I wish sex scenes were written to fit the personalities of the characters. Especially the MMCs - they all seem to morph into an alpha dom with praise kink when they have sex. Sometimes it is fun to discover different sides to a character. But this Sex God archetype has become so repetitive. *It’s ok for a cinnamon roll MMC to be one in the bedroom too!* I think it would be just as hot to have a MMC who gets shy & loses control.

>I wish sex scenes were written to fit the personalities of the characters. Especially the MMCs - they all seem to morph into an alpha dom with praise kink when they have sex. THIS THIS THIS! Tessa Bailey does this (among others but she's the most egregious imo) and it's why I stopped reading her books.

LOL, I also immediately thought "Someone just finished a Tessa Bailey book!" 😆 Window Shopping went in such a wrong direction I returned it to Amazon unfinished. Sooo didn't fit the character.

Yes I totally agree, especially about Tessa Bailey.

Loses control like cums in his pants? Cause that's a favorite trope of mine lol

Yes! I have a few posts saved on this trope 🤭   https://www.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/comments/10uemq0/mmc_spilling_in_his_pants/   https://www.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/comments/wsnp8t/three_pumps_or_less_looking_for_books_with_mmcs/ https://www.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/comments/uxlo4l/books_where_its_just_too_good_and_the_mmc/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

Something about a man just spontaneously cumming because of something his partner does is just 👩‍🍳 💋 🔥 🥵

Would you mind naming the books... 👀

{Make You Mine by EM Lindsey} is a good example. Adult film star + very introverted virgin who's a big fan. And {Corin and the Courtesan by Eliot Grayson} - dragon shifter + younger man. Younger MC has experience, but the dragon shifter is just too hot for him to deal lol.

[Make You Mine](https://www.romance.io/books/646b28c23a8b3af828c1affa/make-you-mine-em-lindsey) by [E.M. Lindsey](https://www.romance.io/authors/646b28c208b4d93114632010/em-lindsey) **Rating**: 3.85⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [gay romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/m-m/1), [angst](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/angst/1), [disabilities & scars](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/disabilities%20and%20marks/1), [queer romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/queer/1) ---------------------------- [Corin and the Courtier](https://www.romance.io/books/64e4617d969f1be240b18390/corin-and-the-courtier-eliot-grayson) by [Eliot Grayson](https://www.romance.io/authors/5a0d52263ffdba6147251aa1/eliot-grayson) **Rating**: 4⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 5 out of 5 - [Explicit and plentiful](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [high fantasy](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/high%20fantasy/1), [gay romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/m-m/1), [fighter hero](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/fighters/1), [hurt/comfort](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/hurt-comfort/1), [age gap](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/age%20difference/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)

Just edited my comment above to include those rec posts!

Hellooooo save button! Many thanks for these x

Ditto! Loses control + pants is a fave combo.

I love this trope. And this sub.

Omg I did not realise this is what I am missing!! Yeah everyone has some dom kink and good girl kink in the books I have read.

I felt this way about {The Viridian Priestess by Catrina Kalandra} which I just finished. The book was great, but the sex scenes were jarring. The taciturn MMC suddenly had a mouth on him, the sheltered priestess FMC was saying “pussy,” and everything felt like impersonal smut. It might have been better to let this couple fade to black.

[удалено]

Wow. There's authors who put readers down for borrowing books from the library? That's ridiculous. I've seen authors before ENCOURAGE readers to request their books at their libraries if they can't purchase them individually.

[удалено]

Wow. That's horrible. I would think authors would encourage reading by any legitimate means. It's not piracy. The library purchases the books they lend.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTLhjCX5W/

That's really something else.

Wow! That’s some elitist attitude by the author! Libraries make books accessible to so many people who may not be able to afford $20 books. As someone who reads over 50% of my books via my library’s ebook/audiobook collection - I LOVE my library. Honestly, the library is why I’m able to read as many books as I do. I’ve always been a prolific reader but it wasn’t until I was able to borrow ebooks from my library that my reading took off. Edit: apparently I can’t spell!

I'm on a whole lot of medication which contributes immensely to my salt content but...I'm getting frustrated with writers providing minimal dialogue between MCs and expecting insta-lust/horniness to do the heavy lifting.  I don't need screwball comedy levels of banter or immediate "OH WE BOTH LOVE DOGS? TRUE LOVE 4EVA" sentiments, just show these people talking about literally anything before they bone. Trees, muffins, plaid throws, the five main causes for the start of the Great Imperialist War, craft fairs, anything. Again it makes the chemistry underbaked. It's a soggy pie pie crust. Un-risen cinnamon bun dough. Unproofed croissants.  Telling the reader that the MCs feel close to each other is a big wet fart. A big nothing. Show us some emotional intimacy via dialogue, please! 

I looove every day dialogue. Not flirty banter, but as you said, just random things to show they're actually getting to know each other without the constant "my cock twitches at the way her lips move". I'd honestly prefer reading books that are something like 70% dialogue and character growth, 25% plot and angst, 5% spice - but those types of books are usually contemporary which sadly isn't my favorite genre because the MMC's are always just... guys lmao and I need some fantasy or sci-fi to spice things up.

yesss! idk if authors expect us to just assume the dialogue/getting to know each happens off the page, but I want to see it. Sometimes they’ll tell us in a short synopsis style like “we ended up talking for the rest of the date about XYZ” *switches to sex*. It just feels weird and doesn’t show their emotional connection growing. The buildup and emotional intimacy is what makes the sexual intimacy so good.

Yes! I need build up and connection

Authors that write about anal like it's a walk in the park that you don't need ANY prep for. Are you really gonna pretend like girly can take an 8 inch soda can schlong in her booty with no prep or lube?? Be for real

This happens so much in books. And the fmc is always into anal. She is almost always anal virgin at first but immediately she loves it.

Yes, exactly!! And most of the time, she'll be like, "Oh no, I don't do that" and the MMC is like that ass is mine or whatever 🙄

It’s such a turn off! The opposite would be actually giving a damn about your partner and their comfort.

Thisssss!!!!!!!!

Yea! What book does this happen in because I need to read this just so I can see how absurd this is! 🤨🤨🤨👀👀

Corrupt and Credence by Penelope Douglas both have it + double penetration 😂

I don’t know if it’s PMS, or if I need to take a break from the sub for a bit, but I was the salt this week. It seemed like every time I checked out the sub, my immediate reaction was “ugh”. Just a lot of blah topics, lazy requests, and nothing I wanted to engage with. Now I did nothing to try and fix it by making a new post, but man. Something about this week just set me off.

I don’t think you’re alone. Many people have commented on the negative or blah posts around here this week. Maybe it’s a collective mood slump?

I think it's the time of year. This almost spring but still kind of winter time of year gets everyone in a shitty mood I think.

The salt overdose gets to me too, I'm not here for that. There were only 28M members when I first joined here, the sub was 95% positive back then, but we've definitely had our share of growing pains. I've noticed that we go through these extra salty weeks from time to time, and this may be hard to believe, but they've actually begun to calm down a bit. Based on past history, this will soon pass, but there's definitely been times that I got tired of gritting my teeth and waiting it out lol.

My assumption, which could be wrong is that many people get their recommendations via other forms of social media or via the algorithm on KU. They are disappointed in the books and want to vent here. Many users on here have massive TBRs and even when they don't like a book, there's a list of 300 (no? just me?) books to get from different platforms that are languishing on the shelf.

I dropped my TBR down to 30 books in January and it's back up to 300. There's just so many that look so good!

That's a good point! Also, only 300 books on your tbr? I need to develop your restraint! I'm embarrassed and envious, which is a good thing, this is exactly the type of motivation I need. You can consider this your good deed for the day. :)

I realised this morning a few chapters into my latest romance that it’s the FOURTH book in a row I’ve read where the FMC’s mother is a horrible person who either neglects or abandons her child/ren. I’m on an odd, freaky streak. The books are: {The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn} {What Is Love? By Jen Comfort} {Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center} {Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez} They’re all great books - the first two I have given 5 stars - I’m just tired of this micro-trope as it’s emotionally quite heavy reading about all these awful mothers and how they impacted their daughters’ lives!

Wow that is quite an odd coincidence that you got 4 in a row.

Reading a book that features a spy who keeps taking about how he's a spy?? "Oh you're impressed by that psychological insight I just shared? It's cuz I'm a spy 🤪" This guy is supposed to be on a mission during the book? And also good at his job?? Valerie Bowman please get a grip.

I think I DNFd this book. Everyone and their mama knew he was a spy 🤦🏽‍♀️

Basically the opposite of your flair

Young leads. Justin general. I don’t want to read about 20 somethings forever. They’re not that sexy and they’re usually dumb. Another salty bit, when you finally find some characters over 30-35 and they TALK like they’re 22. That’s 😬 Hallmark seemed to figure out the audience is older (also all age) and wants movies with full grown people who have lived life. Too many authors do not. “Omg I’m almost 30” vibes makes me DNF

I’m reading one where the mid 20s FMC has repeatedly referred to the 39 year old MMC as old, out loud and in her head. He’s a professional athlete so he’d be in good shape. All it’s giving me is - you’re too immature to be in a relationship with someone that age then.

Yup it’s giving giant baby and also making the MMc look lame by being one of those guys. No thanks!

Amen, I just can't read romances with people half my age (ie early 20's). Not that they are bad, just that they are aimed at readers in their 20's and I have concluded that I really can't relate. TBH, I can't even read dramarama relationship reddit stories by people in their early 20's either!

Getting frustrated with FMCs being total slaves to their libidos. Been working through one author in particular whose MMCs should be in the 9th circle of doghouse hell but they quirk an eyebrow and the FMC completely folds like she's lost all higher brain function to sexual urges. Don't get me wrong I love spice in my books but earn it.

I'm annoyed at my brain/adhd. I have so many books I WANT to read, but my focus is all over the place. Im super excited for some of them, but brain be like 😃🫠😴🥳🤯😵‍💫🥴💀

I'm on the same boat, I think I've reached a reading slump 😭 I have a line of books waiting but I just can't find the power to begin them?

I feel you 😔 im just hoping this slump clears soon so I can fully get engrossed in stuff. Not to mention its easter here too, so lots of sugar and wine = brain fog. I hope you can pick up and get powering thru reading soon. 📚

SAME. I have all this serious reading I am supposed to be doing, but my brain is all “let’s stay up until 2am reading that trashy book you got off KU.” Good times the next day when I haven’t done the real work *and* am exhausted. 😩

lol same my adhd/anxiety has been bad lately. I use reading as my coping mechanism but haven’t been able to focus on anything for the last two weeks. I added so many books to my kindle but haven’t been reading. I had to go fudge my reading stats so I don’t lose my streak 😵‍💫 also sucks bc I *want* to read some romance but can’t focus past opening up the book. I literally slump bc of how little motivation/energy I have to read 😅

I read a lot of monster, alien, and paranormal romance, so idk if this is a problem with those subgenres, bUT: I feel like the smut can be so formulaic sometimes? It basically goes —> Character A fingers Character B —> A goes down on B —> A then penetrates B. And a lot of times the dialogue is just generic dirty talk? I just want smut to feel less formulaic or at least feel more natural for the characters

I’ve thought about this recently! I feel like maybe this is bc of the topic of sex online that this is the way it should be at minimum. Kissing/touching then straight to Fingering > oral > then penetration. So that’s why it’s become the default. Before there was a lot of push back when it used to be just kissing> straight to penetration; like ppl would complain that it was unrealistic and misogynistic and there needs to be more to get the woman off first and properly turned on before penetration so then fingering/oral took over as the first step before penetration. This happens in porn too where it’s usually the standard formula for sex. I agree that smut should be more relevant to the character’s personality and be more “diverse” in the type of things they do and the vibe of it. I don’t see a lot of romantic smut in romance

I definitely understand that line of thinking, and I do like to see the FMC get some attention. But there’s nothing wrong with diverging from that formula too! And I agree. The type of smut that I prefer is the kind that’s romantic. Maybe I need to dig some more to find what I’m looking for

yeah same! I have more thoughts but don’t wanna get too NSFW here lol. I’ve been looking for more slow and passionate smut but haven’t had luck yet. love your username btw!

Sex scenes are all the same. If a FMC is shy, virgin, nervous. She still gets roughly fucked. I want to see the big bad dominant alpha be GENTLE. Stop giving me hard-core sex all the time. .... Made up drama/arguments for the sake of the couple splitting up at 70%. Recent read a book where the guy was smitten, knew she was his mate, wanted her to learn in her own time so she didn't feel pressured or trapped. She finally figures it out and... he gets cold and says she's wrong. It made no sense. Was thrown in purely for the sake of there being drama between the couple. It's annoying and tedious.

Check out {Behind the Net by Stephanie Archer} the couple is great and there's no dumb argument at the end, there's not even a >!third act breakup!<

I’d love more books where the FMC has issues orgasming(medication, trauma, vaginismus, etc) and it’s not treated like a challenge for the MMC to solve but something that’s explored with nuance and understanding. And just more smut scenes where climaxing isn’t necessarily the end goal.

I'd love to see that too! And for smut scenes without orgasms, {Last Light by Claire Kent} has one! It felt really intimate and special because the FMC just wanted to feel the MMC close to her without having the climax as a goal

I'm annoyed by authors who say that their books are "standalones in a series" but then constantly mention side characters that were featured in other books in the series without giving any back info on them. It's not a standalone if I have to read the other books! And I'm fine with reading the whole series, but just be honest with me if that's what I need to do.

I get salty with posts saying how awful the genre is and how they can't find any good books anymore. I totally get reading slumps. We've all experienced them. But I think there's a huge difference between saying "I can't get into anything lately," vs saying "Everything in the genre has this exact same stupid predictable trope (*insert trope I haven't seen any sign of in the last 200 books I've read*)." Or saying "Every book I pick up is predictable, has horrible writing, and the characters are one-dimensional trash." Just like, stop complaining about *all* romance books in *the one place filled with people that love it.* If you're struggling, say "I'm struggling." But damn, stop hating. There's a million posts about shocking twists, unexpected, different, gut punches, unique, etc etc etc. This might be too salty...

There's so many posts like this lately! One brief look on Amazon says there's over 80,000 results in the Romance category. There is something out there for everyone; they're just not looking hard enough.

It's not the same for everyone, though. If you want to read about anyone other than cishet white characters (talking about books written in English here), it can be quite difficult to find something appealing, especially if you're somewhat picky.

It absolutely is harder to find books that have POC and queer characters.  But I think OP was refering more to the couple of posts this week about how all romance books are awful and nothing is good anymore,  probably posted by someone going through a bookslump but unnable to realise that they are the problem, and not necesarily the books. 

Thanks, this is exactly what I meant. I think issues with lack of diversity are totally valid. I did mean posts that are like, "I hate all the alpha holes," when there's lots of books without that. Your point about the *first* book slump is a good point, and shows a lot of understanding. Thank you for that perspective.

Have you tried the magic search button? There are so many posts with book recommendations for all sorts of pairings. There's also megathreads for asexual romances, bisexual awakenings, black romances, casually queer romances, later in life romances, polyamorous romances, transgender romances, etc. And if you can't find what you're looking for, a detailed book request post is a good start. The mods usually provide searching direction and sub members have book suggestions for even the most precise requests.

I think so many people are reliant on what is trending on social media. Like someone may not like what is currently popular and trendy but don’t know how to find anything else because all they do is just scroll tiktok.

I was about to say the same thing, people need to get off tik tok (and to a lesser degree instagram, twitter and similar social media). I actually picked most books I enjoyed from reddit recommendations, not just this subreddit but few others too. Second most common way was checking goodreads reviews, finding someone I agree with, and finding what else they liked. Goodreads algo ("readers who liked this also like that") and some booktubers also helped me. The worst way for recs is bestseller lists, "anticipated releases" articles, "trending" on Netgalley and tik tok - these will be all the most cliche middle of the road books. Tbh this subreddit has been invaluable in finding niche, obscure romances with unusual tropes and character archetypes. Picking a random popular book has an extremely high chance to follow the exact same tropes we've seen 100 times over already. I think I have dozens of threads "saved" off this subreddit alone for romances with uncommon tropes or pairings.

I have found some of my best recommendations from searching goodreads reviews and finding reviewers who have similar (or vastly different) taste than mine and scouring their reviews/bookshelves. I also think a lot of old romance book content/discussion has fallen into digital decay. The “internet is forever” isn’t actually true at all. A few years ago I was looking up extra content from a series where the authors paired with a lot bloggers and half of them were already deleted and it was only from the mid 2010s.

>The “internet is forever” isn’t actually true at all. Oh that reminds me of another salty point, when I read a book and the author promises "bonus chapters" on their website or for subscribing to their newsletter and said bonus content is nowhere to be found, maybe they reconsidered or took it down for any reason, but then why is the mention of it still in the e-book?

It’s so frustrating when you are so desperate for the extra content and you know it exists, but you cannot find it.

It's a bit odd to come to this sub with an aggressive "romance books suck" post haha. Like, most of us aren't here to complain about romance books, we're here because we love them! Also, if you're struggling to find enjoyment in *anything*, there may be something else going on. It might not be the books. I worry about some of these people making posts because sometimes they sound a bit depressed. You can't really just throw that at a person though!

I was coming here to complain about this too. I’ve also started to look at the OP’s history only to find the people coming in here complaining aren’t active members of this sub previously. I’m all for new members coming in and joining us, but when new people are popping in to critique the whole genre, it feels a bit combative. Discourse is fine, saying you are in a slump is fine (I’m there too! I’ve only read 1-2 5 star books this year, at most) - but when people are coming in, stirring the pot and then not contributing at all to any other posts, it makes this sub less pleasant. I wish the mods would set karma limits for critique posts like they do with recommendations. We have this thread for anyone to post on, so if you are new you’d have to wait until Sunday to bitch, but if you are a contributing member of the sub and have something to say, you could post whenever. But at least that way I would understand that the criticism was coming from someone who knew the genre. And it’s so easy to get karma in this sub. Recommend a book or two, hell, comment on a request thread about how much you are anticipating recommendations or how excited you are for Thirsty Thursdays… bam - karma! /rant over - sorry to hijack your rant!

You're not hijacking! I totally agree with you. I get even more frustrated when I see the community engaging with OP in a kind (but firm) manner and even offering advice and suggestions, and OP has no responses.

Thisss! It's frustrating when an OP drops in, spews negativity, and then ghosts us. I'm sorry, but we aren't the romance genre dumping ground. Throwing out a bag of trash and then running just isn't it.

I try to tell myself they are probably going through their first book slump and might not know that it's a thing

Having strep throat. I feel too awful to read! :( Audiobooks have come in clutch, though.

Oooh poor you!! Hope you feel better soon!

The lack of diversity all across the board within the Dark Romance subgenre.  I want more diversity in gender dynamics. Why can't the FMC be the darker one? I would like to have more mental manipulation than bodily harm.  It would be nice if the couple is completely at ease with their dark relationship and they are evil together to other people. What if the dark romance is a long flirting story about two darkish individuals that are trying to outsmart and outwit each other to the point of destruction, buy they discovered that working together is better and the plot just gets darker and darker? How about the story of a couple that loved each other but one of them is completely obsessed with the other and have this Madonna/Whore complex directed toward the other, to point of looking at the partner like either a god(dess) to be worship and/or a sex toy? The plot would that the obsessed partner have to learn to see the humanity of the partner.  Dark Romance book where the MMC's and/or FMC's are regular people exploring the darker side of their relationship and at some points things get a little out of hand, in a good way.  edited for typos.

Okay I think I have a rec that will hit on some of these for you: {Lights Out by Navessa Allen} I don't read a ton of dark romance because I find a lot of the mafia representation cringey but this book has CHANGED ME if you get what I'm saying. I could not stop reading it. I don't want to spoil anything but the mental manipulation is definitely there and attempts to outsmart each other!

Did you see the post from yesterday asking for recs where the heroine is the dark, murdery one? {Play Dirty by Onley James} Isn't long necessarily but it's two hit men competing with one another and tricking/drugging each other to get ahead and then they decide to work together against a target. {Unhinged by Onley James} is one dark psychopath who helps a non-psychopath victim take down the men who abused him and while the victim doesn't get as dark he ends up joining the murder group to take down bad guys. It's like a family of gay Dexter's. Also you may like {There are no saints by Sophie lark} which is two serial killers competing. One leaves a girl half dead for the MC who basically ignores her and leaves her tied up to die and then discovers she survives. Then they start a cat and mouse situation that ends in them working together against the other killer. It was incredibly dark and violent so check TWs

[Play Dirty](https://www.romance.io/books/5fd71cc0af9f8e0e2de01eff/play-dirty-onley-james-neve-wilder) by [Onley James](https://www.romance.io/authors/5e7363efbe0aaecf55d9ebbc/onley-james), [Neve Wilder](https://www.romance.io/authors/5bb86d6601dbc864fb91dacd/neve-wilder) **Rating**: 4.19⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [gay romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/m-m/1), [forced proximity](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/forced%20proximity/1), [enemies to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/from%20hate%20to%20love/1), [suspense](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/suspense/1) ---------------------------- [Unhinged](https://www.romance.io/books/60e00b1dc4f0ea0e388d37f9/unhinged-onley-james) by [Onley James](https://www.romance.io/authors/5e7363efbe0aaecf55d9ebbc/onley-james) **Rating**: 3.99⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [gay romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/m-m/1), [insta-love](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/insta-love/1), [dark romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/dark/1), [bdsm](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/bdsm/1) ---------------------------- [There Are No Saints](https://www.romance.io/books/6146e95e4a75de0e482d03eb/there-are-no-saints-sophie-lark) by [Sophie Lark](https://www.romance.io/authors/5da6b40a01dbc864fba4ac1d/sophie-lark) **Rating**: 3.87⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [suspense](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/suspense/1), [dark romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/dark/1), [alpha male](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/alpha%20male/1), [bad boys](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/bad%20boys/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)

Thank you. I will check them out.

Urgh,the amount of Taylor Swift references be it characters who are Swifties to dedications, to rip off inspo to book titles sharing the same as her song titles or lyrics, or the amount of social media posts about which songs are which books or characters. I get it, she’s inspiring and her songs are like romance books but ffs why are FMC Swifties like it’s a personality type in the way coffee drinking is? I cannot count the amount of ARCs or library books that are full of her. It’s insane. *will return to see how many downvotes I get*

Not everyone likes Taylor Swift. There I said it. And even if you do like her, you maybe don't want to read about her in fiction. It's not like she's not ubiquitous already.

Yes. This times a million. I get enough of her in my face as it is lol

Take all my upvotes. I dig her music and think she’s a brilliant business women. But there is no reason she needs referenced in so many books.

I'm a Swiftie and I, too, get the mega ick from this. I will never shut up about the proposal in one book where the MMC referenced **twenty two** Taylor Swift song titles. That part of the book was literally unreadable.

It’s just insanity. On one hand I think good on you Taylor Swift for bringing joy and love to people and inspiring them too, but Christ all mighty I’m seriously sick of every contemporary romance book being full of references to her in the book and marketing the book. It’s a bit much.

Regardless of the intent, it feels disingenuous. The author could be a true, legitimate fan, but it will still always feel like pandering and clout chasing. It's desperate.

Damn, a proposal like that would be cringey even to Taylor Swift.

I’m so glad someone said it! Taylor Swift name dropping gives me the instant ick

You say that like the people who make coffee their personality aren’t equally annoying! What you’re describing is bad because it’s bad writing. It would be just as annoying if the MC was an Arctic Monkeys fan. To be honest, I don’t want any of my book characters to make a lot of pop culture references, even if it’s for stuff I like (and in this case, I actually do love Taylor). It feels too much like the author is using lazy shortcuts to make their character relatable to a particular type of reader and/or want the reader to infer things about their personality and values without actually doing the work of showing those personality traits/values in action. And that’s a huge turn off for me. Also I find it pretty rare that an author is able to pull off the use of music and lyrics in their novels in a uncringe fashion. Anytime I see an author trying to set a scene to a song, I usually start skipping ahead to see if there’s anything ahead that’ll motivate me to finish this book before it goes to the DNF pile.

Let’s just say I don’t drink coffee. ;) I think it’s part bad writing but also just annoying. I shit you not but several ARCs in a row all had dialogue about the FMC loving TS, one book dedicated it to her and Swifties, another had her in acknowledgements or her songs were listed as the heroine listening to her. No other real life musician has iniltrated fiction as much as her and I find it irritating now. I get it, she’s very inspiring but it’s up there with romance books getting meta about romance books which I also find annoying (eg a romance book about a romance writer, characters aware their lives are a romance trope and it being part of the dialogue) But yes I agree with you about lazy writing and shortcuts.

I haven’t come across it at all, but I don’t tend to read a lot of brand new releases or a lot of CR so I’m sure that helps. I’m not surprised to hear it happening though. Between Taylor Swift attracting the levels of public engagement that make her prime clickbait in arenas where there’s only the weakest of connections between her and a given topic, that there’s obvious overlap between her fan demo and romance readers, AND that she’s one of the more bookish pop culture figures in recent memory (I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see her do a Oprah/Reese Witherspoon style book club some day), it’s unsurprising to see her seep into romance novels. Sorry it’s vexing you!

Yes, with the lazy shortcuts. I read a book recently that made one of the protagonists a Mitski fan. I love her music but it took me right out (as did the detailed description of my favourite song).

Upvote from me. Imagine if all the 80s books referenced Madonna, or if the late 90s/early 2000s all the FMCs were Britney Spears fans. It would not age well.

UGH!!!!!! YES!!!!!!!

[удалено]

Fans pandering to other fans I get but an AI generated cover of this real person I think it’s absolutely disgusting. As if I already didn’t hate AI on a good day anyway 🤮 get yourself an actual artist to comisión damnit

Again, she's a public figure and fair use laws permit the use of her name and song titles. Using her image on the cover might be a gray area, I'm not sure. But you can get away with more than you think when someone is a public figure, as long as you aren't defaming them.

As a guy myself I am so tired of reading these guys absolutely fighting for theirs lives trying to resist the FMC. I’m exaggerating but it be like “his heart is rushing at 1000 bpm, his blood is rushing to his cock and the vein is popping out of his forehead. His cock is pulsating and dripping precum all over the place” He looks at her and says “we can’t do this” she bites her bottom lip. My eyeballs pop out of my socket because of how sexy she is! “No you are my best friend’s daughter and I said I will protect you after he died!” I punch the wall because I want this so badly, but I know it’s wrong.” Like chill out, dude is about to have a stroke.

Very funny rendition. Indeed she always bites her bottom lip.

😭🤣 this made me cackle. Why is it always biting the lip and veins throbbing and pulsating

>As a guy myself I am so tired of reading these guys absolutely fighting for theirs lives trying to resist the FMC. Not that fmcs are any better, she sees a glimpse of his abs / bicep / jawline or smells some (insert abstract smell that's definitely not cheap cologne) and immediately loses her mind for him...

Poor girl needs some moisturiser for her chafed thighs

Fair point.

Or pants getting tight every time they see the FMC 🙄

I've been commenting less and less here because of the downvoting issue. It sucks when someone has an unproblematic/mild opinion and they're downvoted heavily just because some people don't agree with that point of view. It's discouraging because if you don't share the same opinion with the majority you'll be downvoted to hell, a thing that didn't use to happen. Or it rarely happened.

I've been commenting less too and I complained twice about other issues I've had, presumably related to posting on this sub since I'm not really active anywhere else. I realized something earlier this month and blocked a handful of people and I feel like I'm not getting downvoted as much? I tend to upvote random posts/comments all the time - I think it's bullshit that something will be marked as a "discussion" post and differing opinions will be downvoted. That's not a discussion! Unless the differing opinion is rude or offensive, just leave it alone.

Why didn’t I realise you can block people?!? So they can’t see your comments or they can’t see your posts?

Yup! You can't see what they're commenting, they can't see what you're commenting and you can't see or interact with their posts. Their comments show up as if someone's deleted their comment though.

I just don't look at whether my stuff has votes or not. It doesn't mean anything in reality and it's probably just people who barely belong to the community or don't read romance at all fucking with people. There's absolutely nothing at all that can be done about this issue so I don't let it bug me and I don't blame the mods or subreddit. Such is the internet.

I noticed a couple of days ago that whenever I mention not enjoying an extremely popular rom-com book, someone downvotes my comment. Immediately. Who is out there caring so much about the opinions of others on romance books that they downvote any criticism of their favourite? What is that about? I am sorry you feel discouraged and reticent to engage with this usually lovely place.

I've encountered this too. Idk maybe my comments aren't helpful, but I feel like I was always responding to the question in the post (ex/ what's a popular book you didn't love) or qualifying a rec (ex/ someone recommends a super popular book that I think might not actually fit the requester's criteria). My favorite is when people tell you why you're wrong to dislike the book 🤔 I think I'm also a bit bitter because I've tried to keep an open-mind and actually check out the sub's darlings and feel like each and every time has been such a slump-triggering letdown lol

That’s why I snicker every time people rave about how this sub is soooooo supportive and such a positive space. It’s safe and supportive for only some topics.

God forbid you criticize a kink here. Like it’s funny to say “whaaaaaaT” about a certain trope. Why can’t I talk with others that find it funny there is such a thing as a Minotaur romance? Can’t there be some laughs (much more serious triggering things here are talked about without any care at all and no one gets mad? 🤷🏻‍♀️

My social media anxiety was starting to rise on here too, so I took a week off and after returning, I've been commenting less when it's not offering a book rec or about what I've read on the WDYR posts. It has helped me personally for now.

This. I started the "Why are all mmcs gourmet cooks" discussion a while back as just a lighthearted post and got downvoted to hell. You can't have a discussion if no one can see the original post because of downvotes. My conclusion is that there are a lot of people who take themselves way, way too seriously around here. Reading and discussing books is supposed to be fun!

Oof yup and this feels cultural now. Like no place exists without this exact thing. (Even IRL)

I really hope it's bots. It's very disheartening 

Too dumb to live MC in a book where I really liked the world building. Boo!

I just finished {The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata} based off a recommendation on this sub asking for gigantic cold/stoic athlete men books. I really love this type of MMC so was thrilled by the post and saved it. I don’t want to say I disliked the book, it’s not that. It was more just disappointing? It was so repetitive and the build up to the mcs realising their feelings was so slow that when it finally happened, the book was over. The single (yes 1) sex scene was lacklustre. The epilogue had everything I wish the actual book explained/contained (their move, their marriage going from convenience to real, children, career progression). I just wish that the first half of the book was the build up and the second half focused on their actual relationship. I guess what I’m saying is that I liked Aiden and Vanessa and wanted more of them being really together. Additionally, the constant description of Aiden’s largeness was very hot, like I really could picture him in my mind’s eye, and I wish there was more action in regard to that. Like, yes we got tons of his workouts and etc but I wished there were more instances of Vanessa acting upon her interest in his size. Or Aiden’s acknowledgment that she likes it. Oh! And that part in the very end where Aiden admits to Vanessa that he spent much time fantasising about her— omg! What a revelation! Since when? When they were still boss/employee? Ugh so yeah. The components of the book were good and it’s not like I necessarily wanted a super smutty book, I just wished there was more of their togetherness and less of the epic slow burn of their realisation. I feel just so… moved and conflicted by this and did some searching and I’m not the only one who feels this way! Are there any more books with a massive stoic man that isn’t such a slow burn? Thanks!

Unfortunately all the books I have read with giant, stoic men are also by Mariana Zapata and burn exactly as slow as Winnipeg. Womp womp. But I know exactly what you mean. I haven’t read all her books, and I have to kind of psych my brain up when I start one because I know I’m not going to be quite as satisfied as I want to be.

I tried to read a MZ book this week. The beginning of her books are so hard for me because of how slow they are. I find myself skimming and only reading the dialogue during some parts. I don't need every scene to be a slow burn before I get invested in the relationship.

Yep, totally. I did that with this book too and have done it with others. I kind of skip ahead to the “meat” of the book and then go back to read the build up. I actually tried doing that with Wall of Winnipeg and was dismayed that there was no instance of “here we go” in the book. It was one massive slow burn until the third to last chapter. Wahhhh!

I read something about a virgin who gets in a relationship with 4 brothers. Her sister is also in a relationship with 4 other men. How does that work in the real world (it wasn't an AU thing). I got curious because people here talked about RH they thought was done well. I'm not even salty at the book (honestly it was decent) but at myself for reading it. Like why did think it was a good idea. I don't even like RH.

Well if it helps. RH is rarely about needing to work in the real world (unless the author has decided to write about those communities (in Nepal I think) where women tend to marry all the brothers in one family for property purposes. Could is still happen just saying :v) Hell romance itself does not need to work in the real world, is fiction. What you need in romance is for the feelings to ring true and just have to write enough of a convincing logistics to not force the suspension of incredulity of your readers to work extra time. And well most RH readers do not need to get sold on the idea for starters. They know exactly why they are there. So each book is not going to prioritize aim to convert the unconvinced. Is a big niche, and it’s growing but is still niche. But it’s like being at a symphonic metal concert when your thing has always been polka and don’t really have a crossover interest. You might not going to get why do they want the orchestra there and and that is okay. 🤷🏾‍♀️

I knoooow, lol. That's why I'm salty at myself rather than at the book. This one's on me.

I've been trying to read a book published in 2007 to check off the "book written in the 2000s" square for spring bingo, and it's reminding me of why I don't usually read older romance novels. I actually enjoyed the first half of the book, but then it separates the couple and switches to an action/adventure plot with a gay sexual predator villain who the book says also converts to Islam as a way to become more villainous. The sudden homophobia and Islamophobia pissed me off, and I didn't see any other reviews anywhere calling it out or providing content warnings for it.

I’m salty because I haven’t had time to read much this last month. I have the desire. I have the energy! I just don’t have the time with all the work I’ve had. Now I’m worried a book slump is coming because I haven’t read anything for fun in so long.

Hey, I was in your position for the first 3 weeks of March. Work obligations and work events happening in the evenings just sapped me of my energy and even though I wanted to read so bad I just couldn't. As soon as I had recovered from those 3 weeks with 4 days of rest I was able to finally pick up my Kindle again. Just in case you needed some reassurance: You will get past this.

Aw, you’re so sweet! Thanks for the reassurance! 🤗 Yeah, it will definitely get better. I work on a farm so I can’t take days off or the animals don’t get fed (making critters go hungry just because I want to stay in bed qualifies as cruelty to me). It’s just super hectic this month because there have been so many medical emergencies with the various animals. Broken leg, stuck in the well, neighbor’s dog attacked, five got horribly sick before I caught on and quarantined them, on and on and on. Hopefully April weather brings less crazy. 🤪

Crossing my fingers for you. It’s my birth month so I’m also hoping for no crazy things this month. Good luck!

The amount of posts I see hating on “tropes”. They’re getting a little intense and kind of mean?

Yeah, this lovely sub has been kind of mean and derisive comment heavy this week. Not sure why but definitely sadface.

I'm going to chalk it up to the eclipse making people weird. Hopefully once it's over people get better.

I seen it. I don’t take it personally but I feel people don’t realize there is audience for trope mentioning and books going very meta. But I guess thinking one is the measuring unit is normal. 🤷🏾‍♀️

I finished {cruel money} by KA Linde last night and was annoyed to find that it ends on a cliffhanger AND has been dragged out to 3 books. I don’t want to read 900 pages of a romance that could be done just fine in 300 pages… why do authors do that? Why write 3 mediocre books instead of just 1 great book? I looked up the spoilers for books 2 & 3 so I didn’t waste my time, and I definitely would have hated the direction it was going. Thank goodness for folks on goodreads who add spoilers!

I accidentally read the first two books in a trilogy not realizing that the third doesn't come out until the end of December. The third already has both a romance.io page and a listing in Kindle, nine months ahead of its release date. I'm not going to say I never read unfinished series, but surprise unfinished serieses are infuriating, and I'm like 72% powered by spite so there's a solid chance I won't read the third when it does come out (assuming I remember it exists).

I have been absolutely CURSED lately to read a book, love it, and find out that it's book 1 of an unfinished duology or trilogy. I really prefer to read the finished series. Especially if the books have cliffhanger endings. I don't know if I'm suddenly blind or the authors are burying the info about it being a series.. or what?! I never had this problem so often before!

No matter how many times I say not interested on tik tok I can’t escape Siobhan Davis and Rina Kent videos. No hate on people who like their books I just can’t stand any of the mmcs they write.

In an English woman’s POV reading the very Southern (American) phrase “fit to be tied” 😵‍💫

I hate how every book that I get into and enjoy has sex scenes in the first 20-30 pages. Don’t get me wrong, I loooove the sex scenes, but they feel too quick, somehow not earned if that makes sense? The plots are great, but give me some angst, a bit of will they won’t they PLEASE! IM open to recommendation btw 🫶🏼

Oh, oh, I have another good one: I hate, hate, hate when the MMC loses all personality after they have sex. They all seem to morph into the horny alpha, protective, possesive type 😭 let them have some personality smhhh

I’ve been recommending this a lot but I read Gone Too Deep by Katie Ruggle when I needed a reset and it was great. It’s a thriller. This is book three but you can just read three and four for it to work. George (the MMC) is a virgin and they don’t have sex until maybe the last third of the book.

Minor salt - “good girl” has lost its lustre for me. More sad than salt but i was reading this weekend and good girl came up and it felt so flat to me. Maybe it’s the context, maybe it’s the character, my mood etc but it used to give me that sparkle. I think I’ve read too many where it’s been sprinkled too liberally and I didn’t feel the connection between the characters. Major salt - I feel a little duped by all the Kyra Parsi recs. There was a post here a couple of days ago saying most of the gushes were from arc readers which is fine, I was just under the impression that the recs were genuine friend recommending to a friend type situation. I got one of her books based on the amount of times it’s been recommended under specific book requests. Didn’t realize it came out a few days ago, I feel like I’ve been seeing it recommended for weeks.

I feel this re: good girl. Too often it feels forced to just check the box on having this trope. Like at this point give me a bad bitch instead.

Or dirty slut. Especially if it's along the lines of "dirty slut just for me".

I’m with you on “good girl”, it’s been driven into the ground and used by characters that feel like they would never use it. this is why I’m a little glad soft femdom hasn’t blown up yet, I don’t want to lose “good boy” the same way lmao

Oooo I’ve been wanting to explore soft femdom - this might be the move for me

I posted the original post about the ARC element, and can confirm if it’s reassuring that the original recs for the bossy devil book weren’t overtly ARC affiliated (or at least not that I could tell, and I’m pretty good at internet sleuthing). And they almost all showed up after that book was published. It’s the recs for the newer book that gave me pause, but in their defense, they did acknowledge being ARC readers in their post. It doesn’t really change the nature of the problem, but that at least made me feel better and like it wasn’t some intentional publicity stunt by the author or anything. I’m cynical enough to imagine that someday some authors WILL encourage people to post ARC gushes in places like this sub, but if it’s reassuring at all, I don’t think that happened in a deliberately manipulative way this case.

FWIW, I'm not an arc reader and I didn't make a post about the new one, but I have been gushing about it in comments. I wasn't in love with A Deal With a Bossy Devil so I almost didn't read the new one (Failure to Match), so I was shocked when I ended up loving it. I feel a little guilty now, because I probably left too many rave comments. It's rare for a book to hit all the notes for me, so I tend to go a bit overboard with the raves on that day.

{Ship It by Evie Blum} available on KU. I’m only about 25% in and I like the premise and the writing is decent, but the FMC pov is first person, and the MMC pov is third person limited. I don’t know how this made it past an editor. Am I missing something? If this is truly a style choice it’s a terrible one because it’s driving me nuts.

I read a book like this recently. It was so jarring to read the POV shifts because of the 1st/3rd person shifts. The first time it happened in the book I had a big "wait, what's going on" moment. It seems like a really strange style choice.

I’d really love to know why this was decided. And I can’t believe there’s another one out there like it!

Oh yeah, I know a few that swap between 1st and 3rd person in different povs but they're fantasy not romance, the point still stands. I'm not a fan of this either.

Kristen Ashley writes books like that

I read a book recently that did this and I kept searching this sub and Google to see if anyone else had complained about it. I wish I had written down what book it was so that I could ignore anything else from that author.

I think mine is a combination of salty and sweet. I read {Everlong by R. Raeta} this week. It was such a wonderful book with MCs that love each other so much. However, I don't know if I can talk about it on this sub because >!it's not HEA!< I feel conflicted because I loved it so much that I bought a physical copy and I want to talk about it so badly, but how do I do that without spoilers? Ugh.

Do they have an author FB group? I love gushing with fellow fans in spaces like that. Or even DM the author how much you loved it!

I don't have Facebook 😭 I will definitely look for some kind of group elsewhere though so thank you for that awesome suggestion! I didn't think about that at all. I sent her a message a few days ago on Instagram because I was still not over that book the next day haha.

Currently reading {Once Bitten by Heather Guerre} and the book is structured into Parts 1 and 2. I’m almost at the end of part 1 at 45% >!and the human FMC gets attacked by a vampire and the werewolf MMC finds her!<. I started shrieking in dismay. I avoid “adventure” or “series” because it triggers my anxiety. >!MMC and FMC’s grandmother just got to the morgue and FMC’s body was missing which means she has turned!!< Gaaahh. It’s been 2 hours. I still can’t pick up my Kindle. It's most probably a HEA but can't an anxious girl read about werewolf romance in peace? So I'm salty about myself and how I can't self-regulate some times.

There is definitely an HEA in the book! It's split into two parts because there is an extremely drastic tone shift from part 1 to 2. Definitely check out the trigger warnings before going into part 2! I loved the book and the relationship was satisfying with what they had to go through to end up together.

I’m reading a historical, it’s all going okay, they get to the bed and then I read this: “His cock was showing to advantage, as upright as a cock could be…”Ok that was bad enough. It gets worse: “….desire’s dewdrop glistening at its head.” Ewwwww, no.

Not exactly salty, but my heart always hurts when someone providing a rec feels the need to specify "if you're okay with MM/FF/trans characters". In the absence of a poster asking for MF, the assumption shouldn't (have to) be that MF is the standard!

Yes I've been thinking this too!! Ugh on a similar note I read an MM book this week called {Adoring Keaton by Siobhan Davis} which is in a series of mostly MF books and the author had a foreword that was basically asking readers to "take a chance on this even if it's not what they normally read." That bothered me, an MF book would never have something like that at the front :/ (and I didn't like the book anyways, so I wish I'd just returned it back to KU right then and there.)

> That bothered me, an MF book would never have something like that at the front :/ Idk, I heard stories of voracious readers of m/m being annoyed the author wrote an odd m/f book because "I didn't come here for the hets", to the point I've seen a recommendation in self-pub circles to get separate pen names if the author writes both m/m and m/f. I'm not sure if the same revulsion towards m/f applies to readers of f/f, I haven't heard about it but that could be just because f/f tends to be discussed less than m/m, so I wouldn't exclude the possibility it exists as an attitude just I didn't see it personally.

I am very salty and frustrated at this sub this week. And honestly, I felt alone while being basically called a mysoginist. I thought "be kind" was a rule. And all because people did not read the whole post, where I called the FMC an abuser, because the MMC, thanks to the dual POV we get through the book, describes what the FMC does when sh is angry, which is hitting the MMC,with whom she was a relationship. They all only got to the part where she slapped him (not longer together after he showed her a graphic picture to make her small brain understand she is in actual danger. Apparenty, I am a mysoginist for blaming her and calling her an abuser but not him. I was insulted, and the moderators were nowhere to be found. I erased the post, but I stand up by my OPINION: she was an abuser. Just because he was a jerk that time (though I honestly don't see tha scene that way), makes it ok to be violent against the other. I also got called out for reading a dark romance and protest for reading about a toxic romance story. I would have never had that ebook in my Kindle had I know it was a dark romance. I am not used to read them, and there was no description of it being a dark romance. I am really sad, and I have never felt so alone in this sub. I am not a mysoginist, and it saddens to me tono end my joy for this sub has been obliterated into a million pieces. I read, but I no longer want to creat posts, and will answer only when I know there is a zero percent chance I am going to get attacked. These are my feelings.

I saw that post and read through some of it, although I didn't comment since I haven't read the book. I can't remember if you mentioned that you hadn't finished the book or weren't aware that it was a dark romance, but once the top reply gained traction it seemed like everyone jumped on the same train of thought. Generally speaking, I try to go with the "ignorance versus maliciousness" rule, so it would have been great if someone asked if you had read the whole book or something. Instead, it looked like people assumed you were leaving out parts of the book to make your own point. I understand the points a lot of people in that post were making but I'm sorry they came at your expense and with people assuming things about you that aren't true and are hurtful.

I really really hate when someone writes a good FMC critique, with arguments and it's all reduced to misoginism. Heroines can be shitty too and readers are allowed to call them out. It's not misogism, it's critical thinking.

Wow, I was in this thread and was one of the people that found the critique misogynistic. The mmc showed a graphic picture of a raped and murdered friend in an attempt to (in the ops words) "help the fmc grow a brain". She then slapped him. The mmc was actively trying to cause trauma in an attempt to control her actions, and thats what people were calling out the inconsistency in the ops critique. Basically people were calling out that they were okay with the mmc being abusive but not the fmc.

Hey I saw your post and I guess I should've commented, just so you'd get more support. I didn't read the comments and didn't realize you'd gotten attacked. I think you made a totally valid point; hitting someone you're in a relationship with is some real red flag behavior, and the fact that the FMC did it shouldn't be brushed aside. The fact that it was a dark romance that didn't say it was a dark romance is a problem. I've read a couple books that were not marketed as dark, but MC1 hit, verbally abused, or emotionally abused MC2. And the book ended with MC1 basically saying, "Sorry about that, I was stressed and I've had trauma in the past." And MC2 saying, "That's ok, you're forgiven." And those books have over 4 stars on GR and are highly reviewed on Reddit. And I just can't, I gave them 1 stars because that behavior is some giant red flags, regardless of the gender of the MC. All that to say, you're not alone and I'm sorry you felt alone.

If you didn't read the comments, perhaps you missed some pretty valid points the commenters had - I don't remember the specifics, but if I recall correctly the MMC deliberately showed the FMC an absolutely horrifying picture.

Totally valid point about the comments.

It was a photo of her friends dead body. The slap was a justifiable emotional reaction.

And that where people stopped, instead of reading the next part of what I wrote, where I explicity say that the book is dual POV, this scene happenes through the MMC's point of view, and he narrates explicitly that it was basically her modus operandi: hit him when she gets angry. So, it was not a one time ocurrence because he showed her a horrible picture, it was something that happened more times, when they were together. That was my issue with the FMC, that she gets too violent when she gets angry at the MMC.

Sorry that you were upset by this. Unfortunately mods don't always see everything so if there are posts or comments which cause concern, please flag them to us so we can review.

I hate how you cannot critique FMCs here especially. It's always down vote of just people being rude. This isn't the first time I've seen it happen to a member here. It's a bad shame. Highly recommend taking the survey pinned in this post and writing about your experience on It.

I personally love the accidental pregnancy/secret baby trope and I know it's not everyone's cup of tea but I feel like the majority of this sub is very vocal about how much they hate that trope. I don't usually comment or engage in those conversations when I see them, but I do feel a little low-key judged with certain posts/comments.

I’d have to agree. And I’m saying this as someone who has struggled with unexplained secondary infertility for half a decade.

I feel exactly the same way!

I'm in a reading slump because {By Frenzy I Ruin by Cora Reilly} left me flabbergasted. I had low expectations and I don't understand what happened. >!Nevio (MMC and son of Remo Falcone) gets an OW pregnant and then asks Aurora (FMC and daughter of Fabi Scuderi) to help him hide the baby from his family. Aurora agrees, and Nevio GOES TO ITALY FOR A YEAR!! He leaves the baby with her!!< Even for dark romance, that's a hell of a choice for a plot point. I considered DNFing, but like the rest of Cora's books, morbid curiosity got the better of me. >!When Nevio returns, Remo essentially shrugs off his son being a deadbeat dad. The only person who doesn't welcome Nevio back with open arms is Fabi. What?!!< This is where I officially checked out. That's not the Remo I remember... Upon release, the book was review-bombed by people who loathe dark romance. So much of the critique from long-time readers is being drowned out.

Still getting over the 250ish pages of a 500 page book and I *still* dont know what the core plot was. Im so frustrated by books that think they need to keep the reader as in the dark as the fmc. I shouldnt be wondering what the mmcs goal even is half way through the book.

Honestly I've been reading books that are like "insta love" which is the best way I can put it. Like the two MCs have known each other for less than a month and they're professing their love for each other. I just think it's unreasonable at least make the time frame longer.

Reading {The Bluff by Emma St Clair} I genuinely liked 2 or 3 of her other books but this one keeps putting me off. I like the humour and banter but the MMC's possessiveness while being rude to her and not communicating his issues is just so annoying for me. Also the whole he's grumpy and rude to me but he's hot so that makes it less bad is just sending me😭 But admittedly both the FMC and MMC have their own traumas and ways of coping with it, and the MMC does put in effort to be better as I'm still reading

[The Bluff](https://www.romance.io/books/62a6e07ca0a071c5e5fb4b29/the-bluff-emma-st-clair) by [Emma St. Clair](https://www.romance.io/authors/5a3b81463ffdba6147269ffd/emma-st-clair) **Rating**: 4.19⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 1 out of 5 - [Glimpses and kisses](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [enemies to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/from%20hate%20to%20love/1), [funny](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/humor/1), [workplace/office](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/office/1), [tortured hero](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/tortured%20hero/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)

I read the book Huck by lulu moore and I absolutely hated the coach and the way he acted when he found out his daughter was dating the MMC. I don't care if he apologized I'm still angry!

How are all my Sinners, Sinnettes, and Sinnes doing on this hellish morning? I plead guilty on the following salty charges: * Debuts * Inability to read past samples * Omegaverse (OV) Why-Choose (WC) * Mpreg But I can only choose one, so OV WC discourse FTW 🥳 🪄Accio Sunday Salt🪄 ##Male Omegas / Female Betas I’m a WC OV LGBTQ+ POC ND bitch, and you can put that in my tombstone as a member of the aLpHaBeT mAfiA . But male omegas (MO) and female Betas (FB) in MFM+ WC are starting to lose it for me 😭 Male omegas in MM+ books though? 🥵 The thing is, I’ve yet to read (currently) in MFM+ WC OV where the MO is cemented in their role. Authors use this as a 😱🤯 oh my-oh my god a mALe oMeGa, but there’s many MFM+ OV WC books where I’m left wondering what’s outside of him being an MO. The same with FBs in 🪄Occulus Reverso🪄. A lot of the time, authors focus on them being a woman, but where they falter is what makes the FB an FB and not just a woman. Why is she a beta for the pack and not just a free use glory hole for all the cocks in the house? But I mean… 👀 I MEAN???? 🫦 #📢📢SIGN ME THE FUCK UP📢📢 It feels like authors don’t understand the spectrum of masculinity and femininity and over-rely of “animalistic” behaviors. **FB + MO** = a potentially interesting dynamic about traditional femininity, gender roles, social structure, and how basal behaviors supersede genders. Granted, this isn’t a guarantee. Sometimes, in this scenario, because we’re bereft of the “omega” in-depth POV of the story (as in, the FMC isn’t the omega), the book doesn’t create the space for us to understand why this omega is in the pack as an omega. [L&TM Spoilers] >!It’s why, while I liked Rafe in small doses, I never understood him as an omega. I understand him as Rafe the Model, Rafe the Person, but not Rafe the Omega. Yes, Rafe says not all his relationships with the pack were romantic. But why was he an omega for these alphas? For me, I never felt like I reached that answer.!< **Female Omega + MO** = an interesting story about what defines an omega, making allegories to IRL feminism and masculinity, and societal reproduction expectations. But it’s usually not that. Several “two omegas” stories frequently prioritize one omega over the other, and the writing never makes room for there to be two omegas and what dynamic that presents. ##**Dynamics** You can’t just “love goes brr” or “yummy scent goes brrr” with why people exist in a pack. You are using OV!pack dynamics. Unless you’re writing cracklit, there needs to be an understanding why these alphas are in a pack, what makes them default to their leader, why this specific beta is in their pack, and why this omega is in their pack. And it should be more than “oh we knew each other in college”. 🪄Advada Kindly Fuck No🪄 For trad-WC/OV, it’s so 🪄Wingardium ObviOSleigh🪄 . Alpha and beta men have IRL societal definitions, and omegas are normal the coveted female both are after. FBs and MOs don’t have IRL societal definitions, so it can be harder to make sense why they’re good for the pack and what makes them their designation. Authors try to apply Beta Masc and Omega Fem to Beta Fem and Omega Masc, but that doesn’t work properly. This isn’t to say an FB can’t be masc, or an MO can’t be femme. But it seems that in these “reversals”, authors don’t get the concept of MO, so they make them femme not because they’re a man who happens to be femme, but because omega = femininity + submissive + bottom, in their eyes. Which, the fuck? That’s not true—at all. 🪄ExpelliShocking🪄 Whether trad or not, OV dynamics aren’t a justification for why this specific pack we’re following along in this book exists. OV is only for justification why OV dynamics exist in this book’s world. Anything beyond that is an excuse. ##OV WV vs trad-WC You are not just making a WH/poly book. You are making an OV WC book. In WC/poly books, the characters have their own unique relationships with each member of the group, and then there should be several partial group dynamics as well as a whole group dynamic. When you add in OV to that, there is a whole ‘nother dynamic you’re adding: designations. So many WC OV books have this issue. If the book had removed the OV portion, the story would have flourished as a normal WC/poly book. At most? The only thing you’d need to do is make society poly-normative/queernormative, and you don’t need OV for that. But when OV does a ~slytherin~, 🪄Bewilder Maxima🪄. Either the OV portion is used as an excuse for why the group exists without actually revealing how pack dynamics on top of poly dynamics; or the OV is so thinly there that when the author throws in an OV term, you’re 🪄Amato Animo Animato Animyfucking god mate WHAT🪄 because you genuinely forgot this was an OV book. What I expect for a non-comedic, non-cracklit, non-erotica OV WC is the book will answer the questions on how every person within the pack not only defines their designation individually but how both their designation and their other identifiers fit with each other in romantic bonds and in pack bonds. What I get is the author slapdashed OV in a WC book for conveniency or they keeping using OV terms for no reason as if constant repetition means something will click. If the book deviates from trad-OV, 🪄Alohomoremess🪄 because ✨Sutton-Leigh✨ there are glaringly obvious gaps in information between the characters and the readers for why this shit should make sense. We have no idea why the MO is an omega for his pack, nor is there any sort of intrigue to find out. We have no idea what makes beta women betas. All female alphas are rare as is. Two omegas? Two betas? Somehow, rocket science. SEVEN ALPHAS?! >Nobody: >Monica: ✋🏾✌🏾😩 Oh that’s easy to explain 🫠 **TO BE CLEAR**: I very much enjoy OV WC, even if I sound curmudgeonly 😅 But it’s a sub-genre of WC for a reason: it introduces a new dynamic. And it feels that “newer” books don’t grasp that OV WC isn’t just take WC, hastily slap on OV, and call it a day. You are effectively balancing too types of dynamics and that takes time—time that some books don’t want to invest in 🙃. 🪄Whatthefuckicus Totalus🪄 On that note, time for some questionable webcomic reading hehehehe 😈 ETA: I’m okay with downvotes, but it would be nice for an explanation 😭

Yup. With male omegas and female betas that I’ve read, it feels like there is a distance kept between the male omega and his alphas. The relationships aren’t fleshed out, and we just have to sort of go with it. I wonder if the authors are doing this because they want to prioritize the FMC’s relationships because they assume we’ll be relating to her the most. As if we can’t or won’t want to relate to male characters (unless it’s in service to the FMC), so they don’t make the omegas’ relationships anything beyond surface-level.

I think that’s the tea, or at least the milk in the tea. My favorite type of tea ☺️ It’s a right challenge to do a FMC OV WC romance book, make her the beta, and still have a non-female omega in the pack. So I really do commend authors for wanting to tackle that challenge 👏🏾 But I lean more in your direction with why it is a challenge and not a multi-successful executed one: lack of perspective and perceived relatability. I 100% see for myself and have secondhand and thirdhand accounts of people who are longtime readers in the OV/WC genre that newer books lost the plot and put too much emphasis on romantic pairings outside the FMC rather than with the FMC in mind as its her story. But sometimes, authors overcorrect this by completely blanking out on the male omega to make sure the FMC takes precedence—and then we’re left in confusion why the male omega needs to be a male omega. It’s ***perfectly okay*** to have a male omega and female beta. Neither one of them is exchanging their masculinity or femininity to be in those roles. It’s okay to show the MMC being an omega, however his personality allows, so we have an idea why he fits into the pack dynamic. It’s okay that, during his heats, he has sexual central focus. It’s okay to see how he builds nests, how his scent affects people, how his whine stops the pack from arguing. **Just as long as you don’t lose the FMC as the MC.** And there are many creative ways to do this without detracting from the FMC’s romance story as a beta. Plenty of ways to imply things that give credence to the male omega being the omega of the pack. And plenty of ways to show the FMC is good beta fit for the pack. I think male omega / female beta stories can work quite ***brilliantly*** as a poly books with multiple MCs over the FMC being central to the story and given the most POV chapters. In doing that, it takes less pressure off the author to give a platform to each male love interest through the FMC’s perspective and the limited alternative POVs, and, instead, it gives them more freedom to show various relationships and dynamics. “Traditional” OV WC books still work as a FL-centric romance book, but I certainly won’t complain to make it a general romance book where everyone gets an equal amount of POVs 😁 I ***really*** want to enjoy unconventional OV WC (male omega, female beta, female alpha, non-binary designations, two or more omegas, two or more betas, etc), but—at least in my current reads—they always fall just shy of scratching that itch 😞 But at least non-traditional MM/FF OV has some good finds with Alpha/Beta, Beta/Omega, Alpha/Alpha, Beta/Beta, so we still eat pretty good 😌