Today’s blog is pretty simple and straight-forward. As a writer, I’m curious to know what is your pet peeve as a reader when it comes to reading a book? What makes you grind your teeth or want to throw a book against the wall in frustration? :cursing: What are huge turn-offs for you, to the point that you can’t finish a book? 
I don’t want to name authors or books, just general comments about what your reading pet peeves are.
Of course, when I’m reading a book, I have pet peeves of my own and I’ll share them here.
1) I hate when the conflict between the hero and heroine is based on nothing more than a misunderstanding that can be cleared up with a single conversation – yet the conflict is somehow dragged out for 200-400 pages! 
2) Too much introspection and narration. If an author goes for pages and pages of introspection and narration (Or chapters! OY!), I get bored and usually will put the book down . . . and not pick it up again. :zzz: I like action and dialogue between characters with introspection sprinkled in and around those two elements.
3) A hero who smokes cigarettes. It’s just not sexy to me. 
4) A cowering heroine, or a hero who is verbally or physically abusive, and that includes any form of rape. That’s a big deal-breaker for me. 
Those are the biggest issues that stand out for me as a reader. I know there’s more, and I’m sure as everyone posts today I’ll be agreeing with some of your comments.
So, let’s talk! What are your pet peeves as a reader?
Janelle Denison finds it hard to believe that it’s been nearly 25 years since she first started writing romance novels. At first, it was a way to pass idle time while her husband worked swing shift, but before long it became an obsession to get published. Luckily, she kept at it (it took her over 5 years to get that first book published!) and is now a Waldenbooks, Barnes & Noble, and USA Today Bestselling author! Now, after selling over 45 plus novels, she finds that her Plotmonkey pals help to keep her stories fresh and unique, and she can’t imagine writing a story without their input. Janelle lives in Oregon with her husband, Don, along with two teenage daughters that keep life interesting.
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Once Upon A Valentine
Through The Night
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When an H/H hate each other from the very beginning. I remember back in the old days all HQ books were written that way. They would meet and immediately hate each other. Most of the book was written that way.
I love the conflict it can create but not when it goes for chapters upon chapters. For me, it’s fine if they don’t like each other tons as long as at least one of them still has to fight the fact that they really do have the hots for the other one.
Thank goodness todays books have them sometimes hating each other from the beginning but there is still that attraction that keeps them coming back.
I’m not so sure this made sense, but it’s early.
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When a book jumps into a long long flashback … it loses me and I put it down for good!
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- Ongoing lack of trust between the characters. One minute everything is fine, but then next, one of them jumps to conclusions and is accusing the other person of something, and this happens several times throughout the story.
- The TSTL character – yes, they still do exist, and I continue to wonder why. You know, the heroine who is too stubborn to accept help and gets herself caught up in a dangerous situaton because she refuses to listen, thinking she can take care of herself against a serial killer vampire. Pul-eeze.
- The book being an non-stop sex marathon instead of a romance – I want the sexual tension, the intense feelings, the “a-ha!” moment, not the re-enactment of the Kama Sutra. That gets soooo boring after awhile.
- Oh Janelle, you hit on one of my biggest – smoking. Sorry to anyone out there who smokes, but in dealing with the public everyday, I get a fair share of men and women who, for lack of a better word, just reak with cigarette or cigar smoke. Doesn’t matter how attractive or nice or clean they are, it’s incredibly off-putting, and seeing that in characters in books is a total turn-off. And it’s such a cliche to have to bad boy or bad girl be a smoker. I really don’t care for it at all.
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i hate when the hero forces himself on the heroine.
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Oooh fun topic!
I hate too much description. Or a travelogue. I don’t care how much research the writer did…I don’t need to see it in the book. It should be seamless. Move on and give me the meat. Heh.
When the heroine falls in love with a hero who should obviously be in prison, and when the hero falls in love with a heroine who’s dumb as a box of rocks. Sorry, hard to root for people like that.
Adverb mania makes me insane. I guess that’s the writer in me, but when the adverbs flows a bit too maniacally (heh…adverb) it takes me out of the story.
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well, lets see, as much as i like a hot steamy book, i dont like the whole book to be about just sex.. no real plot, first page to last page is just getting it on… i like some type of plot..lol..
and i tried reading a regency a while back, cant think of which one, but they threw like a hundred characters at you with very long unusual names, and then nicknames too, right in the first pages, that i found it so hard to get a grip on them. Also i know it was a regency so they were going for the proper wording and language, but it was like worse than trying to read Shakespeare… i think it is the only book that i have never gotten past the first chapter.. it kind of turned me off to regencys, but im sure there are tons of well written ones out there…
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Wimpy heroine–stops me cold–esp. when the person the heroine is afraid of is her mother, grandmother, aunt, boss, etc. A woman who can’t stand up for herself is the worst. Or if she’s too stupid to accept the hero’s help, that annoys me, too. A woman in danger who doesn’t want a bodyguard. Hello? :doh:
Poor writing does me in, too. If I have to re-read something more than once to understand what the writer meant, I’m done. I love a few good adverbs (ha!) but hit me with too many cliches and I’m done.
My biggest pet peeve, though, is predictibility. If I can figure out how the plot is going to progress after only a few pages, I’m done. I’m a “flip to the end” reader and if I’m right after a few chapters, I stop reading. Even when it’s not a suspense. I want to be surprised. :yikes:
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Oh yes, #2. narrative.
BLECH. It will throw me straight out of the story. I like action, activity, DIALOG… LOVE DIALOG. I could read a book with nothing but dialog. I just love it.
I get annoyed with too many details/descriptives. We don’t need to know EVERY SINGLE DETAIL about the H & H’s surroundings. Just the basics so we get a feel for it. That’s it. No more.
Those are my biggest two.
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As a reader only (not a writer) I really hate to read extra descriptions of of passing countryside – what the interior of a home looks like down to the bric a brac on the side tables etc. I really like the interaction between the main/side characters.
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Not going to believe how short this is for me!
I agree with Janelle ND jULIE 100%. :hug2:
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First, the biggies that some to mind as a reader are cigarettes, excess drinking, verbal or physical abuse by the hero against the heroine. Rape is a definite NO! Above all the hero MUST BE heroic. He must at all times make the heroine feel safe–maybe not emotionally–but certainly physically.
Pages and pages and pages of dialogue and action with very little introspection. It makes it hard for me to get to know the characters. I love great dialogue and well written action sequences but not pages and pages and pages and…well pages! POV that ping pongs all over the place is another. Then I get frustrated and put the book down.
The last thing I ever want to do as a reader is be frustrated by the story I plunked down money for! When that happens, I am not a happy camper. And won’t be buying their books again.
Books that begin in the present and lead me, the reader along a wonderful merry path of discovery so that I’m in love with the characters and the story and then POW–they start writing chapters in regard to back story. I usually put the book down at that point.
One of the biggest turn offs for me is too darn many sub plots! There is a highly successful RS writer who is frequently on the NYT list that does this in all of her books and for that reason I don’t read her anymore.
Just when she has me hooked on the main characters–WHAM she starts writing about some stupid secondary characters that I couldn’t give a rat’s ass about. Excuse my French. The last time she did that to me was in 2002 and I haven’t read one of her books since. Way too much frustration experienced for me to read her again.
Last but not least–any on camera cruelty or killing of animals in a story particularly dogs. Also, any on camera killing or rape of children–this I CANNOT AND WON’T read–PERIOD.
I read three pages of “The Lovely Bones” and put it back on the shelf…
Cher
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I totally agree with Janelle’s #3 and #4. PULEEZ. I also agree with Julie’s heroine being wimpy…reminds me of a trash bag commercial (forgive my giggling at that word)….I also hate poorly written stuff (editor, please) and when they hate each other (we all know they are going to get together, so don’t pull that on me).
Joel came in the mail yesterday, but I skipped over to Nick (I am still staring at Joel, so he’ll have to wait until the weekend). Does it freak out authors when they know that readers are reading their books (it would make me tense, that’s why I am asking) or are you flattered? So far, Nick is
Haven’t gotten to the canollis….Bruce will have to resend the website for the canollis… 
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The TSTL heroine is a deal-breaker for me.
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Interesting question. I have to agree with the introspection thing, especially if we’ve already heard it before on prior pages.
But for me, I almost never know what’s going to hit me and cause me to put a book down. It can be different depending on how it’s being executed. I recently put one book down because the heroine’s friends were totally cruel, despite the author’s attempt to explain why. I just lost respect and couldn’t read on. But then again, another author might write something similar and pull it off. I’m quirky that way.
But one consistency for me is when the relationship seems to be built on physical attraction alone. All we hear about is how great they look or how sexy they are. There aren’t any scenes where these people are actually bonding outside the sheets. That will never work for me.
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Wait…I take that back. It would work for me if it was a novella that ended with the promise to keep seeing each other. Then I can buy attraction-only connection. I’m not expected to believe they’re in love.
See? I told you I was quirky!
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I totally agree with Janelle’s four points, but need to add one of my own. I hate when the book doesn’t end true to the characters. I actually have only thrown 1 book across the room when I finished it because the characters totally changed in the last 5 pages of the book. Made me so mad that I even walked over, picked the book back up and re-read the pages to make sure I had not read them wrong and then threw the book back across the room.
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I agree with much of what everybody has said. I can’t stand tons and tons of narrative. I don’t mind narative it if it’s deep pov and you’re really getting insight into a character’s head…but as for pages of description, or angsty melodrama? snooooooze! Like Jaci & Anne said, give me the basics, then move on.
And like Julie, I can’t stand predictability. I want to be surprised and I’m not easily surprised. A book that can do that is going to be a big hit with me and I’ll readily search out that author’s other books.
PS: Katie–have fun with Nick & Joel. (Hmm…sounds like the title of a movie.
As for knowing someone is reading something of mine…if they’re in the same house or something, yeah, it can be very weird. But out in the world? Nah, I don’t really think about it. The book is what it is–I very much hope you like (love!) it, but it’s totally beyond my control.
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katie, flattered beyond reason! And a little nervous, too, of course. We are, after all, the most neurotic people on the planet. Writers, that is.
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Jaci — I’m so guilty of adverb mania. :doh:
Katie asked: <> Honestly, I haven’t thought about that at all! Mostly, I want readers to enjoy what I’ve written, so it doesn’t bother me or make me tense knowing someone is reading one of my books. If anything, it IS flattering!
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So far, LOVE Nick…holy cow….I got a ton of books in the mail yesterday (I got good deals, so it was okay, right?) After Nick and Joel (I should be done with them this weekend…that sounds so funny, you know what I mean!!), then I am going to read Marisela…..I’ll keep you posted…I would be neurotic, if I was a writer. I am neurotic anyway, so that wouldn’t be good…LOL.
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I can’t stand when I’m reading a book and it just drags on and on. If the book is still boring by chapter 3 I put it down. Of course I have never had that problem with any plotmonkey books.
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I agree with your points Janelle!
I usually try and give a book a second chance if I’m not really loving it, hoping maybe it’ll get better. I can only recall one book (won’t mention it) that totally turned me off because of the subject matter… (I just couldn’t get past devil worshipping and human sacrifices in a Romance).
BTW – I bought OVEREXPOSED and BORN TO BE WILDE yesterday and I’m loving your book Leslie! Janelle, your book is next in line! Can’t wait!!
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Those are great ones, Janelle. And I also hate the TSTL characters. For some reason, I’m also really hating all the ones where somehow the heroine ends up pregnant and then decides to lie about it to the hero and/or runs away. Maybe it’s because I have kids myself now, but that is SO not cool.
I’m sure I have more… hope that doesn’t make me sound like a hard-to-please reader! Makes me appreciate even more all of you excellent authors!
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For everyone who has read OVEREXPOSED and BORN TO BE WILDE, don’t forget to enter our contest!!! Here’s the rules and information again:
Leslie and I have a fun “insider” treat in store for our readers. Our upcoming September books have a super-secret “shared scene” connecting our books, and we’re challenging you to find it! (We’ve already had entrants to the contest, so it’s an easy scene to find if you read the books!!!)
Just purchase your copies of OVEREXPOSED by Leslie Kelly (Harlequin Blaze, available now) and BORN TO BE WILDE by Janelle Denison (Berkley, available now). Read both books, find the shared scene in each book, and send an email to: plotmonkeyscontest@gmail.com listing the scene and the page numbers from each book. You must be specific with the scene and the page numbers from each of our books!
A grand prize winner will be selected at random from all correct entries and will receive a $50 gift certificate from Amazon.com. Two runners up will each receive a backlist book of their choice.
The contest runs until September 30th, so you’ll have time to read–and enjoy–both of these sexy, fun and exhilarating books.
Good luck and have fun!
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Fedora — those “Secret Baby” stories are very hard to pull off, especially in this day and age. There are very few solid reasons to kept a pregnancy or baby a secret from the father! And you’re right — it just isn’t cool or fair to do!
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I hate when hero or heroine picks a fight with the other almost on first meet for NO reason other than contrived conflict!
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I threw a book in the trash on last vacation for this reason. (forgot to add that!)
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I don’t often get to frustrated by the books I read. Maybe because I tend to keep reading my favorite authors! Janelle, I do agree with your #1 complaint. I also hate the book to just be a marathon between the sheets, or wherever! I do like seeing a real relationship develop between the H & h & I like them to be people of substance. One thing that really bugs me these days is when they are in such a hurry they don’t use protection. Now, I know that doesn’t ad to the romance but in this day & age I think the message of protection is necessary for all the younger people that might read the book. Rape, no or brutality I don’t care for it. Recently read a book by a favorite author that had a serial killer in it that was so cruel it was hard to read. It was unexpected that a villian was that horrible. I’m not sure that makes sense. Villians are cruel! :doh:
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Me to Carly. Who wants a fighter? I want a lover… :banana:
I so love that banana.
??? How come we use to be able to go back and put in the icons and now we can’t.
LOL Hubby says I have exceeded my book allowance and so I need to win the contest. :happy2: He also wanted to know why I have 2 of each plotmonkey book. :love: That was alittle harder to explain.
I have ideas for books but I don’t write. LOL Maybe someday I’ll do the one book in everyone.
I don’t think so.
Boy Janelle I could give you a great acceptable answer for keeping a baby secret that could make for a terrific story.
But generally speaking I do agree.
See the baby’s father knows but the should be x-husband doesn’t.
Sounds awful well not really. See hubby cheating on wife, best friend takes in wife & kids when they are threatened by his x-friend. Relationship develops after divorce goes to court then x refuses to sign support papers so wife can’t finalize divorce, get married and move on. x says he doesn’t want to pay support or remarry so not a problem to him. But true love between xfriend and x wife is worth everything they go thru and a wonderful new family is formed. Real life often too much drama huh?
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Jeannine: I like the bananna emotion, too..my computer tho doesn’t do the little dance…
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First off, this is my first time writing, but wanted to say that I love the plotmonkeys. I am so happy I found this blog site. I love coming on here and reading the blogs from the authors and the comments from everyone else. Now, as far as my pet peeve, If a book can’t get going by the end of chapter 2 I’m done with it. I don’t want to know the colors of the flowers or how high the trees are, let’s just get going with the action in the book. :banana: These icons are great!!
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Up until very recently I read a lot of mysrteies. My biggest pet peeve is when I know who and why by the 3rd chapter and there are 20 or more chapters to go! Arg! I also do not like constant repition of particular event or excessive datail that has already been covered. I got it, lets move on. It also drives me bats when a novel just ends without truly wrapping things up and I turn the page and that’s it. It may be considered artistic but I feel it is a let down.
Oh, I have one more. I have read a few series where in the 3rd or so book suddenly introduces a sibling that everyone in the story is aware of but is brand new to the reader. The writter most likely wanted to be more creative, have more to expand on, but misplaced relations, that is just lazy and sneaky.
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I hate it when the couple hate each other throughout the book but on the last page declare their love for each other and live happily-ever-after. Now, if it was real life, I would wager a bet on their marriage failing.
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Wow – I think Lori Borrill said it best for me. Something that might irritate me in one book, for some reason doesn’t in another. I can’t think of anything that really has me putting down a book except for just being poorly written and then, I force myself through it so I learn what not to do.
I have to say, as an aspiring writer, this is a little overwhelming. There’s a lot of don’ts here (and some even contradict each other), and so it’s really scary to think about keeping all this in mind: writing a well written book, with surprises (but not being sneaky, which I agree with), sex, but not too much of it, dialogue – well written but not too much, introspection so that the reader gets to know the character – but not too much that it gets boring. 8O It’s such a delicate balance!
Oh, and Julie – as soon as I read the first line of your commet I knew it was you!! :happy2: I didn’t even have to read the name at the bottom!
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Sorry, I missed you guys yesterday…too much work and not enough play…lol…my biggest pet peeves as a reader is to open a book to find characters that have no depth to them…superficial characters are the worst because it makes it seem as if they are rather cookie cutter characters rather than people with whom you can relate…I also hate when the plot sucks…when I buy a book, the title has to “speak” to me on an emotional level without my reading the blurb on the back or the excerpt in the front of the book…so, in order for me to read an author, they have to sell me their story before I even open it…I think that is what most writers aspire to achieve…right? Janelle, like you, I also hate when authors write characters that are sniveling and too weak, especially when they use a female character…just to show that she needs a big strong male character to come and save the day…I like the idea of a romantic hero who is strong, but the female doesn’t have to be so down on her luck that it seems like he is really there to save her from all her trials and tribulations…there are strong women out there who fall in love too, right? God, I hope so, then there is always hope….I also hate when authors write lead characters that are too strong and seem invincible to the point that they can overcome any and everything…that’s just not realistic right…the tension needed is lost somehow…I also dislike when authors write too many sex scenes that are so graphic to the point of being pornographic…if I wanted that I would rent something like Debbie Does Dallas…when I sit down to read a romance, I want to read the romantic aspects of it…the falling in love piece, the discovery of new love, the joy of finding someone who shares your love…and yes, I don’t mind good, very intense sex scenes, but it doesn’t have to be on every other page…I love the tension that authors create with the development of each character and as the plot unfolds, but give me something to look forward to in the end…we know that hero/heroine and the lady/the man will have sex, but it is the moment in the story in which it is most poignant that makes these scenes could…it shouldn’t be too predictable…I hope you take this stuff with a grain of salt because I am not a novelist by any means…I hope that what I wrote makes sense…I will talk to you guys soon…right now, I am nursing a migraine from working too hard…I miss summer vacation…
Peace and love,
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Cher wrote: I read three pages of “The Lovely Bones” and put it back on the shelf…
I understand what you mean with this book…in retrospect, it was a very good book…I almost didn’t make it through, but I had to read it…it was more for a therapeutic reason than anything…and I had to read Lucky, the book that followed that one too…When I bought those too books, I felt that if I could make it through the content and deal with the subject matter then I can make…and it worked to a great degree…These two books are definitely not for the faint-hearted…I gave both away as soon as I was done…it is interesting how I made it through those two, but couldn’t make it through The House of Sand and Fog…I gave that one away immediately…it was difficult because the book was a gift, but I couldn’t handle it…even to this day, I see the title and I react in a very bad way…thank God for poetry writing and well-written romance, or I don’t know where I would be right now…
Peace and love,
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CARLY of iPhone Fame!
iphone will refund 100.00 to each person buying an iphone at iphone
initial release. Call your store for details. :flower4you:
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For me, If the book does not catch my attention in the first chapter or so, I am done. I don’t have the time or the patience to hang on hoping it will get better.
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CARLY it’s a credit:
The move, announced by Apple CEO Steve Jobs in a letter posted on Apple’s Web site, was meant to assuage the bitterness early iPhone users began to express following Apple’s announcement Wednesday that it was cutting by $200 the price of Apple’s $599 iPhone. Early iPhone users vented their frustration about the price cut in online discussion forums throughout yesterday evening and today.
In the letter addressed to all iPhone customers, Mr. Jobs said he personally received hundreds of emails from iPhone customers who “are upset about Apple dropping the price of iPhone by $200 two months after it went on sale.”
He apologized for disappointing iPhone customers and said that anyone who bought the Apple cellphone in an Apple or AT&T Inc. store, who isn’t eligible for a rebate, can receive a $100 Apple store credit. Mr. Jobs said further details will be posted on Apple’s Web site next week.
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Before I go to my pet peaves:
This was the best book I’ve read in a long time!!!!
:flamer: :flamer: :flamer: 
1st….Joel had arrived today!!!! :wub: and just in the “nick” of time because I just finished reading Overexposed, and I would just like to say Leslie you are my hero
Now to todays topic, I agree with all your pet peaves Janelle, but my biggest is when you’ve read this heart wrenching story and then there is no happy ending
I need for the hero and heroine to overcome everything and live happily ever after. I don’t think that’s too much to ask for…and god forbid one of them dies! That’s a double 
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Kathy! Welcome to Plotmonkeys! So glad you’re here and commenting!
Jodie, am I that predictible? :doh: Yes, I know I am…I really am.
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I hate too much introspection especially when it keeps getting repeated throughout the book.
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Tina: :flower4you:
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I hate pages and pages of narrative. Give me some dialogue or action.
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I give a book about 20 pages–if it hasn’t grabbed me by then, I’ll not read it & will recycle.
1. I may be an exception but I don’t enjoy books featuring many small-town, quirky characters that, for me, obliterate the story I want to read, i.e., where the heroine/hero fall in love & get their HEA. I know these type stories by some popular Romance authors have made their recent books best sellers, but for me, it just takes too much effort to keep track of so many characters, most of whom I don’t want to get to know anyway.
2. I want the heroine to have a brain & not be a wimp who can’t run her own life. I like a story where the heroine has a life of her own that BECOMES BETTER when she meets & falls in love with the hero.
Patricia A.
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Julie – :happy2: I think it was because it came on the heels of your blog yesterday. I’m not sure I would have connected it that quickly otherwise.
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Patricia wrote:
2. I want the heroine to have a brain & not be a wimp who can’t run her own life. I like a story where the heroine has a life of her own that BECOMES BETTER when she meets & falls in love with the hero.
BINGO!!!!
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I definitely agree with those that do not like smoking in stories or abuse of any kind.
While I don’t mind reading of murder or killing I do not need a multi-page explanation in extreme graphic detail of all the blood and gore…not my idea of enjoyable reading.
I do not mind subplots or secondary characters in a story unless there become too many of them and you can hardly keep track of all that is happening.
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First if I may be so dumb – what is introspection?
I agree with you on number 1.
I dont like constant flashbacks.
I dont l like violence or degradation or sick and twisted characters.
I also dont like a million characters – I find it hard to keep track – find myself jotting down who is who. One book had about 12 characters by page 6; thought I would go nuts.
I definitely need a HEA.
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Pat, it’s not a dumb question…Introspection is when the character is thinking about what they are feeling, what is happening, what happened previously. It’s basically the character thinking, but not doing. A little is good…too much? :zzz:
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Kathy — Welcome to the jungle! I’m so glad you posted, and now that you’ve “come out”
we hope you post often! :wink:
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Jodie — I know it sounds overwhelming, but these are truly just personal opinions on what readers like and don’t like. There are no set rules — and it’s all a learning process. Just keeping reading the books you enjoy the most, and study those in terms of writing a compelling story.
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Tina, thank you for ordering BORN TO BE WILDE!
I hope you enjoy Joel’s story!!!
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I hate when an author goes on and on about something that could be said it a lot less pages and then the book just ends and you wonder if there will be a sequel but there never is…Its like she got paid to write 350 pages there it is I am through on to the next book…..does any1 else feel this way???
Donna
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Okay, my pet peeves aren’t as critical as yours, but it drives me nuts when people use “that” instead of “who.” And this includes Dr. Phil & Tyra Banks. “Who” is for people, “that” is for things…makes my brain want to explode when Dr. Phil says So-and-So is married to a man *that* is also married to three other woman. :wallbash: You wouldn’t sa, “I want a pair of pants *who* makes my ass look good, would you?”
Or maybe you would, who–I mean that–I mean who knows? :wink:
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Oh, I thought of another one! Fewer & less than. Few is for things you can count; less if for things you can’t. I swear, I nearly go into convulsions at the grocery store if I have to use the “10 items or less” line. :doh: I stand there & mutter, “Fewer…10 items or fewer!” until I think security might come & escort me out.
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A few months ago I blogged on this exact subject. My pet peeves are (in no particular order):
1. A mystery that doesn’t introduce the killer until page 347 (of a 360 page novel).
2. A mystery that is so convoluted the reader has no idea who the killer is, even though they’ve finished the book.
3. A series that has to be read in order. They should be stand alone!
4. A real-life topic that is so serious that when I’m done with the book, I’m depressed. I read to escape real-life issues. If I want to be depressed I can go read the newspaper.
5. A hero that decides for the heroine that, even though she’s said no to sex, she really does want it and forces himself on her. That’s RAPE and I can never get behind that.
6. Cruelty to animals.
7. One note jokes in a book (or series).
8. Authors who steal ideas from other authors.
9. Books that go from sex scene to sex scene with no obvious plot.
10. Excessive bad language in the book pulls me right out of the story – particularly when it doesn’t fit the character or the situation. It comes across as the author trying to show they can compete with their local sailors.
All those things will keep me from buying any more books by a particular author.
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Regarding rape. Laura, you mention “when the hero decides for the heroine… and forces himself on her.” But what if the hero is certain and the reader also knows that she does want him, but circumstances (propiety etc) leave her suggesting more of a “we shouldn’t” instead of a straight out no?
Could this be more forcable seduction instead of rape? Also the act is done in a way that is not violent or in any way degrading.
Is this still on a list of no-no’s.
Thanks