All About Romance’s News & Commentary Blog

You may have heard of the controversy concerning Lori Foster’s latest book, My Man Michael. This book is part of the SBC Fighter series, a contemporary series, albeit one with mild suspense elements, about mixed martial arts fighters — but this one’s a time travel/futuristic. I must admit that my first thought was “Huh?” (My second was “What a cool cover.”)

Many fans are furious, and the rage has exploded across Amazon and message boards. Some of the responses go too far, attacking the author instead of the book (sigh). Yet I can see why fans are disappointed. Straight contemps are hard enough to find, and many contemp fans hate paranormals. So imagine fans’ shock when Book 4 turns out to be a TT/futuristic. Most of all, readers are upset because the cover gave no warning that this one was different from the rest of the series. (Some readers figured it out from the excerpt on Lori Foster’s web site, but not all fans are on-line or know where to find excerpts.) I know I’d be annoyed if I picked up, say, the latest Mercedes Lackey book, expecting a fantasy novel, only to get a mainstream novel set in Cleveland. Or if I started reading a Harlequin Presents, only to get a story about a hero who traveled through magic portals. When we pick up a contemp, or a paranormal, we do so because we want that type of book. Sure, readers want to be surprised, but not that much. It’s like eagerly opening a box of Godiva, only to find that it contains Laffy Taffy instead. Eww!

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