Christine: One thing I have noticed from these boards is that someone else’s pet peeve is the thing someone else loves about a romance. I agree if that authors listened to every complaint there would be no plot or protagonists left to write about. Happily authors don’t listen to every opinion (or I hope they don’t) and there are so many genres and types of romances now there is surely something to please everyone- even if everything doesn’t please everyone.I and I agree 100% that a good author can make you like something you didn’t think you would before reading it.

ITA with this. Authors can’t please everyone with a book anymore than a chef’s new special could please everyone who walks into their restaurant. That’s why there are choices!

IME, people seem to be a lot more … pushy when it comes to their opinions these days. (Or maybe it has always been like this out in the wide, wide world and just not in my small part of it.) It’s almost as if a lot of people get offended anytime someone dares to have a different opinion.

Personally, the first factor I consider when choosing a book is the setting. I have zero interest in westerns. I also look for storylines that are more lighthearted loveable characters.

Yes, I often jump on the chance to read a book that features a “feisty little miss” as its heroine! lol

So look out.

Diane the Troublemaker
http://www.amazon.com/author/dianefarr

<a href=Sandy AAR: Even a casual visitor to the AAR message boards quickly learns one thing: We are an opinionated bunch.

Oh, I meant to comment on this, too, Sandy. I’m not exactly sure how you meant this statement to be taken, but it’s a big part of the reason why I like AAR above the few other sites I’ve visited. I don’t really hop around as many do, but I like how we feel comfortable saying what we think (respectively, of course). Most of us don’t feel the need to be wishy-washy nor to straddle the fence, dropping from side to side just to be able to sway with the majority. We love authors’ comments on the boards, but still want to feel comfortable voicing our feelings toward different novels (again, respectively).

So, yeah, we may be opinionated, but I think most of us enjoy hearing both similar and opposing views stated logically, and sometimes maybe not so logically. Actually, we have you and the other staffers that work with you to thank, because you continue to allow this forum to operate that way. So—THANK YOU!

Like any industry, once something catches on, everyone wants to imitate or clone it because it sells. All of a sudden, publishers want all of their authors to write (fill in the latest trend.) I think authors should be allowed to be true to themselves. I have seen disastrous results when authors have been pushed into another sub-genre or plot device by publishers. While some authors can make the transition, many cannot and it shows in their work. Another result is generic, bland work.

One thing I do appreciate about AAR reviews is that the reviewers admit to a bias for or against a certain plot device if they feel it has influenced their opinion of a book. I can watch for it having been warned. I can put the review in perspective if that is a plot device that I am open to. AAR still has the most comprehensive, unbiased reviews out there IMO.

I’ve read romance novels that are set in many different time frames: contemporary, Western, medieval, and of course, the Regency! As a former history major, I would have to say my deal breaker is anachronistic dialogue, especially in historicals. Now, I’ve never not finished a novel set in late eighteenth-century England because someone in the story said, “Okay” , but given enough of these boo-boos, it will affect my enjoyment of the story. So for me, it’s not so much cheesy plots (as someone said, this isn’t Lit. 101), as it is sloppy research as well as an editor who wasn’t doing her/his job!