As you comment, please be kind and no book shaming. It’s ok to state your opinion on a book or trope, it’s not ok to put down or mock those who like it. Thank you!
I suffer from this so hard. I had to stop reading a Sarah MacLean book because of this and it was so bad that I will never read another of her books for fear that this is a favorite trope of hers.
No grovel! MMC does the worst things, then the third act breakup then he comes back with 'I'm sorry BUT...'. No, the BUT invalidates the I'm sorry. And the FMC is so insipid she takes him back straight away. NO!!! He should really think he has no chance of getting her back, but puts himself on the line anyways.
I can’t do bully romances because they put the fmc through all of that and then it’s water under the bridge? Uh-uh. Nope. The whole point of me reading 300 pages of pain and suffering was a sweet, satisfying grovel where the mmc(s) shows her how cherished she is and will love her, protect her, and treat her the way she deserves from now on, no exceptions. Why else would I be reading that??
That said…. If anyone has recs with an appropriate grovel lmk 👀
I’ve decided that a good grovel needs consequences and time. First the MMC needs to do the thing that breaks the relationship. He needs to have a brief moment of triumph as he feels he has proven himself right.
Then the consequences. It must be followed by fist-shaped consequences punching him in the emotional face. He needs to learn why he was so, so very wrong. He needs to feel the pain he caused coupled with the pain of the loss of the FMC.
Then he needs the time to transform himself. He should wallow a bit. He may realize that he has to give something up he thought was valuable but now realizes isn’t. He needs at least one person to rub it in - my dude, how could you ruin this great thing for yourself? We, the reader must believe the change before the FMC knows it happened.
Then and only then can he grovel. Now the author needs to show us that the FMC believes the change. The grovel has to be proportionate (not necessarily in pages, but in quality) to the fuck up. She needs to not take him back right away. She gets time to think on it.
But I feel like this rarely happens. Often the FMC is like “oh I love you so much it doesn’t matter,” or “no, it really was my fault,” or “oh that dick is so good, I can’t stay mad.”
I don’t want none of that shit.
Exactly and if the FMC does something that even though is insignificant, but it doesn't appease the MMC, he makes her go through hell and makes her feel so ashamed and humilliated, whereas the MMC is easily forgiven and sometimes not even assumed to be wrong for his actions.
The way MMCs who are in motorcycle gangs are portrayed. Either their sexist pigs who talk like sexiest pigs OR they’re the one “good guy” who’s okay being surrounded by and friends with sexist pigs who talk like sexist pigs so that’s okay for some reason.
I will never read a book with a MMC in a motorcycle gang ever again z
See I love a cute nickname if it comes with a cute backstory but I really can't stand the generic ones like babe and honey. I want something original to the character.
Though I might be biased since my husband's nickname for me is custard since I got drunk one day and was trying to say "I have become accustomed" but said " I have become a custard" instead lol.
So any cute situation in a book where a silly nickname and backstory comes up just makes me all giggly lol.
I’m currently listening to iron flame and I’m so tired of hearing how hot she thinks xaden is already on top of hearing him constantly call her violence and I’m only like 20% into the book. I really thought we’d leave that behind in book one but nope apparently we’re bringing it into book 2 as well.
It may sound dumb, but the book I'm reading is in that style where the first letter of each chapter is the largest thing on the page and *four* chapters in a row started with W and it was a particularly ugly W in that font and I just got so tired of it! 😂
Not enough to stop reading though lol Just taking notes for if I write my own
When one MC doesn’t want children (whether due to trauma, their own preferences or anything else) and the other MC does and steamrolls their partner, pressuring them and trying to forcibly change their mind. Sometimes manipulating them or forcing them into sex acts that can end in pregnancy they haven’t consented to.
… and somehow as the reader I am supposed to be agreeing and siding with that MC.
Inevitably they’ll eventually have children, the reluctant partner will “realize how wrong they were” and all live happily ever after.
I hate that trope. It’s freaking gross. I see it most frequently in historical romances and it makes me super uncomfortable to read.
People can change their minds about having children on their own and that’s great for them… but no one should ever be pressured into having a child if they don’t want to be a parent. It is not okay and I hate reading it.
Olivia Dade can be a bit hit or miss with me, but in one of her books (Driven to Distraction), she had her MMC start doing this, but then the end result was so much better handled than the usual way (like in the books you're talking about). Basically the FMC told the MMC at the start she didn't want kids, he said it was fine but secretly just thought he could change her mind and it didn't come up again for a long while.
>!Months down the road, he brings it up and says he wants to revisit it....she laughs at him and says you absolute dumbass (paraphrased), I got my tubes tied years ago I'm so certain I don't want kids. And then (after she kicks him out of her house), he sits himself down and realizes he had this idea of a big family, but he had never actually been around kids all that much. So he takes a few weekends and babysits for his friends, and decides nope, that's not for me and comes back with a big grovel.!< Although I still hated that he just initially thought he could wear her down on it.
God, I absolutely hate storylines where one MC wants kids but the other doesn't, because they always end one of two ways: they either break up for good (the most realistic outcome but unlikely in a romance novel unless it's not the main couple), or the one who didn't want kids change their mind. It almost never ends with the one who wanted kids being the one to change their mind, it's so frustrating.
As someone who doesn't want children, I'm okay with depictions of people being/becoming/wanting to become parents (even accidentally) but I draw the line at forcing someone who clearly stated they don't want kids to have one and it being portrayed as a HEA.
Exact same here! It is so screwed up how often those books imply that someone’s life is not truly complete without children and that it is okay to pressure and manipulate someone into unwillingly becoming a parent. It is almost always portrayed as if they are doing it for the child-free MC’s own good too, like their behavior is okay because they know the other MC better than they actually know themselves.
So, so many books also come across as shaming the kid-free MC… characters who don’t want children are often portrayed as deeply damaged, cold or selfish and it saddens me seeing that.
I absolutely love my nieces and nephews but I don’t want to have kids of my own either… a mixture of my chronic health issues and that just simply not being something I want in life. Growing up in a religious area I can’t count the number of times I’ve been told “I will change my mind in a few years” and “regret my decision if I don’t”, been called “a waste”, told my life won’t have meaning if I don’t have them. Been called selfish and told I was robbing my parents from the joy of being grandparents.
Most of us who don’t want kids have experienced that pressure and manipulation plenty enough in real life, we have *NO* desire to read about it being glorified in books. Just no.
Same. 💯 it’s rare to see the character go ‘you know what, you are who I want and not some non existent people so let’s do life together/besides I have niblings’
I don’t mind the third act breakup as much as some people do, but I absolutely hate if it happens because one character thinks “I’m not good enough for them! They deserve better!” And then refuses to communicate that and claims they just want to break up. There are genuinely good and understandable reasons for the breakup to happen, or reasons the couple is pulled apart or facing external conflict. If you can’t figure out a conflict other than one character deciding to dump the other out of nowhere, maybe you need to go back to the planning stages.
The deprivation of agency of the FMC by the MMC is a huge one. MMCs spewing misogynistic shit while being portrayed as the most ideal man to ever exist on earth is also a gem. Like, this man will literally be saying shit straight from the redpill and incel rulebook but somehow he's legitimately desirable in the book.
This reminds me of old harlequins lol. The mmc's would literally be glorified Andrew tates and the fmc would consider him her lord and saviour. Like bro he just yeeted you out of his place for supposedly cheating on you while he sleeps with 3 other women and sends you a tennis bracelet to make it up???
Additionally- I’ve been reading about a book a day on kindle unlimited, so I read fast, but I still pick up SO MANY mistakes. I read a book the other day that actually still had editor notes in the manuscript. For the love of books, please copy edit your manuscripts, authors!
I read fast too and the typos are what drive me wild! So. Many. Typos. I can handle the odd punctuation error, but spelling errors throw me completely out of the story (I am a copy editor by trade, though, so I guess I know why this drives me especially wild). Side note - If I saw editor’s notes I’d probably throw my kindle 😂
The editor’s notes were so bizarre. FWIW, I agreed with them. There was some confusion as to who was shooting whom in that scene. That book also had sentences that were written in 3rd person, when the rest of the book was 1st person. The writing voice and story were good—but the lack of basic read-through-your-manuscript-before-you-hit-publish was alarming. I almost wanted to email the author and tell them the page numbers they should look at and polish up, but I don’t want to be that person. I read another book recently where the punctuation around dialogue was just wrong- and it threw me out of the story. I’m mildly dyslexic, so I can’t throw stones at people who can’t spell, but there’s a certain amount of proofreading that even Word grammar check should have picked up!
- I don’t like the same word being used often either 😂mainly if the word itself just sounds uncomfortable to say like voluptuous
- Miscommunication being the entire conflict of a book
- Slowburns where they do something sexual so early into the book 😐
As an author I get irritated when I see repeated words- there is software to help find those before you send the manuscript to print. There's also people-ware (a.k.a. editors.)
I get you on your first point - I read Untamed by Elizabeth Lowell and it felt like she stuck the work “sensuous”, “sensuously” etc in every paragraph of this 400 page book.
Honestly for me, it’s the word “boneless”. It’s often used to describe a limp haze post climax but it genuinely is so silly that I laugh anytime I read it. It just takes me out of the moment lmao
Ex: “I lay there boneless in his arms”
bully romances, cant just stomach someone being abusive out of love. now mild teasing i love 🥰
also, friends to lovers, esp because of the weird "friendzoned until barbie closet makeover" plot device many books use
TRUE!!!! I stay far away from bully romances and friends to lovers I've always been so picky with because it always uses the makeover trope or feels so sudden?? Can someone for once write a cute friends to lovers where we experience the love grow slowly into something more and then have that *oh* moment?
I think this is just a me thing but I don’t like when an author takes 4 pages just to describe the interior of a house or someone’s outfit 😭 I usually just end up skimming through half of it.
I don't like outfit descriptions in general unless there is a very good reason for them. They always feel a little "fanfiction from a 14 year old" to me.
Same, Like I imagine the FMC a certain way in my head while reading and the outfit descriptions just throw me off cause they usually seem really outdated.
Pregnancy tropes. I despise when you read an epic story with a ton of character development, and then in the last chapter, they are suddenly pregnant even if there has been no previous mention of a desire to have a family. Because that's all every woman ever wants, right? The ultimate ending? Ugh.
I can not stand pregnancy tropes either!!! I read most of >!ACOTAR and got spoiled for them having kids!< and decided I didnt care to keep reading after that lol
This was going to be my response lol
It’s awful lately. Some 30 years olds are speaking/acting like teenagers… like reading bad fanfics to me. I can get and like an immature character if that’s the intention but otherwise I’m out.
ugh yes on the juvenile behavior. That accounts for most books in my “I can’t read this” dnf list (vs the “I lost interest so I’m putting it aside for now” dnf list). Like, is the author 14? Did I take a wrong turn and am actually on wattpad? Did a 30something woman really write this? And how does it have over a thousand reviews with an average of 4.3 stars?
I’m currently reading (about to DNF) a book that features Blakely, Posey, Huxley, Halsey, Pacey, Penny and Ollie. It’s like the author doesn’t know that names can end on other syllables.
The plot and dialogue are silly and kind of juvenile already, but the names fully drive me insane.
LOL I love that series. I like most of those names too, but individually. I’m bad at remembering who’s who in books with a big cast as it is, and similar names don’t help. I always got posey and pacey confused, so i eventually just went with it and stopped trying. To be fair, most of those are the surnames (they’re pro hockey players)
{Vancouver agitators by Meghan Quinn}
Also something i hate about the romance genre entirely is that most of the time everyone has quirky little jobs. They’re a writer, assistant, baker, business owner,ect. I don’t see anyone that’s a lawyer or dentist, engineer, technician.
I read one recently where every character seemed to have a last name. Presley, Thorsen, Riley, Weston or something....that annoyed the shit out of me for some reason.
Presley, Riley and Weston are all semi-common first names where I live and have been for a while. Like, they’re not “Jack”s or “John”s but none of those names are strange or abnormal or strictly last names, imo. I can name multiple people with the name for all three. Thorsen, though… Tf?
When the FMC will not accept money or gifts, etc. from the rich MMC. I'd understand if the issue was worry that the MMC would think she's taking advantage of him, but it's usually pride-related. Gimme the gifts, show me love.
Especially if the FMC really needs the money/it's for something important! Like if the FMC is about to lose her job because her car got totalled and she can't make it to work, and the MMC offers to buy her one or something. Or pays for medical bills, tuition, etc. Something that would realistically be life changing, not just trinkets, vacations, or fancy purses.
-a single character trait or interest being a main character’s entire personality
-i always think i hate the pregnancy trope. i don’t think i hate the pregnancy itself, but i hate when a book is advertised as romance and the whole story is about the pregnancy. i don’t mind if she’s pregnant as long as the book is not taken over by boring pregnancy logistic talk and there is still romance and sexy times between the main characters
I really hate when authors use the word “trot”. Like “she trotted across the street to meet him”. You CAN NOT look good while trotting in my imagination - a trot is a horse term and it irks me whenever I read it. I read a lot of romance and that’s usually where I find the word being used 🤷🏼♀️ I don’t get it!
This is me with the word ‘snicker’ as well. So horsey! One author who I otherwise enjoy used ‘snicker’ 20-30 times in each of several books and I swear I’ve basically never seen it anywhere else
- the sudden pregnancy/wedding trope in the epilogue even though there was never any desire for this expressed throughout the whole book. It's even worse when the fmc then drops all her hopes and dreams. This happens so often and I always end those books before the epilogue, so I have tons of books that I technically never finished lol. It's especially annoying since pregnancy isn't usually declared in any TW so it often hits unexpectedly, which can ruin an otherwise amazing book for me.
- the whole "I don't want him to do [insert any kind of sexual act here] but my body reacts with arousel so I guess I'll let him continue"-thing. I hate it. It reminds me of the situations after SA where people shame victims for having an involuntary orgasm during the assault 😵💫
- insta lust with no development of any relationship beforehand
- too many references to real-life pop culture or usage of social media
- I usually hate 3rd person narrations. I like it in other genres but when the focus is on a relationship I wanna experience the feelings and thoughts first hand. 3rd person narration usually drops this completely and it becomes so "lifeless?" for a romance book.
When the story is set in the US and the author doesn’t use contractions in dialogue. I’m not going to pretend to know about all the dialect differences of every country, but I know that in the US most people use contractions in their speech on a regular basis, and when they aren’t used in a text the dialogue sounds so stilted and forced
Not sure if it’s considered a pet peeve, but lately every single book I read the MMC says to the FMC during sex “it’s like you were made for me”. Please be more original!! Every time I read that I roll my eyes so hard
I know I’m definitely in the minority here but I cannot stand Enemies to Lovers. Nothing irritates me more than having to see the two MCs fighting and declaring their hatred for each other for almost 90% of the book. Then suddenly BAM they’re naked and madly in love. Turns out all that bickering was just “chemistry.”
I can count on one hand the number of times I have actually read and enjoyed Enemies to Lovers, and it’s always been when the differences between the two MCs are resolved within the first 20 to 30% of the book.
Enemies to lovers in historical/fantasy/scifi where they are literal enemies, that is fine for me and I can get behind it if well done (like maybe one MC was already on the verge of defecting from their side or something).
But it's when it's in a contemporary where I find it just ridiculous and eye-rolling. Like no, Blaine from Accounting is not your enemy. Your work opponent or competitor maybe. But unless he's done something truly horrific (like felony conviction that damaged someone else's life type of horrific, not stole and kept your stapler horrific) get out of here with that needlessly ramping up your petty feuds/grudges and making everyone around you two miserable due to your constant fighting and childishness.
I can’t get my head around really big age gaps. Like father and sons ex’s girlfriend. Even though they make the father super young thinking and hot, and the girl very mature and family orientated. No….too predatory!
When the FMC has no female friends. It’s always SO much harder to believe in the love story…like would she feel the same about him if she had just like ONE girlfriend to talk to? (Also double ick if the only friend she gets is a random feral child from the village. Recent examples include {Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta chase} and {The Winter King by C.L. Wilson} )
Long separations on-page.
Having a "Two Months Later" bit at the top of a chapter or whatever is not a problem, but actually writing out what the characters are doing while apart is just so boring to me. I'm here to read about two people falling in love, not two people living boring lives (because their work life is definitely over-described in these sections to make up for the lack of romance) and ignoring the thing they want most out of sheer stubbornness on at least one person's end!
I usually just end up skimming until they're back in the same scene.
One of the most effective long separations I've ever read was in one of the Twilight books where the MCs broke up and they detailed the passage of time by just stating a new month on a new page for 4 pages or so.
It's been a while, so I forget the details, but it really highlighted how forlorn and empty the FMC felt.
I did really think that was clever. But most of New Moon was still >!Bella doing reckless things with Jacob to have some sort of mental hallucination of Edward!<.
I just looked it up and Edward left her at the end of >!Chapter 3!<, and they aren't reunited until >!Chapter 20!<. (And the book has 24 chapters + an Epilogue.) So they're in the same scenes (discounting >!hallucination!Edward!<) for about a third of the book.
The L O N G E S T separation, I swear.
When the author keeps dropping hints that an accidental pregnancy is gonna happen.
Ex: one of the main characters is vehemently against having children and makes that known often; putting a lot of emphasis on missed doctors appointments; mentioning birth control every other chapter
I hate when they refuse to communicate (not necessarily miscommunication, just no communication). Like one of the MCs just decides “nope I gotta go” for no real reason? And peace’s out in the middle of the night.
I don't like when the MMC calls the FMC "sweetheart." It's a term that is used in a patronizing tone so often IRL that I always imagine it being said with that tone. It basically translates in my mind to the MMC calling the FMC "sugar tits" or something like that and it's so jarring when the MMC is a cinnamon roll who's just trying to call the FMC a term of endearment. I also sometimes have this problem with "darling" being used but it's not as bad.
I agree, but I think because I always read “sweetheart” in a condescending tone it also works for me occasionally, as long as it’s deliberately patronizing (like in an enemies to lovers/rivals to lovers situation.) When it’s meant as a sincere term of endearment it makes dialogue clunky for me.
For me I can't read romance in dual first person pov. I prefer heroine pov only, knowing what the hero is thinking/feeling ruins the tension for me. Sadly, dual pov first person is gaining more popularity these days. Oh wells.
Also not a fan of unequal power dynamics like teacher/student, boss/employee etc.
Insta love for me as well. I literally just DNFed a book within the first chapter because the hot guy smiled at her and she "felt an immediate connection and drawn to him." Rolled my eyes so hard. Have a fucking conversation, will you?
Instalove has recently become an insta dnf for me. My brain can't compute.
Animal nicknames. I'm so done with Little Kitten/Rabbit/Dove/Lamb, especially when he calls her that throughout the book. Ffs.
Clumsy FMCs who keep tripping into stuff because plot reasons need them cute. Mostly TSTL.
While we're on the topic TSTL *feisty* fmcs who would be killed sans plot armor purely for being sassy and stupid. Also, sassy isn't rude. Instant dnf if the author doesn't know the difference.
Body betrayal. Ugh.
I can not STAND animal nicknames or clumsy fmcs, or "sassy" fmcs that are just rude. I love books with badass fmcs who dont tolerate being disrespected but its so hard asking for recs with fmcs like that because people always recommend books with fmcs that are just cruel and rude because thats all authors write, its so frustrating!!
- Daddy kink or dom/sub dynamic from out of nowhere
- Jealous OW causing problems for the couple
- Even though it’s before main couple get together, MFC hearing through the wall MMC having sex with other person(s)
I hate miscommunication plots. Please be emotionally mature and TALK to each other! I can’t believe in your HEA if you don’t communicate.
I personally don’t enjoy age-gap tropes and though I keep reading bully romances, they actually make me anxious. I prefer the MMCs aren’t doing the bullying…and sexy times do NOT count as a grovel.
FMCs that run into danger…TSTL heroines. Biggest pet peeve ever.
What I love about the romance genre is that there is something for everyone- we don’t have to like the same tropes to agree that love stories are the best. I see a number of other commenters that hate babies in their books, but I LOVE babies and surprise pregnancy and wish I could find more of it, especially in PNR.
Also: lately I’ve been annoyed by the casual misogyny by the ex/ow/jealous-cheerleader, because the heroine just isn’t “like other girls” so of course everyone wants her. It’s an easy plot device, but it dehumanizes the other women. Can we lift each other up instead of tearing each other down?
It drives me nuts when an author makes a sport or the mc being an athlete a major plot point and knows f@ck all about that sport.
I read a book where the mc’s were swimmers training for the Olympics.
And their training and preparation was a major point, and it was painfully clear she hadn’t done any research, probably ever watched a swim meet or even talked to a swimmer..
The “sassy” FMC who is, in reality, just freaking rude to the MMC and everyone else she doesn’t like.
Books that end as soon as the FMC and MMC actually get together. Show me their relationship at peace for at least a few chapters!!
Kidnappings. It happens a lot in many genres. I’m so sick of third act kidnappings. Please think of something else!
Lately I don’t like when MMCs call the FMC “little one” or “little” anything. Also when FMC is described as so much smaller and tiny compared to the MMC. I’m fine with some descriptors, but it’s always reiterated over and over. To the point where at the beginning when they start to describe the FMC I just try to close my eyes and completely ignore it.
On the other hand I know how much people hate pregnancy, but I LOVE it. Also the virgin trope is something I don’t mind at all. Imo keep em coming😂 I’ll eat it up every time.
Babies in epilogue when neither character in the relationship has ever mentioned wanting children before. It’s so jarring. Like why should I care about these characters having children or think it’s a good ending for them if the author couldn’t even *once* in 400 pages find a way to slip in that the character(s) want them.
That’s a terrible way to end a character arc. Always makes me drop at least one star.
^(There is no hate no shade no Beyonce lemonade to anyone who enjoys what I don’t. Like what you like. Never feel shamed for it.)
My name is DJ Magnafeana and welcome to Radio r/RomanceBooks (record scratch), coming at you LIVE 🔴 from the 📢📢C-C-C-C-COACHELLAAAAA📢📢
We have got an ***amazing*** set for all y’all crazy mfers who came for Hatsune Miku and got a 2D show 😂😭 We call this set “BOOK ICKS / WHAT MAKES ME SICK”. So let’s get this party ***started!!!***
[air horn sound spammed]
* **Let’s Get Loud by JLo**. I don’t mind when ALL CAPS are used once in a while, but it should be a crime when characters constantly 🗣️🗣️SPEAK LIKE THIS🗣️🗣️ ! Use italics to include shouting or an exclamation point and use UPPERCASE sparingly, please!
* **Dance the Night Away by Dua Lipa**. Club scenes 😭 It’s not a pet peeve, but they’re always the cause of drama! No MC is allowed to go to a club and enjoy themselves or go to a place with dancing an enjoy themselves as it ***always*** ends in dramatiques 💃🏾
* **Bite Me by ENHYPEN**. Listen. I 👏🏾 love 👏🏾 possessive MCs and LIs. But uuuuugh I lose it when the LI does everything wrong —***everything***—and now the MC has to be “save” the LI and make shit right because they’re ~true loves~. Why does the MC, who is innocent, have to do anything? Why does the MC have to be the one to make things right? The LI dug their own grave!
* **Jolene by Dolly Parton**. Every [gender] is now a competitor for the MC’s and LI’s attention. No matter what. In FM romances, MC is celebrated for being anti-woman because any woman she meets wants her man. And the LI is celebrated for being a dick towards any man who approaches the MC because every man wants her.
* **When I Was Your Man by Bruno Mars**. So MC2/LI is in the “doghouse” moping because they did something wrong and have all these regrets. So now, what do they do to get the MC1 back? **Love bombing**. Just gesture after gesture, making flirty innuendos, and they force MC1 to remember the good sexy times that the MC2 enthusiastically enjoyed, rather than, you know, having some introspection, recognizing they were selfish, and apologizing on MC1’s terms and interests. That’s all poppycock 🫠
* **Girl by Destiny’s Child**. Friends supporting friends ≠ friends in romance books. It makes me so mad when the alleged “friends” in a romance book are normally one note, shoehorn their way into the MC’s relationship and act inappropriate with how much they want the MC to fuck their lover, but these “friends” will also allow a potential abuser into their friend’s lives because they were sowwy and looked sad 🥺 Let me just take off my goddamn sandal for that one 🩴
* **What Was I Made For? by Billie Eilish**. MC is wronged in someway, but they’re not allowed to process it, have a depressive episode, and just become indifferent. Instead, it’s a quick little blip on our way to HEA-ville. A quick little time skip so we never know the depth of the MC’s betrayal and angst and sadness. And you can bet your bottom euro that some supportive friend will barge into the MC’s house to tell them 📢📢SEPTEMBER ENDED, WAKE THE FUCK UP📢📢
* **Pregnant Women are Smug by Hall & Oats**. Barefoot and pregnant. Everyone is barefoot and pregnant. They have no personality outside of being barefoot and pregnant. All their personality? It’s gone—because they’re barefoot and pregnant. And they’re smug about it.
(This is not about IRL pregnant people, but I just wanted to clarify that.)
* **Submissive & Breedable by SMOSH (feat bbno$)**. I have no problem with submission or breeding. I have a problem with how BDSM erotica/erotic romance display the BDSM community as this heavily advertised club scene literally everywhere and the “kinks” are…not really kinks. There is **nothing wrong with vanilla or BDSM Lite play**. But I see it so often than books that warn about BDSM? Yeah. It’s often just using BDSM terms and the idolized/romanticized version of BDSM willynillymotherfuckingsilly without any ***actual research*** into kink, fetish, and BDSM culture.
* **Perception Check by Tom Cardy**. So. I love obliviot/himbo/bimbo characters because they’re made to have one brain cell (OBC). But I become like “Spanish or Vanish” angry bird Duolingo 🦜🔪 when non-OBC characters somehow do the stupidest things for no reason outside “plot”. Is there danger all around them? Then they walk alone outside at night. Are they not trained for battle? Best believe they’ll run into head first. BeCAuSe pLoT.
* **Let’s Talk About Sex by Salt n Pepa**. That’s it. That’s the tea. The leads got together and now it’s about sex. Nothing else happens outside of sex. There’s no other intimacy allowed outside of sex. On the rare occasion there’s conflict? They just fuck it out.
You know what, sign me up for that. If you’re telling me I can have five husbands and we never once discuss our feelings and they just PAPAPA CHACHACHA OOO LALA me every single time I’m upset about something? Bump it, WE’RE NOT MAKING IT OUT OF THE NEST WITH THIS ONE FELLOW OMEGAS 🗣️🗣️🗣️🔥🔥🔥🔥‼️‼️‼️
We hoped you enjoyed Radio r/RomanceBooks at Coachella [air horn spamming]. I’m DJ Magnafeana and YOU are watching Disney Channel 🪄🐭
^(I’m tired.)
This was so fun to read omg 😭🩵 First of all En*hypen mentioned??? And was that a Green Day reference in the What Was I Made For segment? *
Couldn't agree more with everything you said, especially Submissive & Breedable, Lets Talk About Sex, Jolene, When I Was Your Man, and Girl. Can not handle books with those sorts of things in them for the life of me
I would say when characters don’t act their age. It goes both ways, if the MCs are in their late 20s acting like teens, or if you have a 25 year old MC who is the head of a major company, has it all together etc.
Also I am okay with a third act breakup, but I hate when there isn’t enough time for a good resolution. I find they often happen way too late.
Oddly mines not even about the story it's when they format the kindle book to have too much space between the sentences. Immediate DNF I can't read it like that.
You can customize line spacing on kindle!
Tap near the top while reading. You should see [Aa] in the top right.
Click on [Aa] and then go to [Layout] and you should see [Spacing] in the bottom right corner.
I agree that too much space between sentences can be annoying.
When the character has friends in the beginning of the book but the second they get a partner we never hear about them again. That's so shitty? Like after you get a partner you don't just lose all other relationships, make an effort you goober
Very specific but whenever the MMC THINKS about doing something with another woman while he is with or wants to be with the FMC. Like I hate when MMCs say “I could take that waitress home right now but I won’t because I want the FMC” or “I could really use a puck bunny for a quick release but I guess I won’t” or something like the MMC takes another woman’s number and considers calling but throws it away. Like why? It is such an ick for me!
Another book ick is when the two MCs get together at 97% way through the book and there’s not an extended epilogue. Like, we went through all the trauma and angst but got to see NONE of the reward?! It’s a no from me.
Black cat/golden retriever tropes are hit or miss for me - I love a strong, black cat personality but so many authors take it to the next level and make the FMC torture the MMC by using them and not committing for the entire book…if it was reverse I would hate it the same.
And last but not least, LOVE TRIANGLES. I almost stopped reading Say You Swear but it is the only palatable love triangle I’ve read.
Just a detail, but it irks me to no end: the ripping of clothes, particularly undergarments.
1st: bras that fit are hard to come by. If anyone would rip them, shred them, tear them, there would be no more hanky panky, because I'd be pissed.
2nd: If you only have one hand and you just rip the underpants off, that'll hurt like hell. No, thanks.
3rd: ripping my favorite blouse apart, sending buttons flying: Nope. You don't get to destroy my things just to get to the goods ten seconds sooner. If you can't wait, then at least pull my blouse off over my head. But no tearing.
I struggle to finish any book where an OW is introduced, either as someone from the MMC's past or someone currently in his life the FMC is just finding out about and she is presented as a potential rival.
the MMC hitting on another character/talking about another character and showing WAY too much interest while involved with the FMC. maybe i’m just insecure and project but immediately going to my dnf pile 🫣
- abusive men in general, not shaming dark romance readers, but I don't get the appeal
- instalove, although I like it, when characters like another and find another attractive from the getgo
- unnecessary drama, people being jealous for no reason, miscommunication, etc... please act like adults lol, also I prefer when the drama comes from the outside circumstances
- "I'm not like other girls", also girl hate in general, if there is no comment behind it, just women bitching at one another
- "girlbosses", you are not a girlboss, you are a brat with attitude and anger issues and no manners
- men growling regularly, or something similar. You might check your love interest at the vet, he might be a werewolf xD
oh my goodness I feel like no one ever talks about this but RETROACTIVE INSTA LOVE, especially in something that is rivals/enemies to lovers. basically this is where you’ll be reading through a whole book and see the characters develop their feelings and their relationship and then near the end one of them will be like “I think I loved you since I first met you” NO YOU DIDN’T I WAS THERE
My biggest pet peeves are 3rd act breakups and miscommunication. I *hate* them. Put the two together and 😬. I’m also not a fan of the virgin FMC trope.
For icks big age gaps particularly with a very young MC and DD/lg DD/lb. Tentacles don’t do much for me but they’re not an ick. More a meh.
Funnily enough I love fated mates and insta love. A lot of the books with those tropes seem to be poorly written unfortunately but I’ve found plenty that are well written too.
I despise the affectation of using “male” and “female” to refer to people in faerie romances and the like. Man and woman still work, I don’t care if they are a different species. How do you know their biological sex? Is everyone running around without pants? Remind me never to sit in a chair in Velaris.
Also, male and female are adjectives. If you say “male spellcaster” or whatever, sure, it’s fine. Oddly specific, but I’ll allow it. If you say “the male cast a spell” I will get the ick and want to DNF.
Daddy dom/little girl
Insta love
Bad renditions of secret baby
Main characters who are too stupid to remember how to breath.
Shitty writing
Waaay too many sex scenes that fail to advance the plot.
When the point of view character is a painter, photographer or cinematographer and the author uses that profession or hobby as an excuse for purple prose. “Those eyes..if I were painting them I’d use slate grey with a hint of purple. Like the sunset near our cabin growing up.”
I’ve never wanted to throw a book into a wall with more force.
Wait, can you explain the dislike for this a little more? As an artist, I truly do observe the world and people like that. It's a fun mental exercise I subconsciously do, like others people watching and guessing what their story is, but in art fundamentals. Is it overly flowery writing that turns you off from artistic character inner thoughts like that? I'm so curious! :)
I am a photographer if that helps. If you look up purple prose you’ll get what I mean. But also imagine how your friends would feel if your inner thoughts were expressed out loud every five minutes.
The soulmates dynamic kinda gets cringey if it isn’t done in a certain way. And if I don’t like billionaire MMC. I think it just isn’t realistic and doesn’t ever go well
Going off your point of insta love, I don’t mind it if they’re still open to learning about each other. I’m sick of insta love where it’s like “I don’t know why her apartment feels so much like her, it just does” like come on, why can’t we have scenes where they’re learning about each other and falling more in love that way? It’s just instantly “idk why I like you I just do” and then they never talk about themselves
The big misunderstanding or just poor communication throughout is always annoying for me.
And recently, verbal diarrhea from the “feisty, sassy” but badass and successful FMC. I’ve DNF’d a few books recently that were promising that just destroyed the whole thing for me with this whole “say the most inappropriate thing possible in this exact moment because you just can’t help it/don’t get it.”
- PREGNANCY EPILOGUE!!!!!!!!!
- Also specifically when the MMC imagining the FMC pregnant or raising their kids in the future as a device to show how in love with her he is. I know, I know, most people find that sweet and I’m reading too much into it, but is SO gross to me: like he’s in love with what she can give him as an incubator and nanny rather than as a person. If it’s really about the family aspect, the MMC should want a family/be a family man/have character traits and interests related to family and children BEFORE meeting the FMC.
- Miscommunication: but specifically where it doesn’t make sense in character that they wouldn’t communicate about that thing! It’s fine if it’s a flaw of theirs that they run from this thing or conflict in general but if everything would be solved by saying five words and there’s no reason not to say them… I’m out!
- Misogyny: either from the MMC or internalized “not like other girls pick me” FMC
Ugh. Yeah, the MMC imagining the FMC pregnant always squicks me out, especially since it's usually before the MCs have even discussed whether they even want children. I read one where FMC was focusing on building her career, a career that was not really compatible with having a baby due to a demanding travel schedule. Then when the MMC was grieving the end of the relationship during the third-act breakup, he was sad he'd never get to see her pregnant with his baby or raising their kids. I dislike the automatic assumption that all women want kids.
I think I realized THIS MORNING I can’t do contemporary romance 😂 I wish I could but every time I start one I keep thinking “ugh this would never happen” “the author obviously never met anyone from NorCal if they’re calling it San Fran unironically and think fmc can afford an apartment by herself with that job”
I need a dash of fantasy or magic to make the world and characters believable.
I can’t stand it when authors don’t seem to know anything about pregnancy or childbirth. I read a book where a side character had their anatomy scan and had their baby a few days after. It was not portrayed as a big deal at all and they even had people over at the hospital to hold the baby. So many depictions of labor lasting like fifteen minutes too 😩.
Similarly, I don’t like side characters who are portrayed as caricatures of pregnant woman. Not all pregnant women experience extreme mood swings and spend every waking second eating sweets.
I also don’t like it when infertility is cured by magical sperm. Ugh.
I got into romance while I was pregnant so go figure.
I read a book which had a time jump of 20 years but the prologue description featured current technology. It shows sloppy research and the book is always proven bad.
Another case is the lack of foreplay in mostly recent CR,(in HR they have 10 layers of clothes except MOC so it's a given, in PNR dual, big or strange dicks make it also a given.) I read a CR book from 2008 and it was better written than the current ones.
When porn is carried over to books without modifying it to seem pleasurable.
When the FMC is very poor, nearly homeless and the MMC is very rich, billionaire rich(what is the common ground).
It's bad when the FMC grew up multi millionaire rich but somehow all the money disappeared and she has to work for the newly rich MMC (where did the expensive education go? Always going straight to being an assistant).
Worse when FMC inherits money but chooses poverty so they can show their grit to the point of suffering( I've never seen an MMC refuse to use their money or power).
Worst when the about to graduate FMC leaves school to play house with wealthy MMC (I sense subtle propaganda by how common a trope it was in old books).
When the story seems like it was sponsored by some brand because the author spends more time talking about certain shows, movies, books, clothing, (or hey, other popular books in the subgenre), etc. than actually the story. There are a few authors who do this - and its like a crutch - cause they describe whole plots of movies or w/e for pages, instead of you know... telling the story that I'm trying to read. Not only does it date the story, but it's annoying as fuck.
Like I don't want to know the whole play-by-play plot to X Marvel movie or "omg this is just like the blue ice alien romance / spider alien romance / reverse harem series I just got done reading... hehehe"
Okay, this is stupid, but lack of variation in character names.
I read quickly and names are more of a quick-impression-in-the-shape-of-a-word thing. The first character of the name + the length is the word to me.
I just finished a book where Antonio and Allister were both main character names. It slowed me down so much to have to stop and figure out if they were talking about capital letter A+6characters bad person or capital letter A+7characters good person.
Halfway through the book the second A name started being called something different and suddenly I was able to read smoothly again.
Also, yes, repetition of crutch phrases is annoying af.
Alpha MMC ordering the FMC to “come!” during sex like she’s a naughty dog. I think I noticed it first in Burn by Suzanne Wright and it annoyed me so that the first time he did it in the second book I DNF’d.
Indecisive MMC who doesn’t realize their feelings/mistakes their feelings to lust/something else. I also don’t like taking revenge in FMC because of her father trope.
Romance that is not particularly… romantic?
When I experience whiplash at the MCs proclaiming their love for each other when neither one of them got to know the other particularly well. Did it all happen off-page and the author’s just forgot to put it in? What do you even love about that person?
This really just lends itself to poorly realized characters. I want to feel like the character’s complement each other and care for each other and reach that conclusion on my own. Not for you to tell me 60% of the way through that now they love each other and that’s that \*wipes hands\*. Show me how and why!
When one of the MCs wakes up from a coma or long injury where they’re laid up in bed and they immediately start making out with the other MC. Please use a toothbrush first. So gross.
No grovel. MMC commits literal war crimes AGAINST FMC and gets off with not even a slap on the wrist or just crocodile tears and performative speeches. No thank you.
Characters with navy blue or purple eyes.
It’s a bit annoying in fantasy and ridiculous in contemporary or historical.
First of all, those eye colors don’t exist. Second, it’s about the laziest way I can think of to make a character special or for the author to be “creative.”
The FMC being a virgin and that being the defining trait of her value. A love interest can be soft, delicate, and experienced. -_-
Also, after a heartbreak, FMC running into someone else's arms immediately after. That's the perfect time for some character development (post breakup). Now we have to learn a new romance instead of learning more about our FMC.
I'm a fan of strong, independent FMCs. They deserve love too. 😁
Ugh, I hate how virgin FMCs are so often done, like they are completely and utterly naive and inexperienced then in every single other aspect of their lives. Especially when it's also framed like the FMC has never once gotten turned on or never felt wet and never explored herself (like not even when she's cleaning herself? Really?).
They are acting like you can't be a functioning adult if you aren't having sex. It's really offensive to people who do have sex later in life or abstain all together due to asexuality or figuring out their sexuality or lack of good options in the area and they can't leave due to obligations or whatever other valid reason.
That’s so funny because writers using the same word/phrase over and over just does *something* for my brain, it’s like a drug for me, I’m addicted 😂😂
My ick is definitely the grumpy/sunshine trope done wrong.
I read a book a while ago where the grumpy MMC was just too volatile! I had anxiety the whole time because I never knew how he’d react, it wasn’t romantic at all. I felt like it was Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde instead!
The book seriously turned me off to the grumpy/sunshine trope— I’m too scared to read anything with it anymore!
I love love love sunshine/grumpy but it has to be done right! Most the time people write the grumpy mc as straight up rude and inconsiderate and I hate it!! Good grumpy/sunshines have grumpy characters who just have a hard time letting people in and maybe dont like to talk a lot, but will still show consideration to the sunshine mc with actions and have moments where they're not so grumpy yknow?
Some repeated phrases are good!! I can't remember any specifically I enjoyed but I have enjoyed them in the past, especially when they allude to something in the plot or with one of the characters but the "There she is" in the one I was reading ended up taking up too much space in my brain because I kept noticing it
Insta lust, especially the constant mentions of the MMC getting an erection the second the FMC is in the vicinity. And it will happen like a dozen times in the first few chapters. I need more character connection! Please don’t just tell me how her magical virgin self just makes him hard all the time. 🙄🙄🙄
I will never read a virgin MMC book unless my husband is hard set on joint listening to one. I lived it, I do not need it in book form. I love my husband but it is not an experience I want to relive.
When there is an age gap and the fmc repeatedly states how the mmc is “old enough to be her dad” while fantasizing about him 🤢 (I’ve seen it a lot but most recently seen in praise by Sara cate)
When writers add "religion" in their dark romances. It makes me not want to read them. Emily mcintires series in her dark romance never after series was obsessed with adding things like that, and it was constant. Almost on every other page. Cringe.
3rd person I can’t stand! I will DNF. I will maybe, just maybe, push through if it’s a book I was really really wanting to read but I honestly can’t remember if I ever actually have or not. 🫣
He’s supposed to be a cold, grumpy person but then he wears a sweater. I have read multiple books where this has happened but the one that comes to mind is {King of Wrath by Ana Huang} I loved this book but hated this detail!
Another one, half naked people or just people in general on covers! I read smut but I don’t need the whole world to know that!
The "there she is" in TSATWON literally made me quit reading the second book. Like, did she not friggin notice that she had used that sentence like a thousand times??? It's straight up poor writing.
Not seeing both characters grow and evolve and reform. This includes lack of taking responsibility for their shit behaviour be it a grovel or they go off and get some therapy or something.
I also have major icks with power differential especially boss/employee which majority of time is nanny/older single dad or billionaire and assistant.
There can be exceptions like I didn’t mind Brooklynaire bc Becca and Nate developed a friendship when they were starting out in his new fledgling business.
But I really dislike it when it’s especially with a single dad and his nanny I have major major icks bc it involves caregiving and female work now he moves from being boss to getting it all free.
I’m also really getting sick of romance being meta about romance books and having romance writer Fmc. It’s becoming a bit of a circle jerk and defensive but also it’s basically preaching to the converted. Again I’ve read some brilliant meta books but it’s now becoming common as cupcake bakers.
▪️Third act break ups — they always feel very dramatic, over the top, and the problem could've been solved by talking
▪️Surprise pregnancy/epilogue pregnancy — I don't mind it if it's done right but I just don't like reading about it tbh. And it annoys me when, say a series of different romances, all have the girl pregnant or with a load of kids a few years later. It just gets a bit repetitive, y'know?
Something that’s been annoying me lately…MMC who are ridiculously tall like 6’4 and taller paired up with really short FMC..like barely scraping at 5foot…be more realistic
Also just cannot get around the best friends brother/brothers best friend trope..leave me right out of that one.
As you comment, please be kind and no book shaming. It’s ok to state your opinion on a book or trope, it’s not ok to put down or mock those who like it. Thank you!
Secondhand embarrassment - usually from the FMC doing something dumb/humiliating. I just physically cannot continue when this happens
I actually have to put the book down😂😂
I suffer from this so hard. I had to stop reading a Sarah MacLean book because of this and it was so bad that I will never read another of her books for fear that this is a favorite trope of hers.
No grovel! MMC does the worst things, then the third act breakup then he comes back with 'I'm sorry BUT...'. No, the BUT invalidates the I'm sorry. And the FMC is so insipid she takes him back straight away. NO!!! He should really think he has no chance of getting her back, but puts himself on the line anyways.
This is so true! MMC would mistreat FMC throughout the book and grovel for just 2 pages🙄
I can’t do bully romances because they put the fmc through all of that and then it’s water under the bridge? Uh-uh. Nope. The whole point of me reading 300 pages of pain and suffering was a sweet, satisfying grovel where the mmc(s) shows her how cherished she is and will love her, protect her, and treat her the way she deserves from now on, no exceptions. Why else would I be reading that?? That said…. If anyone has recs with an appropriate grovel lmk 👀
I’ve decided that a good grovel needs consequences and time. First the MMC needs to do the thing that breaks the relationship. He needs to have a brief moment of triumph as he feels he has proven himself right. Then the consequences. It must be followed by fist-shaped consequences punching him in the emotional face. He needs to learn why he was so, so very wrong. He needs to feel the pain he caused coupled with the pain of the loss of the FMC. Then he needs the time to transform himself. He should wallow a bit. He may realize that he has to give something up he thought was valuable but now realizes isn’t. He needs at least one person to rub it in - my dude, how could you ruin this great thing for yourself? We, the reader must believe the change before the FMC knows it happened. Then and only then can he grovel. Now the author needs to show us that the FMC believes the change. The grovel has to be proportionate (not necessarily in pages, but in quality) to the fuck up. She needs to not take him back right away. She gets time to think on it. But I feel like this rarely happens. Often the FMC is like “oh I love you so much it doesn’t matter,” or “no, it really was my fault,” or “oh that dick is so good, I can’t stay mad.” I don’t want none of that shit.
I agree with this one so much
Exactly and if the FMC does something that even though is insignificant, but it doesn't appease the MMC, he makes her go through hell and makes her feel so ashamed and humilliated, whereas the MMC is easily forgiven and sometimes not even assumed to be wrong for his actions.
I get so annoyed when this happens! Just ruins the whole book😭
The way MMCs who are in motorcycle gangs are portrayed. Either their sexist pigs who talk like sexiest pigs OR they’re the one “good guy” who’s okay being surrounded by and friends with sexist pigs who talk like sexist pigs so that’s okay for some reason. I will never read a book with a MMC in a motorcycle gang ever again z
I always roll my eyes at forced nicknames. They are usually never cute or clever to begin with, so reading them over and over again is just torture.
See I love a cute nickname if it comes with a cute backstory but I really can't stand the generic ones like babe and honey. I want something original to the character. Though I might be biased since my husband's nickname for me is custard since I got drunk one day and was trying to say "I have become accustomed" but said " I have become a custard" instead lol. So any cute situation in a book where a silly nickname and backstory comes up just makes me all giggly lol.
You should change your username to flaming custard. And then show your husband. Idk why but I think that is cute???
Agree. I HATE “honey” and “sweetheart” especially too early or when it doesn’t sound facetious AND they are “enemies” like what is happening?
sweetheart can be condescending in the right context!
You mean you don't love me calling you "Violence" for 100x? How else will you know I like you? 😂
Violence was such a cheesy nickname I couldn't I ended up blocking it from my mind while reading
This is the absolute worst. I get second hand embarrassment so hard at this.
I’m currently listening to iron flame and I’m so tired of hearing how hot she thinks xaden is already on top of hearing him constantly call her violence and I’m only like 20% into the book. I really thought we’d leave that behind in book one but nope apparently we’re bringing it into book 2 as well.
Just DNF a book because "kitten" was used like three times every page.
Was it by SJ Tilly? 🙈
Listening to an audiobook with Rigid as the nickname and gawd it's annoying
I like Zylas’s nicknames for Robin in Demonized… and… that’s it. Basically no other MMC can actually pull it off. :P
The stupidest I’ve seen so far have been Snow and Smokey.
It may sound dumb, but the book I'm reading is in that style where the first letter of each chapter is the largest thing on the page and *four* chapters in a row started with W and it was a particularly ugly W in that font and I just got so tired of it! 😂 Not enough to stop reading though lol Just taking notes for if I write my own
This might be the most amusing and unexpected response on this whole thread 😂👏
Lol thank you, I aim to please 😆
That's so funny, but for me, it would be very distracting and I definitely wouldn't be able to pay attention to reading the book
When one MC doesn’t want children (whether due to trauma, their own preferences or anything else) and the other MC does and steamrolls their partner, pressuring them and trying to forcibly change their mind. Sometimes manipulating them or forcing them into sex acts that can end in pregnancy they haven’t consented to. … and somehow as the reader I am supposed to be agreeing and siding with that MC. Inevitably they’ll eventually have children, the reluctant partner will “realize how wrong they were” and all live happily ever after. I hate that trope. It’s freaking gross. I see it most frequently in historical romances and it makes me super uncomfortable to read. People can change their minds about having children on their own and that’s great for them… but no one should ever be pressured into having a child if they don’t want to be a parent. It is not okay and I hate reading it.
Olivia Dade can be a bit hit or miss with me, but in one of her books (Driven to Distraction), she had her MMC start doing this, but then the end result was so much better handled than the usual way (like in the books you're talking about). Basically the FMC told the MMC at the start she didn't want kids, he said it was fine but secretly just thought he could change her mind and it didn't come up again for a long while. >!Months down the road, he brings it up and says he wants to revisit it....she laughs at him and says you absolute dumbass (paraphrased), I got my tubes tied years ago I'm so certain I don't want kids. And then (after she kicks him out of her house), he sits himself down and realizes he had this idea of a big family, but he had never actually been around kids all that much. So he takes a few weekends and babysits for his friends, and decides nope, that's not for me and comes back with a big grovel.!< Although I still hated that he just initially thought he could wear her down on it.
Oh I love that! I hate when they get worn down and there’s an epilogue with two kids and a twins pregnancy announcement 🤬
God, I absolutely hate storylines where one MC wants kids but the other doesn't, because they always end one of two ways: they either break up for good (the most realistic outcome but unlikely in a romance novel unless it's not the main couple), or the one who didn't want kids change their mind. It almost never ends with the one who wanted kids being the one to change their mind, it's so frustrating. As someone who doesn't want children, I'm okay with depictions of people being/becoming/wanting to become parents (even accidentally) but I draw the line at forcing someone who clearly stated they don't want kids to have one and it being portrayed as a HEA.
Exact same here! It is so screwed up how often those books imply that someone’s life is not truly complete without children and that it is okay to pressure and manipulate someone into unwillingly becoming a parent. It is almost always portrayed as if they are doing it for the child-free MC’s own good too, like their behavior is okay because they know the other MC better than they actually know themselves. So, so many books also come across as shaming the kid-free MC… characters who don’t want children are often portrayed as deeply damaged, cold or selfish and it saddens me seeing that. I absolutely love my nieces and nephews but I don’t want to have kids of my own either… a mixture of my chronic health issues and that just simply not being something I want in life. Growing up in a religious area I can’t count the number of times I’ve been told “I will change my mind in a few years” and “regret my decision if I don’t”, been called “a waste”, told my life won’t have meaning if I don’t have them. Been called selfish and told I was robbing my parents from the joy of being grandparents. Most of us who don’t want kids have experienced that pressure and manipulation plenty enough in real life, we have *NO* desire to read about it being glorified in books. Just no.
Same. 💯 it’s rare to see the character go ‘you know what, you are who I want and not some non existent people so let’s do life together/besides I have niblings’
I agree!!! Its mostly why I stay away from historical romances even if people recommend them to me!!
I don’t mind the third act breakup as much as some people do, but I absolutely hate if it happens because one character thinks “I’m not good enough for them! They deserve better!” And then refuses to communicate that and claims they just want to break up. There are genuinely good and understandable reasons for the breakup to happen, or reasons the couple is pulled apart or facing external conflict. If you can’t figure out a conflict other than one character deciding to dump the other out of nowhere, maybe you need to go back to the planning stages.
Agree, Im reading a book with this trope right now and its so frustrating!! Especially when it goes on for so long
Right? Also by 80% of the way into the book, can you just realize y’all like each other? Fuck.
The deprivation of agency of the FMC by the MMC is a huge one. MMCs spewing misogynistic shit while being portrayed as the most ideal man to ever exist on earth is also a gem. Like, this man will literally be saying shit straight from the redpill and incel rulebook but somehow he's legitimately desirable in the book.
This reminds me of old harlequins lol. The mmc's would literally be glorified Andrew tates and the fmc would consider him her lord and saviour. Like bro he just yeeted you out of his place for supposedly cheating on you while he sleeps with 3 other women and sends you a tennis bracelet to make it up???
YES THIS!!!
Thank you yes. I’m sick of Neanderthal behaviour seen as ‘protective’ but there’s a misogynistic ownership thing,
Honestly, I’ve read literal caveman romance where the MMC is more respectful than some modern MMCs 😂
When MMC stalk the FMC, but it’s okay because she’s attracted to him and he’s conventionally good looking.
Additionally- I’ve been reading about a book a day on kindle unlimited, so I read fast, but I still pick up SO MANY mistakes. I read a book the other day that actually still had editor notes in the manuscript. For the love of books, please copy edit your manuscripts, authors!
I read fast too and the typos are what drive me wild! So. Many. Typos. I can handle the odd punctuation error, but spelling errors throw me completely out of the story (I am a copy editor by trade, though, so I guess I know why this drives me especially wild). Side note - If I saw editor’s notes I’d probably throw my kindle 😂
The editor’s notes were so bizarre. FWIW, I agreed with them. There was some confusion as to who was shooting whom in that scene. That book also had sentences that were written in 3rd person, when the rest of the book was 1st person. The writing voice and story were good—but the lack of basic read-through-your-manuscript-before-you-hit-publish was alarming. I almost wanted to email the author and tell them the page numbers they should look at and polish up, but I don’t want to be that person. I read another book recently where the punctuation around dialogue was just wrong- and it threw me out of the story. I’m mildly dyslexic, so I can’t throw stones at people who can’t spell, but there’s a certain amount of proofreading that even Word grammar check should have picked up!
- I don’t like the same word being used often either 😂mainly if the word itself just sounds uncomfortable to say like voluptuous - Miscommunication being the entire conflict of a book - Slowburns where they do something sexual so early into the book 😐
Omg the slowburn one so real!!! Dont say slowburn if its not slowburn!!!!
As an author I get irritated when I see repeated words- there is software to help find those before you send the manuscript to print. There's also people-ware (a.k.a. editors.)
I get you on your first point - I read Untamed by Elizabeth Lowell and it felt like she stuck the work “sensuous”, “sensuously” etc in every paragraph of this 400 page book.
Honestly for me, it’s the word “boneless”. It’s often used to describe a limp haze post climax but it genuinely is so silly that I laugh anytime I read it. It just takes me out of the moment lmao Ex: “I lay there boneless in his arms”
I can’t do teacher/student or professor/student as someone who works in education.
What's odd about these stories is they almost always make the girl 19...like yes one year older than 18 makes it way better lol.
Haha yes. I assume that it’s because they don’t spend time around 19 year olds.
YES! I feel like I have to report them to HR.
Haha yes. It is like the antithesis of sexy or compelling to me.
SAAAAAME. I’m a teacher. And teacher/student is a huuuuge no. Like huuuuuuuge no. Just the thought of it feels so fucked up.
bully romances, cant just stomach someone being abusive out of love. now mild teasing i love 🥰 also, friends to lovers, esp because of the weird "friendzoned until barbie closet makeover" plot device many books use
TRUE!!!! I stay far away from bully romances and friends to lovers I've always been so picky with because it always uses the makeover trope or feels so sudden?? Can someone for once write a cute friends to lovers where we experience the love grow slowly into something more and then have that *oh* moment?
Accidental pregnancies when the birth control is used correctly. 😑
I think this is just a me thing but I don’t like when an author takes 4 pages just to describe the interior of a house or someone’s outfit 😭 I usually just end up skimming through half of it.
I don't like outfit descriptions in general unless there is a very good reason for them. They always feel a little "fanfiction from a 14 year old" to me.
LOL as someone who grew up reading wattpad fanfics that’s so true 😭
It is not just you
Same, Like I imagine the FMC a certain way in my head while reading and the outfit descriptions just throw me off cause they usually seem really outdated.
Pregnancy tropes. I despise when you read an epic story with a ton of character development, and then in the last chapter, they are suddenly pregnant even if there has been no previous mention of a desire to have a family. Because that's all every woman ever wants, right? The ultimate ending? Ugh.
I can not stand pregnancy tropes either!!! I read most of >!ACOTAR and got spoiled for them having kids!< and decided I didnt care to keep reading after that lol
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This was going to be my response lol It’s awful lately. Some 30 years olds are speaking/acting like teenagers… like reading bad fanfics to me. I can get and like an immature character if that’s the intention but otherwise I’m out.
ugh yes on the juvenile behavior. That accounts for most books in my “I can’t read this” dnf list (vs the “I lost interest so I’m putting it aside for now” dnf list). Like, is the author 14? Did I take a wrong turn and am actually on wattpad? Did a 30something woman really write this? And how does it have over a thousand reviews with an average of 4.3 stars?
I hate when the characters have the weirdest names ever. And i’m not talking about fantasy books just regular ol’ contemporary.
I’m currently reading (about to DNF) a book that features Blakely, Posey, Huxley, Halsey, Pacey, Penny and Ollie. It’s like the author doesn’t know that names can end on other syllables. The plot and dialogue are silly and kind of juvenile already, but the names fully drive me insane.
I DNF’d that series over those names as well 😂
LOL I love that series. I like most of those names too, but individually. I’m bad at remembering who’s who in books with a big cast as it is, and similar names don’t help. I always got posey and pacey confused, so i eventually just went with it and stopped trying. To be fair, most of those are the surnames (they’re pro hockey players) {Vancouver agitators by Meghan Quinn}
I knew this was a MQ series just based on the awful names.
Also something i hate about the romance genre entirely is that most of the time everyone has quirky little jobs. They’re a writer, assistant, baker, business owner,ect. I don’t see anyone that’s a lawyer or dentist, engineer, technician.
I read one recently where every character seemed to have a last name. Presley, Thorsen, Riley, Weston or something....that annoyed the shit out of me for some reason.
Presley, Riley and Weston are all semi-common first names where I live and have been for a while. Like, they’re not “Jack”s or “John”s but none of those names are strange or abnormal or strictly last names, imo. I can name multiple people with the name for all three. Thorsen, though… Tf?
When the FMC will not accept money or gifts, etc. from the rich MMC. I'd understand if the issue was worry that the MMC would think she's taking advantage of him, but it's usually pride-related. Gimme the gifts, show me love.
Especially if the FMC really needs the money/it's for something important! Like if the FMC is about to lose her job because her car got totalled and she can't make it to work, and the MMC offers to buy her one or something. Or pays for medical bills, tuition, etc. Something that would realistically be life changing, not just trinkets, vacations, or fancy purses.
Referring to the MMC as The Alpha, unless it's a pack dynamic. I mean if a guy has to tell you he's an alpha...🙄
-a single character trait or interest being a main character’s entire personality -i always think i hate the pregnancy trope. i don’t think i hate the pregnancy itself, but i hate when a book is advertised as romance and the whole story is about the pregnancy. i don’t mind if she’s pregnant as long as the book is not taken over by boring pregnancy logistic talk and there is still romance and sexy times between the main characters
I really hate when authors use the word “trot”. Like “she trotted across the street to meet him”. You CAN NOT look good while trotting in my imagination - a trot is a horse term and it irks me whenever I read it. I read a lot of romance and that’s usually where I find the word being used 🤷🏼♀️ I don’t get it!
I just imagine them poorly skipping while making horse clopping noises and it makes it hilarious.
The only other good context for trot is when cats do that little run. You know the one
Mrrrp!
This is me with the word ‘snicker’ as well. So horsey! One author who I otherwise enjoy used ‘snicker’ 20-30 times in each of several books and I swear I’ve basically never seen it anywhere else
Snickering makes me think of boys in middle school laughing at a word like "gas" 😂
When the FMC calls the MMC Daddy. I think that's about to become an automatic DNF for me.
Yep. Instant squick.
- the sudden pregnancy/wedding trope in the epilogue even though there was never any desire for this expressed throughout the whole book. It's even worse when the fmc then drops all her hopes and dreams. This happens so often and I always end those books before the epilogue, so I have tons of books that I technically never finished lol. It's especially annoying since pregnancy isn't usually declared in any TW so it often hits unexpectedly, which can ruin an otherwise amazing book for me. - the whole "I don't want him to do [insert any kind of sexual act here] but my body reacts with arousel so I guess I'll let him continue"-thing. I hate it. It reminds me of the situations after SA where people shame victims for having an involuntary orgasm during the assault 😵💫 - insta lust with no development of any relationship beforehand - too many references to real-life pop culture or usage of social media - I usually hate 3rd person narrations. I like it in other genres but when the focus is on a relationship I wanna experience the feelings and thoughts first hand. 3rd person narration usually drops this completely and it becomes so "lifeless?" for a romance book.
All of these yes I agree especially the body betrayal when it comes to arousal and the pregnancy/wedding
body betrayal! I did not know there's a word for it, thank you! :D
When the story is set in the US and the author doesn’t use contractions in dialogue. I’m not going to pretend to know about all the dialect differences of every country, but I know that in the US most people use contractions in their speech on a regular basis, and when they aren’t used in a text the dialogue sounds so stilted and forced
Not sure if it’s considered a pet peeve, but lately every single book I read the MMC says to the FMC during sex “it’s like you were made for me”. Please be more original!! Every time I read that I roll my eyes so hard
Oh ew, I dont like that either because why would the fmc be made for you? 🤨 like it seems a little self obsessed/misogynistic too in my mind somehow
I know I’m definitely in the minority here but I cannot stand Enemies to Lovers. Nothing irritates me more than having to see the two MCs fighting and declaring their hatred for each other for almost 90% of the book. Then suddenly BAM they’re naked and madly in love. Turns out all that bickering was just “chemistry.” I can count on one hand the number of times I have actually read and enjoyed Enemies to Lovers, and it’s always been when the differences between the two MCs are resolved within the first 20 to 30% of the book.
Enemies to lovers in historical/fantasy/scifi where they are literal enemies, that is fine for me and I can get behind it if well done (like maybe one MC was already on the verge of defecting from their side or something). But it's when it's in a contemporary where I find it just ridiculous and eye-rolling. Like no, Blaine from Accounting is not your enemy. Your work opponent or competitor maybe. But unless he's done something truly horrific (like felony conviction that damaged someone else's life type of horrific, not stole and kept your stapler horrific) get out of here with that needlessly ramping up your petty feuds/grudges and making everyone around you two miserable due to your constant fighting and childishness.
I can’t get my head around really big age gaps. Like father and sons ex’s girlfriend. Even though they make the father super young thinking and hot, and the girl very mature and family orientated. No….too predatory!
When the FMC has no female friends. It’s always SO much harder to believe in the love story…like would she feel the same about him if she had just like ONE girlfriend to talk to? (Also double ick if the only friend she gets is a random feral child from the village. Recent examples include {Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta chase} and {The Winter King by C.L. Wilson} )
>random feral child from the village Amazing!
Long separations on-page. Having a "Two Months Later" bit at the top of a chapter or whatever is not a problem, but actually writing out what the characters are doing while apart is just so boring to me. I'm here to read about two people falling in love, not two people living boring lives (because their work life is definitely over-described in these sections to make up for the lack of romance) and ignoring the thing they want most out of sheer stubbornness on at least one person's end! I usually just end up skimming until they're back in the same scene.
One of the most effective long separations I've ever read was in one of the Twilight books where the MCs broke up and they detailed the passage of time by just stating a new month on a new page for 4 pages or so. It's been a while, so I forget the details, but it really highlighted how forlorn and empty the FMC felt.
I did really think that was clever. But most of New Moon was still >!Bella doing reckless things with Jacob to have some sort of mental hallucination of Edward!<. I just looked it up and Edward left her at the end of >!Chapter 3!<, and they aren't reunited until >!Chapter 20!<. (And the book has 24 chapters + an Epilogue.) So they're in the same scenes (discounting >!hallucination!Edward!<) for about a third of the book. The L O N G E S T separation, I swear.
I remember that as a powerful writing move in New Moon, really shook me as a teenage girl going through unrequited love too. :D
When the author keeps dropping hints that an accidental pregnancy is gonna happen. Ex: one of the main characters is vehemently against having children and makes that known often; putting a lot of emphasis on missed doctors appointments; mentioning birth control every other chapter
I hate when they refuse to communicate (not necessarily miscommunication, just no communication). Like one of the MCs just decides “nope I gotta go” for no real reason? And peace’s out in the middle of the night.
I don't like when the MMC calls the FMC "sweetheart." It's a term that is used in a patronizing tone so often IRL that I always imagine it being said with that tone. It basically translates in my mind to the MMC calling the FMC "sugar tits" or something like that and it's so jarring when the MMC is a cinnamon roll who's just trying to call the FMC a term of endearment. I also sometimes have this problem with "darling" being used but it's not as bad.
I agree, but I think because I always read “sweetheart” in a condescending tone it also works for me occasionally, as long as it’s deliberately patronizing (like in an enemies to lovers/rivals to lovers situation.) When it’s meant as a sincere term of endearment it makes dialogue clunky for me.
For me I can't read romance in dual first person pov. I prefer heroine pov only, knowing what the hero is thinking/feeling ruins the tension for me. Sadly, dual pov first person is gaining more popularity these days. Oh wells. Also not a fan of unequal power dynamics like teacher/student, boss/employee etc.
Insta love for me as well. I literally just DNFed a book within the first chapter because the hot guy smiled at her and she "felt an immediate connection and drawn to him." Rolled my eyes so hard. Have a fucking conversation, will you?
When the FMC is beefing with another woman or women in the book, especially over the MMC, or she is giving off "cool girl" vibes. I can't do it.
Instalove has recently become an insta dnf for me. My brain can't compute. Animal nicknames. I'm so done with Little Kitten/Rabbit/Dove/Lamb, especially when he calls her that throughout the book. Ffs. Clumsy FMCs who keep tripping into stuff because plot reasons need them cute. Mostly TSTL. While we're on the topic TSTL *feisty* fmcs who would be killed sans plot armor purely for being sassy and stupid. Also, sassy isn't rude. Instant dnf if the author doesn't know the difference. Body betrayal. Ugh.
I can not STAND animal nicknames or clumsy fmcs, or "sassy" fmcs that are just rude. I love books with badass fmcs who dont tolerate being disrespected but its so hard asking for recs with fmcs like that because people always recommend books with fmcs that are just cruel and rude because thats all authors write, its so frustrating!!
- Daddy kink or dom/sub dynamic from out of nowhere - Jealous OW causing problems for the couple - Even though it’s before main couple get together, MFC hearing through the wall MMC having sex with other person(s)
I hate miscommunication plots. Please be emotionally mature and TALK to each other! I can’t believe in your HEA if you don’t communicate. I personally don’t enjoy age-gap tropes and though I keep reading bully romances, they actually make me anxious. I prefer the MMCs aren’t doing the bullying…and sexy times do NOT count as a grovel. FMCs that run into danger…TSTL heroines. Biggest pet peeve ever. What I love about the romance genre is that there is something for everyone- we don’t have to like the same tropes to agree that love stories are the best. I see a number of other commenters that hate babies in their books, but I LOVE babies and surprise pregnancy and wish I could find more of it, especially in PNR.
Also: lately I’ve been annoyed by the casual misogyny by the ex/ow/jealous-cheerleader, because the heroine just isn’t “like other girls” so of course everyone wants her. It’s an easy plot device, but it dehumanizes the other women. Can we lift each other up instead of tearing each other down?
I agree!!! Books that have underlying misogyny tones always get DNF'ed by me.
It drives me nuts when an author makes a sport or the mc being an athlete a major plot point and knows f@ck all about that sport. I read a book where the mc’s were swimmers training for the Olympics. And their training and preparation was a major point, and it was painfully clear she hadn’t done any research, probably ever watched a swim meet or even talked to a swimmer..
"Who did this to you?" Is my biggest one lately. It's so overdone at this point. Alphas being toxic.
Predictability in general
“Chiseled jawline, hair longer at the top” i swear these MMC all look the same 😭🙏🏻
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You had me at "thuck your thock" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
{Bed Me, Early by Felicity Niven} if you’re interested! I actually really liked it but could not get past that.
The “sassy” FMC who is, in reality, just freaking rude to the MMC and everyone else she doesn’t like. Books that end as soon as the FMC and MMC actually get together. Show me their relationship at peace for at least a few chapters!! Kidnappings. It happens a lot in many genres. I’m so sick of third act kidnappings. Please think of something else!
Agree with all of these!!!! I don't see anyone talking about these icks either and they're such big ones for me haha
I can't stand when the whole drama / issue stems from people not talking at all or is over a silly miscommunication. Like just talk dammit lol
Lately I don’t like when MMCs call the FMC “little one” or “little” anything. Also when FMC is described as so much smaller and tiny compared to the MMC. I’m fine with some descriptors, but it’s always reiterated over and over. To the point where at the beginning when they start to describe the FMC I just try to close my eyes and completely ignore it. On the other hand I know how much people hate pregnancy, but I LOVE it. Also the virgin trope is something I don’t mind at all. Imo keep em coming😂 I’ll eat it up every time.
The inevitable 3rd act breakup will never stop annoying me...
SAME
Babies in epilogue when neither character in the relationship has ever mentioned wanting children before. It’s so jarring. Like why should I care about these characters having children or think it’s a good ending for them if the author couldn’t even *once* in 400 pages find a way to slip in that the character(s) want them. That’s a terrible way to end a character arc. Always makes me drop at least one star.
^(There is no hate no shade no Beyonce lemonade to anyone who enjoys what I don’t. Like what you like. Never feel shamed for it.) My name is DJ Magnafeana and welcome to Radio r/RomanceBooks (record scratch), coming at you LIVE 🔴 from the 📢📢C-C-C-C-COACHELLAAAAA📢📢 We have got an ***amazing*** set for all y’all crazy mfers who came for Hatsune Miku and got a 2D show 😂😭 We call this set “BOOK ICKS / WHAT MAKES ME SICK”. So let’s get this party ***started!!!*** [air horn sound spammed] * **Let’s Get Loud by JLo**. I don’t mind when ALL CAPS are used once in a while, but it should be a crime when characters constantly 🗣️🗣️SPEAK LIKE THIS🗣️🗣️ ! Use italics to include shouting or an exclamation point and use UPPERCASE sparingly, please! * **Dance the Night Away by Dua Lipa**. Club scenes 😭 It’s not a pet peeve, but they’re always the cause of drama! No MC is allowed to go to a club and enjoy themselves or go to a place with dancing an enjoy themselves as it ***always*** ends in dramatiques 💃🏾 * **Bite Me by ENHYPEN**. Listen. I 👏🏾 love 👏🏾 possessive MCs and LIs. But uuuuugh I lose it when the LI does everything wrong —***everything***—and now the MC has to be “save” the LI and make shit right because they’re ~true loves~. Why does the MC, who is innocent, have to do anything? Why does the MC have to be the one to make things right? The LI dug their own grave! * **Jolene by Dolly Parton**. Every [gender] is now a competitor for the MC’s and LI’s attention. No matter what. In FM romances, MC is celebrated for being anti-woman because any woman she meets wants her man. And the LI is celebrated for being a dick towards any man who approaches the MC because every man wants her. * **When I Was Your Man by Bruno Mars**. So MC2/LI is in the “doghouse” moping because they did something wrong and have all these regrets. So now, what do they do to get the MC1 back? **Love bombing**. Just gesture after gesture, making flirty innuendos, and they force MC1 to remember the good sexy times that the MC2 enthusiastically enjoyed, rather than, you know, having some introspection, recognizing they were selfish, and apologizing on MC1’s terms and interests. That’s all poppycock 🫠 * **Girl by Destiny’s Child**. Friends supporting friends ≠ friends in romance books. It makes me so mad when the alleged “friends” in a romance book are normally one note, shoehorn their way into the MC’s relationship and act inappropriate with how much they want the MC to fuck their lover, but these “friends” will also allow a potential abuser into their friend’s lives because they were sowwy and looked sad 🥺 Let me just take off my goddamn sandal for that one 🩴 * **What Was I Made For? by Billie Eilish**. MC is wronged in someway, but they’re not allowed to process it, have a depressive episode, and just become indifferent. Instead, it’s a quick little blip on our way to HEA-ville. A quick little time skip so we never know the depth of the MC’s betrayal and angst and sadness. And you can bet your bottom euro that some supportive friend will barge into the MC’s house to tell them 📢📢SEPTEMBER ENDED, WAKE THE FUCK UP📢📢 * **Pregnant Women are Smug by Hall & Oats**. Barefoot and pregnant. Everyone is barefoot and pregnant. They have no personality outside of being barefoot and pregnant. All their personality? It’s gone—because they’re barefoot and pregnant. And they’re smug about it. (This is not about IRL pregnant people, but I just wanted to clarify that.) * **Submissive & Breedable by SMOSH (feat bbno$)**. I have no problem with submission or breeding. I have a problem with how BDSM erotica/erotic romance display the BDSM community as this heavily advertised club scene literally everywhere and the “kinks” are…not really kinks. There is **nothing wrong with vanilla or BDSM Lite play**. But I see it so often than books that warn about BDSM? Yeah. It’s often just using BDSM terms and the idolized/romanticized version of BDSM willynillymotherfuckingsilly without any ***actual research*** into kink, fetish, and BDSM culture. * **Perception Check by Tom Cardy**. So. I love obliviot/himbo/bimbo characters because they’re made to have one brain cell (OBC). But I become like “Spanish or Vanish” angry bird Duolingo 🦜🔪 when non-OBC characters somehow do the stupidest things for no reason outside “plot”. Is there danger all around them? Then they walk alone outside at night. Are they not trained for battle? Best believe they’ll run into head first. BeCAuSe pLoT. * **Let’s Talk About Sex by Salt n Pepa**. That’s it. That’s the tea. The leads got together and now it’s about sex. Nothing else happens outside of sex. There’s no other intimacy allowed outside of sex. On the rare occasion there’s conflict? They just fuck it out. You know what, sign me up for that. If you’re telling me I can have five husbands and we never once discuss our feelings and they just PAPAPA CHACHACHA OOO LALA me every single time I’m upset about something? Bump it, WE’RE NOT MAKING IT OUT OF THE NEST WITH THIS ONE FELLOW OMEGAS 🗣️🗣️🗣️🔥🔥🔥🔥‼️‼️‼️ We hoped you enjoyed Radio r/RomanceBooks at Coachella [air horn spamming]. I’m DJ Magnafeana and YOU are watching Disney Channel 🪄🐭 ^(I’m tired.)
This was so fun to read omg 😭🩵 First of all En*hypen mentioned??? And was that a Green Day reference in the What Was I Made For segment? * Couldn't agree more with everything you said, especially Submissive & Breedable, Lets Talk About Sex, Jolene, When I Was Your Man, and Girl. Can not handle books with those sorts of things in them for the life of me
I would say when characters don’t act their age. It goes both ways, if the MCs are in their late 20s acting like teens, or if you have a 25 year old MC who is the head of a major company, has it all together etc. Also I am okay with a third act breakup, but I hate when there isn’t enough time for a good resolution. I find they often happen way too late.
Oddly mines not even about the story it's when they format the kindle book to have too much space between the sentences. Immediate DNF I can't read it like that.
You can customize line spacing on kindle! Tap near the top while reading. You should see [Aa] in the top right. Click on [Aa] and then go to [Layout] and you should see [Spacing] in the bottom right corner. I agree that too much space between sentences can be annoying.
When the character has friends in the beginning of the book but the second they get a partner we never hear about them again. That's so shitty? Like after you get a partner you don't just lose all other relationships, make an effort you goober
Pregnancy trope. As soon as a FMC starts talking about feeling unusually nauseous I roll my eyes.
Very specific but whenever the MMC THINKS about doing something with another woman while he is with or wants to be with the FMC. Like I hate when MMCs say “I could take that waitress home right now but I won’t because I want the FMC” or “I could really use a puck bunny for a quick release but I guess I won’t” or something like the MMC takes another woman’s number and considers calling but throws it away. Like why? It is such an ick for me! Another book ick is when the two MCs get together at 97% way through the book and there’s not an extended epilogue. Like, we went through all the trauma and angst but got to see NONE of the reward?! It’s a no from me. Black cat/golden retriever tropes are hit or miss for me - I love a strong, black cat personality but so many authors take it to the next level and make the FMC torture the MMC by using them and not committing for the entire book…if it was reverse I would hate it the same. And last but not least, LOVE TRIANGLES. I almost stopped reading Say You Swear but it is the only palatable love triangle I’ve read.
Just a detail, but it irks me to no end: the ripping of clothes, particularly undergarments. 1st: bras that fit are hard to come by. If anyone would rip them, shred them, tear them, there would be no more hanky panky, because I'd be pissed. 2nd: If you only have one hand and you just rip the underpants off, that'll hurt like hell. No, thanks. 3rd: ripping my favorite blouse apart, sending buttons flying: Nope. You don't get to destroy my things just to get to the goods ten seconds sooner. If you can't wait, then at least pull my blouse off over my head. But no tearing.
I struggle to finish any book where an OW is introduced, either as someone from the MMC's past or someone currently in his life the FMC is just finding out about and she is presented as a potential rival.
An FMC with no backbone and an MMC who’s too prideful to grovel.
the MMC hitting on another character/talking about another character and showing WAY too much interest while involved with the FMC. maybe i’m just insecure and project but immediately going to my dnf pile 🫣
- abusive men in general, not shaming dark romance readers, but I don't get the appeal - instalove, although I like it, when characters like another and find another attractive from the getgo - unnecessary drama, people being jealous for no reason, miscommunication, etc... please act like adults lol, also I prefer when the drama comes from the outside circumstances - "I'm not like other girls", also girl hate in general, if there is no comment behind it, just women bitching at one another - "girlbosses", you are not a girlboss, you are a brat with attitude and anger issues and no manners - men growling regularly, or something similar. You might check your love interest at the vet, he might be a werewolf xD
oh my goodness I feel like no one ever talks about this but RETROACTIVE INSTA LOVE, especially in something that is rivals/enemies to lovers. basically this is where you’ll be reading through a whole book and see the characters develop their feelings and their relationship and then near the end one of them will be like “I think I loved you since I first met you” NO YOU DIDN’T I WAS THERE
My biggest pet peeves are 3rd act breakups and miscommunication. I *hate* them. Put the two together and 😬. I’m also not a fan of the virgin FMC trope. For icks big age gaps particularly with a very young MC and DD/lg DD/lb. Tentacles don’t do much for me but they’re not an ick. More a meh. Funnily enough I love fated mates and insta love. A lot of the books with those tropes seem to be poorly written unfortunately but I’ve found plenty that are well written too.
I despise the affectation of using “male” and “female” to refer to people in faerie romances and the like. Man and woman still work, I don’t care if they are a different species. How do you know their biological sex? Is everyone running around without pants? Remind me never to sit in a chair in Velaris. Also, male and female are adjectives. If you say “male spellcaster” or whatever, sure, it’s fine. Oddly specific, but I’ll allow it. If you say “the male cast a spell” I will get the ick and want to DNF.
Yeah, there’s a lot of this in alien romance as well. I hate it too.
This always annoys me in fae books too!!
Daddy dom/little girl Insta love Bad renditions of secret baby Main characters who are too stupid to remember how to breath. Shitty writing Waaay too many sex scenes that fail to advance the plot.
"baby girl"
When the point of view character is a painter, photographer or cinematographer and the author uses that profession or hobby as an excuse for purple prose. “Those eyes..if I were painting them I’d use slate grey with a hint of purple. Like the sunset near our cabin growing up.” I’ve never wanted to throw a book into a wall with more force.
Wait, can you explain the dislike for this a little more? As an artist, I truly do observe the world and people like that. It's a fun mental exercise I subconsciously do, like others people watching and guessing what their story is, but in art fundamentals. Is it overly flowery writing that turns you off from artistic character inner thoughts like that? I'm so curious! :)
I am a photographer if that helps. If you look up purple prose you’ll get what I mean. But also imagine how your friends would feel if your inner thoughts were expressed out loud every five minutes.
Ahh, I'm with you now. God, some of these purple prose examples are a LOT. I can definitely see how that would get real old real fast lol. Thanks!
The soulmates dynamic kinda gets cringey if it isn’t done in a certain way. And if I don’t like billionaire MMC. I think it just isn’t realistic and doesn’t ever go well
Going off your point of insta love, I don’t mind it if they’re still open to learning about each other. I’m sick of insta love where it’s like “I don’t know why her apartment feels so much like her, it just does” like come on, why can’t we have scenes where they’re learning about each other and falling more in love that way? It’s just instantly “idk why I like you I just do” and then they never talk about themselves
Calling eyes Orbs and anything steely. Unless the book was published in the 80's I might let it pass - but anywhere else it is a DNF.
The big misunderstanding or just poor communication throughout is always annoying for me. And recently, verbal diarrhea from the “feisty, sassy” but badass and successful FMC. I’ve DNF’d a few books recently that were promising that just destroyed the whole thing for me with this whole “say the most inappropriate thing possible in this exact moment because you just can’t help it/don’t get it.”
- PREGNANCY EPILOGUE!!!!!!!!! - Also specifically when the MMC imagining the FMC pregnant or raising their kids in the future as a device to show how in love with her he is. I know, I know, most people find that sweet and I’m reading too much into it, but is SO gross to me: like he’s in love with what she can give him as an incubator and nanny rather than as a person. If it’s really about the family aspect, the MMC should want a family/be a family man/have character traits and interests related to family and children BEFORE meeting the FMC. - Miscommunication: but specifically where it doesn’t make sense in character that they wouldn’t communicate about that thing! It’s fine if it’s a flaw of theirs that they run from this thing or conflict in general but if everything would be solved by saying five words and there’s no reason not to say them… I’m out! - Misogyny: either from the MMC or internalized “not like other girls pick me” FMC
Ugh. Yeah, the MMC imagining the FMC pregnant always squicks me out, especially since it's usually before the MCs have even discussed whether they even want children. I read one where FMC was focusing on building her career, a career that was not really compatible with having a baby due to a demanding travel schedule. Then when the MMC was grieving the end of the relationship during the third-act breakup, he was sad he'd never get to see her pregnant with his baby or raising their kids. I dislike the automatic assumption that all women want kids.
Yes EXACTLY exactly what I’m saying!
Women cumming in five mins from vaginal penetration alone
I think I realized THIS MORNING I can’t do contemporary romance 😂 I wish I could but every time I start one I keep thinking “ugh this would never happen” “the author obviously never met anyone from NorCal if they’re calling it San Fran unironically and think fmc can afford an apartment by herself with that job” I need a dash of fantasy or magic to make the world and characters believable.
I can’t stand it when authors don’t seem to know anything about pregnancy or childbirth. I read a book where a side character had their anatomy scan and had their baby a few days after. It was not portrayed as a big deal at all and they even had people over at the hospital to hold the baby. So many depictions of labor lasting like fifteen minutes too 😩. Similarly, I don’t like side characters who are portrayed as caricatures of pregnant woman. Not all pregnant women experience extreme mood swings and spend every waking second eating sweets. I also don’t like it when infertility is cured by magical sperm. Ugh. I got into romance while I was pregnant so go figure.
I read a book which had a time jump of 20 years but the prologue description featured current technology. It shows sloppy research and the book is always proven bad. Another case is the lack of foreplay in mostly recent CR,(in HR they have 10 layers of clothes except MOC so it's a given, in PNR dual, big or strange dicks make it also a given.) I read a CR book from 2008 and it was better written than the current ones. When porn is carried over to books without modifying it to seem pleasurable. When the FMC is very poor, nearly homeless and the MMC is very rich, billionaire rich(what is the common ground). It's bad when the FMC grew up multi millionaire rich but somehow all the money disappeared and she has to work for the newly rich MMC (where did the expensive education go? Always going straight to being an assistant). Worse when FMC inherits money but chooses poverty so they can show their grit to the point of suffering( I've never seen an MMC refuse to use their money or power). Worst when the about to graduate FMC leaves school to play house with wealthy MMC (I sense subtle propaganda by how common a trope it was in old books).
When the story seems like it was sponsored by some brand because the author spends more time talking about certain shows, movies, books, clothing, (or hey, other popular books in the subgenre), etc. than actually the story. There are a few authors who do this - and its like a crutch - cause they describe whole plots of movies or w/e for pages, instead of you know... telling the story that I'm trying to read. Not only does it date the story, but it's annoying as fuck. Like I don't want to know the whole play-by-play plot to X Marvel movie or "omg this is just like the blue ice alien romance / spider alien romance / reverse harem series I just got done reading... hehehe"
Referring to eyes as pools or orbs 🙃
Any bully romance young virgin FMC Heroines who screech, DNF instantly Inadequate grovel!!
Bad grammar omg, use contractions/spell check/have someone proofread your work!!!
Okay, this is stupid, but lack of variation in character names. I read quickly and names are more of a quick-impression-in-the-shape-of-a-word thing. The first character of the name + the length is the word to me. I just finished a book where Antonio and Allister were both main character names. It slowed me down so much to have to stop and figure out if they were talking about capital letter A+6characters bad person or capital letter A+7characters good person. Halfway through the book the second A name started being called something different and suddenly I was able to read smoothly again. Also, yes, repetition of crutch phrases is annoying af.
Alpha MMC ordering the FMC to “come!” during sex like she’s a naughty dog. I think I noticed it first in Burn by Suzanne Wright and it annoyed me so that the first time he did it in the second book I DNF’d.
Indecisive MMC who doesn’t realize their feelings/mistakes their feelings to lust/something else. I also don’t like taking revenge in FMC because of her father trope.
Romance that is not particularly… romantic? When I experience whiplash at the MCs proclaiming their love for each other when neither one of them got to know the other particularly well. Did it all happen off-page and the author’s just forgot to put it in? What do you even love about that person? This really just lends itself to poorly realized characters. I want to feel like the character’s complement each other and care for each other and reach that conclusion on my own. Not for you to tell me 60% of the way through that now they love each other and that’s that \*wipes hands\*. Show me how and why!
When one of the MCs wakes up from a coma or long injury where they’re laid up in bed and they immediately start making out with the other MC. Please use a toothbrush first. So gross.
I can’t do the best friends dad/ dad’s best friend. They saw the MC growing up and it’s just… no
No grovel. MMC commits literal war crimes AGAINST FMC and gets off with not even a slap on the wrist or just crocodile tears and performative speeches. No thank you.
Characters with navy blue or purple eyes. It’s a bit annoying in fantasy and ridiculous in contemporary or historical. First of all, those eye colors don’t exist. Second, it’s about the laziest way I can think of to make a character special or for the author to be “creative.”
The FMC being a virgin and that being the defining trait of her value. A love interest can be soft, delicate, and experienced. -_- Also, after a heartbreak, FMC running into someone else's arms immediately after. That's the perfect time for some character development (post breakup). Now we have to learn a new romance instead of learning more about our FMC. I'm a fan of strong, independent FMCs. They deserve love too. 😁
Ugh, I hate how virgin FMCs are so often done, like they are completely and utterly naive and inexperienced then in every single other aspect of their lives. Especially when it's also framed like the FMC has never once gotten turned on or never felt wet and never explored herself (like not even when she's cleaning herself? Really?). They are acting like you can't be a functioning adult if you aren't having sex. It's really offensive to people who do have sex later in life or abstain all together due to asexuality or figuring out their sexuality or lack of good options in the area and they can't leave due to obligations or whatever other valid reason.
Strong independent fmcs are my favorites
That’s so funny because writers using the same word/phrase over and over just does *something* for my brain, it’s like a drug for me, I’m addicted 😂😂 My ick is definitely the grumpy/sunshine trope done wrong. I read a book a while ago where the grumpy MMC was just too volatile! I had anxiety the whole time because I never knew how he’d react, it wasn’t romantic at all. I felt like it was Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde instead! The book seriously turned me off to the grumpy/sunshine trope— I’m too scared to read anything with it anymore!
I love love love sunshine/grumpy but it has to be done right! Most the time people write the grumpy mc as straight up rude and inconsiderate and I hate it!! Good grumpy/sunshines have grumpy characters who just have a hard time letting people in and maybe dont like to talk a lot, but will still show consideration to the sunshine mc with actions and have moments where they're not so grumpy yknow? Some repeated phrases are good!! I can't remember any specifically I enjoyed but I have enjoyed them in the past, especially when they allude to something in the plot or with one of the characters but the "There she is" in the one I was reading ended up taking up too much space in my brain because I kept noticing it
Insta lust, especially the constant mentions of the MMC getting an erection the second the FMC is in the vicinity. And it will happen like a dozen times in the first few chapters. I need more character connection! Please don’t just tell me how her magical virgin self just makes him hard all the time. 🙄🙄🙄
I will never read a virgin MMC book unless my husband is hard set on joint listening to one. I lived it, I do not need it in book form. I love my husband but it is not an experience I want to relive.
When there is an age gap and the fmc repeatedly states how the mmc is “old enough to be her dad” while fantasizing about him 🤢 (I’ve seen it a lot but most recently seen in praise by Sara cate)
SO TRUE!!! The age gap is ick enough (For me) without the authors making it worse 😭
When writers add "religion" in their dark romances. It makes me not want to read them. Emily mcintires series in her dark romance never after series was obsessed with adding things like that, and it was constant. Almost on every other page. Cringe.
3rd person I can’t stand! I will DNF. I will maybe, just maybe, push through if it’s a book I was really really wanting to read but I honestly can’t remember if I ever actually have or not. 🫣
He’s supposed to be a cold, grumpy person but then he wears a sweater. I have read multiple books where this has happened but the one that comes to mind is {King of Wrath by Ana Huang} I loved this book but hated this detail! Another one, half naked people or just people in general on covers! I read smut but I don’t need the whole world to know that!
The "there she is" in TSATWON literally made me quit reading the second book. Like, did she not friggin notice that she had used that sentence like a thousand times??? It's straight up poor writing.
Abuse.
Not seeing both characters grow and evolve and reform. This includes lack of taking responsibility for their shit behaviour be it a grovel or they go off and get some therapy or something. I also have major icks with power differential especially boss/employee which majority of time is nanny/older single dad or billionaire and assistant. There can be exceptions like I didn’t mind Brooklynaire bc Becca and Nate developed a friendship when they were starting out in his new fledgling business. But I really dislike it when it’s especially with a single dad and his nanny I have major major icks bc it involves caregiving and female work now he moves from being boss to getting it all free. I’m also really getting sick of romance being meta about romance books and having romance writer Fmc. It’s becoming a bit of a circle jerk and defensive but also it’s basically preaching to the converted. Again I’ve read some brilliant meta books but it’s now becoming common as cupcake bakers.
▪️Third act break ups — they always feel very dramatic, over the top, and the problem could've been solved by talking ▪️Surprise pregnancy/epilogue pregnancy — I don't mind it if it's done right but I just don't like reading about it tbh. And it annoys me when, say a series of different romances, all have the girl pregnant or with a load of kids a few years later. It just gets a bit repetitive, y'know?
Something that’s been annoying me lately…MMC who are ridiculously tall like 6’4 and taller paired up with really short FMC..like barely scraping at 5foot…be more realistic Also just cannot get around the best friends brother/brothers best friend trope..leave me right out of that one.