I’ve been reading romance almost exclusively for over twenty years. It’s my genre of choice, it makes me happy, and it’s never been a “guilty pleasure.” I love it and I get as excited to talk about romances as I do about reading them. Which makes twitter one of my favorite places. I follow authors, editors, and other readers who share my addiction. While there, I’ve noticed I’m rarely in the majority of tweeters on what’s popular or what are big pet peeves in the genre. This doesn’t bother me because variety is a fabulous thing and the romance genre is big enough that we can all find things we love but a thought occurred to me a few days ago : What if there was an author reading those twitter conversations that wanted to write or had already written a story packed full of what others dislike and decide to ditch it? What if it was a book I would LOVE? And since I’m more than a little selfish, that led to these confessions 😀
1.) I love the alpha billionaire hero. Love him. He can even be an ass but he has to be a redeemable ass. I do think the genre is over saturated with them right now and that makes finding the good ones a little more difficult but when I do, it is oh so sweet. I also like beta heroes. And blue collar heroes. Really, I like them all but the billionaires do hold a special place in my heart.
2.) I like the Mary Sues! Not in every book of course but sometimes they are exactly what I want to read. Lisa Marie Rice is a perfect example. Many times while reading her books, I expect the woodland creatures to materialize beside the heroine, dancing and braiding her hair. But they work for me and I don’t question the things that make me happy.
3.) I am a complete and total whore for the preggo heroine story. I’ve been known to purchase books without reading the blurb just because of the baby bump on the cover. So it will probably come as no surprise that I also like epilogues that have the heroine pregnant. Before anyone yells at me, no I don’t think that every couple needs a child to be happy or fulfilled but it makes me happy to see the badass hero all mushy over the upcoming addition to the family.
4.) I see a lot of reviewers say they didn’t like a certain book because of how over the top it was. That’s actually a selling point for me. Nothing makes me happier than crazy over-the-topness. We’ve seen this go horribly wrong, like when Mad and I book dished Eye of the Storm by Monette Michaels but that’s a theme I will go back to and try time and again, hoping to find awesomeness.
5.) I hesitated to include this since this has been a lighter post and this is definitely on a more serious note but I felt it should be included. Dear Author has a post titled Realistic Depictions of Rape in Romance that has stuck with me all day. It’s well written and has left me very conflicted about my own opinions on the subject.
I think I’ve read just about every depiction of rape in romance. I read the rapist heroes of the 80s and celebrated when those became an endangered species. I’ve read the “magic penis cures all” and fumed. And I’ve read the ones where the heroine accepted help in her recovery and the hero was a fantastic support system. Some have made me sob and others have infuriated me. But through them all, none have been a trigger for me until I read Fault Lines by Rebecca Rogers Maher in the fall of 2012. I became physically ill while reading this book but I didn’t recognize what my body was telling me. I fell into a depression afterward that lasted for over two weeks and started having panic attacks again for the first time in 10 years. The nightmares lasted for months.
I shared this so I could say, for purely selfish reasons, that this reader doesn’t want that much realism in romance. There is definitely a place and a need for those books in this genre and if it helps even one person through the struggle, then that is fantastic but it’s not for me. I’ll stick with the ones that show the happiness and love that can come later. And now I know I have to be more cautious when reading this theme.
So there are my confessions. What themes or tropes do you love/hate that the majority seems to disagree with? Also, if you are a writer with an over the top alpha hero and a pregnant Mary Sue heroine, hook a girl up please. I will buy that thing so fast, heads will spin 😉
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Also, if you are a writer with an over the top alpha hero and a pregnant Mary Sue heroine, hook a girl up please. I will buy that thing so fast, heads will spin.
Love it Lillie
Z
I love “best friend’s older brother or older brother’s best friend” trope so much I use to despair not having an older brother or a friend with a cute older brother. I also like the billionaires (though they use to be millionaires back in the day) and the alpha- holes. I’m also a sucker for the dangerous “bad” guy that adores the heroine (i.e. Kleypas’ Derek Craven, Eden’s Niol Lapan) = AUTOBUY!
I use to like the boss-secretary trope but ever since I became an assistant I’ve shied away from those (just too icky to contemplate).
The “older brother’s best friend” trope is my crack. Loooooooove it! 😀
Love reading your thoughts here, Lillie! Thanks for sharing. I love some of the same things you do. I’m loving Kristen Ashley for being so over the top with her alphole heroes. Cara McKenna’s Willing Victim was the perfect rape fantasy fix. And as for pregger heroines, I’ve got one for you in my new release with Lyrical Press, Wishing for a Highlander. She’s pregnant for almost the whole book! And she time-travels. It’s way cool.
Off to grab the sample. Thanks!
Oh, as for Kristen Ashley? I fell into a KA binge that lasted for 30 books. I couldn’t stop! I had an alphahole hangover when I was done.
Nothing like a good Harlequin story. I love them, too. Oh and I love a good sheikh, too.
If there are children involved, I read it, too.
Things I don’t like:
1. TSTL heroines
2. UBER Alpha males that need to be bitch slapped early and often. No one likes a bully.
3. Sex after being in a jungle, etc. and no shower for days. Really? Eew, that’s gross.
Great post Lillie!
Marika/Harlie
The jungle thing always makes me O.o. Find a river, frolic in a waterfall, do SOMETHING before tongues make contact with nasty skin.
I’m a goner for over-the-topness too, Lillie. You’re right–when it’s good, it’s crazy good! When it’s bad, well . . .
The trope I always fall for is forbidden love, except for workplace love. Like @Eva said: a bit icky. Bossy alpha heroes like Kleypas’s Travises are a weakness as well.
On the preggo front, I’m a totally recent convert. My debut release Shadow Fire Lady has a hero who’s deathly afraid of getting his wife with child due to some dark history he’s dealing with. The trope was way more fun to play with than I’d imagined, and I’m now seeking it out in other romances. Like you said, there’s no need to question what makes a reader happy!
Sending a sample to my kindle! 😀
OMG – I LOVE LOVE LOVE numbers 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and oh yes I’ve bought books just cause there was a baby bump on the cover. I’d twitter with you any day! As for #5… too close to a personal experience – if I accidentally start a book and rape is involved… it is literally the only time I will close it and not finish it.
No matter how boring or predictable a book is – I am an eternal optimist until the last page – every single time. So #5 is honestly the only time I delete it from my kindle or toss the unfinished book in the charity box. To be honest I have (a sin I know) thrown a book away that was graphic about the “r” word.
PS. I just bought Shadow Fire Lady for my kindle right this minute, yes I did. Thank you for sharing with us!
I’ve thrown away books too with topics I hate. Shhh! 😉 Too many other books out there to waste time on ones I don’t want to read.
If you like historical settings, check out Amanda Quick’s earlier books–a bit campy and a lot over the top, but fun.
For contemporaries, check out her Jayne Ann Krentz Harlequin backlist–again, a tad campy and over the top, and fun.
The heroines are quirky and Mary Sue-y, and the heroes are totally alpha, but not a-holes, so her books were always win-win to me.
I cut my romance reading teeth on Krentz. She may be partially to blame for the above list. I think I’ve only tried Quick’s newer stuff and it didn’t work for me.I’ll have to check out the older ones. Thanks!
Great post Lillie, and you are so right, that tastes differ, and lucky for us. I still have no idea why when almost the whole of blogland is cheering about a book, and I succumb and read it, I don’t like it all that much. And I am often flabbergasted why they are so in love with a hero I absolutely disliked.
So here is to hoping that authors just write what they want, and get influenced by social media and what they are reading themselves. We need diverse stories.
There have been so many times I’ve been convinced I had to have read a different book than other bloggers because our reactions were no were near similar. Yay for diversity!
great post Lillie! Just reading your examples and what was commented on so far I have some research to do. LOL I definitely agree with you can definitely not go wrong with going over the top. One of my favorites.
Thanks, Eileen!
I can skip the realism also.
Love:
The old love coming back to town.
Bad Boy.
Sexy next door neighbor
Tortured heroes or heroism where love heals all. LOL.
Big families – lends to more books.
Tales of redemption.
Cowboy stories.
Stories with snappy, funny diaglogues.
Stories with good secondary characters – more stories about them.
Rich hero pampering the poor heroine.
Stories with a lovable child or dog.
although you and I may have very different tastes in what we choose to read. I have to tell you that I very mush enjoyed reading your comments about reading romance books. My first was wither The Flame and the Flower or the Wolf and the Dove, read them back to back and been hooked ever since. Over the years my tastes have changes and what I like today I may not care about five years from now, but I continue to enjoy a wide variety of authors and subject matter.
Thanks for standing up and telling the world that being a reader of romance is not a thing to be ashamed of.
Great post Lilli….as for what I like – I’m really a mood reader which is hard but works for me most of the time – I do like the following tropes:
1. Brother/Sister’s best friend –
2. preggers heroine
3. alpha heroes who aren’t too much of an ass
4. unusual settings and dilemas
5. sweet romance once in a while
I don’t like heroes or heroines that are TSTL
Your list could be mine. I love alpha billionaire heroes and Mary Sues.
If a book suggests there’s some sort of kick-ass heroine with bad attitude, that isn’t for me. I love innocent, shy heroines who start to blossom with the help of that one special man.