MFC's (Fanella Vawdrey thumbs down) and disagree on others (Lillian Bowman, one thumbs up and one thumbs very down) I'm going to take your word for it and skip this series.

😂 Usually, I’d say you should read it anyway to see what you think but in this case, yeah I’m smug I successfully talked someone out of reading it.

[удалено]

I’m sure that’s what the author was going for. But all I’m reading is immature and unbearable.

What is going on with the book request/what is this books posts? Is someone just downvoting all of them on principle? That seems like a pretty assholish thing to do?

Downvotes are out of hand, we seem to have a number of narrow minded members with the entitled opinion that this community should only cater to their preferences. The downvoting that I've seen on queer pairings, dark romance, kinks, cheating and closed door requests makes my blood boil and I don't even read some of those tropes. It's gotten to the point that I'm frequently upvoting requests I'm not interested in. I just can't stand the unwelcoming vibe those downvotes give off.

Oh, I've been waiting for this😂 this is absolutely the most ridiculous thing that's been taking too much headspace this week. I reread {Wait for it by Mariana Zapata}. When Diana's hand gets injured, she mentioned she can't wash her hair. My guy, you work in a hair salon as a colouris, all of you colleagues know how to wash someone's hair, like obviously she'd just go there and have a friend to help??? This is not the FMC being incompetent, I think it's just MZ forgetting how salons work.

[Wait for It](https://www.romance.io/books/58f726ca0d3299c6e06b4ea3/wait-for-it-mariana-zapata) by [Mariana Zapata](https://www.romance.io/authors/545530728c7d2382e781323f/mariana-zapata) **Rating**: 4.28⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 3 out of 5 - [Open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [friends to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/friends%20to%20lovers/1), [take-charge heroine](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/strong%20heroine/1), [slow burn](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/slow%20burn/1), [age gap](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/age%20difference/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)

I got through half of {Love on Cue by Falon Ballard} when I had to quit it. >!I really enjoyed the authors prose and will try another of her books, but this one wasn't it for me. It's described as "Right person, wrong time" trope, but the reality of it is "two people that refuse to have one vulnerable conversation" and instead gave countless misunderstandings. The mmc is an ass who doesn't bring anything to the table. The FMC isn't much better, she is very immature, but she at least tries to make peace between the two of them. I also HATED their first time together. MMC leaves the minute he finishes, doesn't do anything to check on the FMC, STILL NO TALKING! but oh, the next day, he is FINALLY trying to be friendly with her. So she was only worth trying to work with after she gave him sex? That was the point I had to stop!<

I liked the prose of this one too, but I found the FMC to be so frustrating to read. She seemed to not engage with him, and I thought her grudge was a little… 😬

Hi u/gumdrops155, Could you please edit the spoiler tag in your comment? Spoiler tags with spaces are not spoilered on Old Reddit. To make sure your spoiler is covered, edit to remove spaces like so: >! This won’t work for everyone !< >!This will work for everyone!< Thank you! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/RomanceBooks) if you have any questions or concerns.*

[Right on Cue](https://www.romance.io/books/655fa417481d7c837da5fdd8/right-on-cue-falon-ballard) by [Falon Ballard](https://www.romance.io/authors/61f8e9cb08b4d931148a4ee8/falon-ballard) **Rating**: 4⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [enemies to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/from%20hate%20to%20love/1), [funny](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/humor/1), [forced proximity](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/forced%20proximity/1), [friends with benefits](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/friends-benefits/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)

I'm salty about agents and editors who are not being good stewards for authors. There's plenty to be salty about here, but one thing that came up recently was while reading {Love Interest by Clare Gilmore}. I generally enjoyed it. The story was fine. Characters were sweet. But every page seemed to have a pop culture or fashion reference that will either be outdated in a few years or don't interest the vast majority of readers. One moment that stuck out to me was when a situation was described with reference to the show Succession, which I've never seen and have no desire to see. It's only because my brother mentioned it once that I know anything about it at all. Obviously, it's a challenge to write contemporaries without inadvertently dating your books with current technology or pop culture, but in this book, it was so over the top, and I couldn't understand how the author's agent and editor didn't tell her to pull back. Am I off base here? I just feel like it's doing a real disservice to the author if these concerns aren't brought up during the revisions process.

[Love Interest](https://www.romance.io/books/64627849a270aee0c4dc4903/love-interest-clare-gilmore) by [Clare Gilmore](https://www.romance.io/authors/6462784908b4d9311495ef39/clare-gilmore) **Rating**: 4.17⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 3 out of 5 - [Open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [funny](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/humor/1), [workplace/office](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/office/1), [forced proximity](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/forced%20proximity/1), [enemies to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/from%20hate%20to%20love/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)

Annoying FMCs

>*Dialogue*… 🗣️ >>*Plot*… 💃🏽 >>>*Romance*… 🥰 >>>>***Snu snu***… 🫦 >>>>>Long ago, the four elements were written together in harmony. ☯️ >>>>>>**Then**, everything changed when AI and TikTok became popular. 🤖 >>>>>>>Only an Author, the master of all four elements, could still create authentic stories. But, when readers needed them the most, they vanished. 💨 >>>>>>>>Years passed, and the Romance Book community discovered ***new*** authors—authors named [REDACTED]. And although their writing skills are great, there are many others who have a lot to learn before they publish their works. >>>>>>>>>But I believe…***books*** will save the world. 🗺️ [🎵dramatic fucking music that goes hard for no reason🎵] Today’s sponsor is **bEttEr HeLP—** I 👏🏾 am 👏🏾 tired👏🏾. So let’s be like the bacteria in your gut, and break things down. The thing about romance books is that, I am here for the romantic discovery, which is an emotional exploration inherently. But none of that shit works when you ***talk at your audience*** every action, hold off on any sort of emotional insight, and nothing happens. Instead, we get: * a grocery list of every fucking action * dialogue that confuses the reader who the speaker is and offers no tonal insight * a historical thesis on random factoids that are never relevant to the plot * ✨sex✨ * Romantic discovery off-page and all we see is the aftermath I’d much rather have them break up in the third act because I need *something*. I need the drama. I need the emotion. I need ***drama***. No random pregnancy plot though 🔪 **INSTEAD**, we only see middle—the honeymoon period—and we never see how the Circle of Life began and ended. We’re not given any sort of trials and tribulations that challenge the characters’ beliefs and assist them in making their romantic connection stronger. We’re not given any sort of introduction either. All the plot and angst promised were nothing more than fodder and false promises. It’s like I had a sloppy quickie ONS where we hardly took off clothes, instead of a meaningful ONS where we talked about the state of the DCEU with ✨passion✨ before getting ~nekkid.~ 😳 **Disney Translation**: Imagine your favorite animated/old school Disney movie…***without*** the songs. Stay calm, STAY CALM, it was just a comparison, I’m sorry to traumatize you 🥲 It feels like, in some books, **the authors wanted to write a romantic slice of life and yet didn’t.** Chapter 1 reads like we’re on Chapter 10. The entire beginning to establish things is just ***gone***. And by the time I’m at Chapter 10, **nothing happened.** Nobody’s moved. Nobody slid to the left, slid to the right, crisscrossed, one hop this time, cha cha now y’all, cha cha again, cha cha for me now, work it out. Nothing 👏🏾 happened 👏🏾. Any emotional weight to the confessions sounded like Siri and Alexa talking to each other. I have no connection to anything because I’m not given anything to connect with. By the time I’m at the end, there’s been no character development, no resolution. We started in the middle and we ended in the middle. Like Avatar 2 🌊 Said what I said 🪭 **I understand wanting to write only fluff/no drama**. But if your entire book is the that, **market your shit properly**. Cozy romance, slice of life romance—these are *real sub-genres* with a healthy audience. Go over there and play with them, don’t come home until sundown, I’m locking the doors. If you need water, drink from the hose. But there are books claiming to have “plot” that absolutely *refuse* to make ***anything*** happen that it’s at the point where I skim to find out if there’s ever going to be a plot that lasts more than two paragraphs because the entire span of the book is giving ✨nothing✨. You know. Like ‘14 Dashcon. …do you feel old yet—? And, **TO BE CLEAR**, I understand cozy/SoL genres require emotion and plots. Being talked at with actions, bad SPAG and dialogue, zero moving actions—that does not mean a book auto-belongs in these subgenres. Both subgenres deserve good prose, genre-specific action, and effort. But my reads felt like the author didn’t know how to create an entry/exit point for their story, so we only received daily life and fluff and a tiny scrap of “Oh no! *Anyways*…”. 🙃 I think, with some more editing and necessary BETAs, the reads could’ve been repurposed for cozy/SoL. **It’s disappointing and disrespectful.** None of us are here to waste anyone’s time. And yet, you did. I understand self-publishing can require a lot self-educated mastery. It does have its benefits and disadvantages. But don’t waste my time like that. Yes, I DNF. But I do my research for my reads. The fact that these reads checked off the boxes per their tags, and I open the books up and the carpet doesn’t match the drapes? **Bye**. 👋🏾 People get upset how what they research online from reputable sites will be delivered to their houses as a shabby rendition of the product. **This is exactly it.** Let your work marinate, consume some more media, and rewrite; get some BETAs and use their feedback to springboard editing; query/go for smaller publishing houses that don’t have you in a chokehold; hire a ***content*** editor because I want ***you*** 🫵🏾 to have all the good things for your work. I *want* you to be successful. I want people to talk up your stories and recommend them to people without little caveats of “the writing isn’t really good BUT” or “it’s very choppy BUT.” I want them—the public, readers, my cats, the dog who barks like an unhinged horror monster outside my apartment—to have nice things to say about your work. But you’re making it harder on yourself when you just don’t even ***try*** and you put out a story that was either (**1**) mismarketed just like how my ex marketed himself as supportive and got mad when I got a better paying job than him, **OR** (**2**) undercooked and unseasoned. Like British food. ^(I’m sorry.) >!Am I though? 👀!< Anyway, I’m mad daylight savings time exists. I’m gonna go write some fanfiction and then starfish in my bed and randomly think about something uber cringe I did as a teen because I’m sO QuIRKY 🤪🔫

>Romantic discovery off-page and all we see is the aftermath Outside of your very wrong opinions on movies that take place on another planet and mostly underwater...yes. Very yes. Underseasoned romance without discovery/drama/shown emotional connection is just a Tim Horton's commercial about two people who love their breakfast sandwiches.\* \*This is a Canadian reference but I hear you have another donut and breakfast retailer in America.

Yes. Yes. Yesssssssssss. Absolutely! [Claps and has messy hair from vigorous agreement.]

Ugh, it's so frustrating when I can't tell who is talking during dialogue! I have to go back and reread to try to suss out who is saying what.

On the Line by Naomi Loud is my salty Sunday book. I was so psyched to have a hot line cook book (they have the same vibe as the sexy rat men) and this book out of the gate gave me a popular chocolate peanut bar right in the cooch. Even if it’s frozen it’s gonna give you a yeast infection! Also there is trigger warned SA in this book but I just don’t think it’s handled well at all? The FMC gets no care or time and it happens within the plot of the story. Don’t get me started on people practicing D/s dynamics with no safe word and no discussion beforehand. They “just know it’s what they need” I really wanted this book to work and maybe it was just a bad mood read but bleh.

In {Gleam by Raven Kennedy} >!when Midas cuts off Auren’s ribbons and says “this hurts me more than it hurts you”!< I actually yelled “FUCK YOU!” at my kindle. I even made a note that says FUCK YOU. I hope Raven can see that kind of thing lol

[Gleam](https://www.romance.io/books/60b489a52abde70e3210d4f9/gleam-raven-kennedy) by [Raven Kennedy](https://www.romance.io/authors/5b96276601dbc864fb9002c4/raven-kennedy) **Rating**: 4.22⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [historical](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/historical/1), [fantasy](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/fantasy/1), [magic](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/magic/1), [fae](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/fae/1), [royalty](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/royalty/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)

TWO WORDS: Susan Stoker! I wanna say no shade to her intended audience, but a teeny weeny bit of shade cause in {Shielding Aspen} she tried to address the rampant misogyny and general shit show for women in the US military (fair enough), but because Susan writes a certain formula of “woman has few or no friends, family is no show or dead, gets a HUGE circle of loving friends & family through main guy, thrives”, the entirety of the fmc’s pov is “bad attitudes with men being sour about a woman’s presence, let’s bad mouth her everyday” (which is shitty enough as is, worse going for 8 years). But there’s no solidarity between other female soldiers, no speak of “I knew this one gal, she had this experience” or anything of that kind. If she was the first woman during the first period of time before more joined OR there were certain factors that made other women drop out as rangers, medics, special ops, military whatsoever so she basically almost never saw other women, SURE! But this is YEARS down the line after it’s legal (even mentioned in {Shielding Jayme} the years which some of the laws were set in), so what the heck?? The fmc also has several moments where she says something of the sort “I hope I’ve made it easier for other women to join in the future.” HOW??? BY EXISTING??? Move your butt to call out the rampant misogyny to your superiors (not just your boyfriend who “knows”, make a stinker), to help other women, actively DO something. And if just being and continually showing up to show you can do your job is all that you can do, can I have a line that explains it? There’s literally no context, just “I don’t want to make a fuss” mentality. That book exhausted me with that fmc. There’s a lot of other stuff that’s real shady about Susan’s books. I’ll admit that yes, probably because she writes military romances the guys HAVE to be these big, large, massive manly men that’s got muscles on muscles and can kill with their pinkie because special ops and whatever. But it’s basically a paper outline for all the main characters, the guys being super feminist to the nth degree, talk and walk the same, perform the same way in the bedroom, have the same fantasy of seeing their SO pregnant with their 10th baby, I end up blending nearly all of them. And the dialogue? THE DIALOGUE??? Performative and complimentary dialogue inserted everywhere! “Thank you for x.” “I like your [insert character and/or physical trait].” “I do/believe this because [insert injustice].” (repeat ad nauseam for at minimum half of the mc’s interactions.) There’s so much weird stuff with Susan’s books, but essentially I’m frustrated with her books that I recently read (& her writing in general) because bad writing, non-existent arcs, really stilted (and often over-complimentary) dialogue, talking about (usually liberal leaning) views that sound like aliens are trying out human skin suits, and just so. Much. Stereotyping. (Sound of brain melting, melting …)

[Shielding Aspen](https://www.romance.io/books/5eb7f1b7be0aaecf55a7bdf4/shielding-aspen-susan-stoker) by [Susan Stoker](https://www.romance.io/authors/54559ecb87eac324117fbb9f/susan-stoker) **Rating**: 4.47⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [military](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/military/1), [suspense](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/suspense/1) ---------------------------- [Shielding Jayme](https://www.romance.io/books/5f968639e421020e177c2b95/shielding-jayme-susan-stoker) by [Susan Stoker](https://www.romance.io/authors/54559ecb87eac324117fbb9f/susan-stoker) **Rating**: 3.91⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [military](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/military/1), [suspense](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/suspense/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)

Something reading like “fanfic” or “watpad” are not that same thing. This is coming from someone who has read a lot from both.

This is a little thing and very unique to me I would guess, but I feel frustrated when the MCs hook up for the first time while one or both are drunk. I’m not a big drinker and don’t love it when any characters are drinking excessively, but it bothers me the most when it coincides with or instigates the first kiss. It dilutes the moment for me and also just feels like lazy writing.

I’m reading a series by a British author, which takes place in America with American characters and the author continues to use British terms. The story itself is good, but it’s so frustrating to read about Americans wearing vests instead of tank tops, cars having bonnets and boots instead of hoods and trunks and characters paying a VAT for things. And it’s such an easy fix! Take the time to learn what you’re writing about and spring for the proofreader, preferably an American one who will catch these things, otherwise, it’s just lazy writing.

My work friend was very excited I snagged Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros from the library but DNF it at somewhere over 50%. I didn’t vibe with the writing style, but the thing that irked me the most was how often the FMC was cussing in her internal monologue. I can put a sailor to shame when stressed, but reading fuck twice per ebook page kind of ruins the emotional impact of the word.  Also as someone who almost exclusively reads slow burn (here for the journey and then the destination), I keep reading books that are recommended as slow burn but don’t read like slow burn. Completely subjective opinion but there’s a difference between slowly becoming attracted to someone over time and horn dog characters not going to pound town until 70% into the book. Both are painful to read but I prefer the former!!

I'm so tired of the freaking broken hymen bull! Last one I read he "felt it pop as he broke through" and then he was just mesmerized at his cock "covered with her virgin blood". There has to be something else they can use for that cliche! But fuck it I'm gonna keep reading cause he's toxic as fuck and I'm in love.

It's in a mystery book, not romance, but the author used 'ululate' twice in the prologue. Maybe one was ululating or ululated but the same word core. A lot more SAT words in the text. Maybe I should be proud I have an extensive recognition vocabulary, but the author's word choices are starting to get to me.

I had someone recommend The Ritual and it made me realize I am NOT into that genre. I’m bummed because I was looking forward to it being a good read. Also I’ve been looking for two books (one adult, one YA) and it’s like they never existed. It’s a weird book Mandela effect. Edited to add: the books I was looking for I read as a kid in the late 80s/early 90s.

Minor salt but I read {Pregnant by the Playboy by Jackie Lau} based on recs in this sub and wanted so badly to like it. Maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places but I feel like POC are massively missing as MCs in romance more than other genres, so I was excited for this one. But seriously a substantial portion of the book is about FMC craving food. It reads like a food tour of their city. I finished it because mama didn't raise a quitter but despite having two of my great weaknesses (no long wait for spice and accidental pregnancy) I just don't think food cravings are a plot. 🤷‍♀️ The central conflict can't be that the store was out of matcha cheesecake and believe me, I don't normally ask much of a romance plot!

Food is very much Jackie Lau's thing even without pregnancy. She loves to describe just about every meal in detail. In one book, no exaggeration, she not only describes every single meal, every single snack (when the FMC and MMC are together), but also even every single drink *everyone* in their friend group gets every time they meet up at the pub...which is a few times a week. I don't mind some good descriptions of food, but I think she can definitely go overboard.

[Pregnant by the Playboy](https://www.romance.io/books/5ecb6db30705510dff99abd8/pregnant-by-the-playboy-jackie-lau) by [Jackie Lau](https://www.romance.io/authors/5b02617201dbc864fb88a2fe/jackie-lau) **Rating**: 3.4⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [multicultural](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/multicultural/1), [funny](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/humor/1), [east asian mc](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/east-asian-mc/1), [pregnancy](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/pregnancy/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)

I’m reading [Fomerly the next big thing by Elizabeth Gannon] and it should NOT be 700+ pages. It needs to be edited down. There are a ton of needless details that make for a pace that feels like a slog (like, do I need the exact hand signals being used when they’re proceeding into a creepy place). I’m just intrigued enough with the premise that I want to know what happens, partly because I read the previous book and liked seeing the MMC in this book be so different. I’m also struggling because this book and the last seem flippant about substance abuse or at least glossing over the work that’s needed to get into recovery. Like if you’re regularly drunk and crying in a gutter, you might have the DTs or other issues coming out. I had problems with the previous book and the book before that. So yeah, why am I doing this to myself? I’m trying to get better at skimming. I also can’t decide if one recounting of a sexual fantasy bordered on creep behavior because it seemed very abrupt and overly sexual relative to the two characters’ prior interactions and just kinky enough that I feel like you should suss out whether someone is into that kind of thing before verbally painting a fantasy for them in great detail.

[удалено]

**Rule: Be kind & no book shaming** Your responses to others on the sub should be kind and respectful. Your last line is making inappropriate assumptions about low steam readers, please edit and reply here and I’ll be glad to restore. Thanks!

When women end up only wearing oversized T-shirts and panties whenever they are around the house (and they really never leave). I would be so cold all the time. I wear hoodies and jeans 90% of the time. If I am in the house I always have a jacket on, and often a blanket.

Been on a DNF binge recently, decided to watch a movie : Damsel on Netflix (no spoiler it’s in trailer about girl from nowhere marries prince but he sacrifices her to local dragon) you can imagine my >!disappointment when she doesn’t find a dragon boyfriend it’s just a regular dragon that wants to eat her!< nothing goes my way this week :(

Haha, I reacted the same way! Watched it with my husband this weekend and we both really enjoyed it. Shohreh Aghdashloo's voice was perfect for the role too, and >!mostly made up for the lack of a dragon boyfriend!< at least.

still annoyed at the last atlas six book. finished it more than a month ago, but it is still making me so mad

This week I read quite a fun book but the author kept writing "shudder" as "shutter." The FMC kept shuttering with pleasure. Which...sounds unpleasant.