Bookishly Speaking | Things I Could Do without in Contemporary Romance

Today kicks off the scary part of blogging for me – sharing my thoughts outside the safety of a review. Most bloggers I visit have posts like this, and I can’t help but wonder if they felt the same way I do when they posted their thoughts on the fly for the first time. Will anyone even be interested in what I have to say? Will they understand that these are just my thoughts, and if they don’t agree, it’s no big deal? I guess I’ll find out today, where I start ‘bookishly’ speaking out!

When it comes to reading, Contemporary Romance, in one form or another, has always been my first love. Obviously my love for the genre is fluid; it’s changed so much over the years that it has to be. Having read it for so long, I have a long list of likes and dislikes. Today, I’m going to share with you some of the things I could do without in Contemporary Romance.

• I can’t tell where he ends and I begin. What does this even mean? Did they both just turn to liquid? I know what it’s supposed to mean – a connection on such a level that it can’t possibly be explained. And maybe I could buy that if this didn’t crop up so often in this genre. But it appears so often now that it’s lost all ability to make me feel. This is more of an eye-roller for me than anything.

• First person blurbs. Most of the time, a first person blurb tells me nothing about the book. Often it’s from a male POV that seems to be very unhealthily obsessed with a woman. And I’ll admit, sometimes I can buy this. But it’s only after I’ve read some of the book and connected to the hero. It doesn’t usually happen from the back cover. In that case, it’s likely to skeeve me out and keep me away from the book.

• Don’t you pity me! Don’t you dare pity me! This is a big one for me; it makes me crazy whenever I see this in a book. Who do you think you are telling someone who they can and can’t feel compassion for? Is it really so terrible that someone might feel sad for you because of something that has happened or is happening to you? Telling someone how they can or can’t feel crosses the line for me, and it grates on my nerves.

• This. What. Is. This. Trend? Ok – I realize this isn’t exclusive to CR, but what the heck is it all about? The result this is supposed to achieve could be done just was well (if not better,) with italicized and/or bold print. I will admit that the reason this may drive me nuts is because it first came to my attention in a book I disliked to the nth degree, but now that I loathe it, there. Is. No. Going. Back. I’m. Over. It.

• Come for me. Once, just once, I’d like the heroine to lift her head off the damn pillow or look over her shoulder and say ‘You know what? This one’s for me. I’m going to come for me this time, so let’s make it a good one!’ If I read this line once in awhile, I might find it hot, but like ‘I can’t tell where he ends and I begin,’ it just conveys a lack of originality to me. Can we really not be more creative with our wording?

Well, that’s it for now, folks, but I’m not promising there won’t be a part two. What about you? Are there things that I loathe that you love? Or maybe there are some things I didn’t mention that you don’t like. If you want to spill the beans, I’m happy to listen!