Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week they will post a new Top Ten list that one of their bloggers over at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join.
This Week’s Topic: : Top Ten Things I Like/Dislike When It Comes To Romance Books
I love romance.
I’ve been reading books and loving on the love for more than half my life and over that time I’ve come to realize there are certain things I like and certain things I can’t stand in romance books.
It turns out there are quite a few things which get on my nerves.
My list of TEN things I DISLIKE in Romance Novels:
- Instalove – I want my couples to EARN their happily ever after. Love at first sight bugs in contemporaries. I don’t mind instant attraction but I want their relationship to be based on more than love at first sight.
- Love Triangles – I think I burnt out on them. I read too many where I didn’t care for either option and it has left a bad taste in my mouth… reading wise
- Drama Cycles – Have you ever read the kind of book where the couple are intensely on, then fiercely fighting, then love, then hate, then spectacularly in love, then passionately angry. IT’S FRUSTRATING! (case in point: The After series by Anna Todd)
- Teacher/Student Relationships – I have a moral dislike of this one.
- Cheating – Even when the Meant To Be couple are cheating with each other on their respective others, it is just something I don’t like (Like with Thoughtless by SC Stephens)
- Too Stupid To Live Heroines who have no redeeming features and yet everyone seems to be in love with them. I’m pretty sure everyone has read one of these.
- Obvious Misunderstandings – You know the kind. Like when the girl wants the guy but he has a girlfriend. But then the girlfriend turns out to be his sister. That kind of thing. Where it’s obvious to EVERYONE but the couple in question just what is going on. There are a whole range of misunderstands which bug me because I just find them to be too in-your-face to be a mystery.
- When it’s ALL ABOUT THE LOVE (and they lose sight of everything they were interested in before the relationship began)
- LOVING the Villain – If a character starts out as the BIG EVIL in the first book then I’m not okay with him being the love interest in the third. When an author works that hard to make me hate someone and then not only wants me to forgive him but to fall in love? It’s just not right.
But I absolutely ADORE
- Soul Mates when it comes to paranormal romance. I don’t know what. I just like the idea that in a world with paranormal and supernatural things can happen that there are soulmates.
- The Boy/Girl Next Door trope
- Best Friends to something more
- Hate to love – you know when there are enemies for some reason but then they start to get to know each other and they can’t deny the attraction. And then after all the sexual tention and banter they finally get together? That’s just awesome to read!
It might seem like I’m a hater but I do still love romance. And for everything that I’ve put on my list of things I dislike – I have come across exceptions to the rule. I think when it comes down to it, if it is written well I will like just about anything!
Hope you all have a great week 🙂 Feel free to leave a comment and a link to your Top Ten Tuesday so I can comment back 🙂
Too much drama can be so annoying!
Yuck, I never thought about teacher/student romances. Generally not a good thing….
My list http://amandanicolle.blogspot.com/2015/02/take-ten_9.html?m=1
I totally agree with you on so many of these points, Kate. Big YUCK to student/teacher romances. That is never a good situation!
I think a HUGE part of why I dislike it so much is because I worked as a teacher for a few years. And I just think it’s wrong on so many levels. Slammed by Colleen Hoover is a student teacher/student relationship which I didn’t mind but it was very borderline for me.
Totally agree. I can’t do the teacher-student thing either….or cheating books.
I understand. I love romance, but I feel like my list makes it sound like I hate romance too. 🙂
here’s mine
The cheating thing just bugs me. I sort of feel like if they cheated on their other relationships to be together – what’s stopping them from cheating on each other?
The only answer I can come up with is “because it’s true love” but that just doesn’t cut it with me. Thanks for the comment 🙂
Love your list! I totally agree with the the “cheating” thing. Even if the character is already planning on breaking up with the other guy/girl it’s still cheating until they do it and I lose a lot of respect for the character.
Here’s my TT: http://betweenyabookends.blogspot.com/2015/02/top-85-things-we-likedislike-about.html
INSTA-LOVE IS SO ANNOYING I HATE IT.
My Top Ten Tuesday!
Drama cycles – there’s a good one I hadn’t thought of! Great list!
I agree with almost all of these. One of the ones that really stuck out to me was when it’s ALL ABOUT THE LOVE. I hate when the characters forget everything in their life before they met that guy/girl, and how quickly they sacrifice life-long friendships or family just for the love interest.
If I even see a mention of a teacher/student relationship, I’ll refuse to read the book. Like you said – moral dislike.
The only time I’ve seen cheating done in a way that I felt like the characters suffered appropriately was with Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover. But that’s about it.
*cough*The Darkling*cough*
Yes to all of your dislikes! I love a good bad guy turned good book but there’s a difference between bad or selfish and evil. Even then it’s something I only trust a few authors to do right! The insta-love gets me too. I can buy insta-lust or insta-connection but insta-you are the only one for me and I’ll gladly sacrifice everything that’s ever been important to me on your whim is a bit much! Great list!
Huh. You know, Violet Eden Chapters kind of has a few of those things together, the things you love and the things you hate. And yeah a love triangle, but I don’t know, I just really like the story and they aren’t SOOOO focused on the love (well they are still a bit but it’s not the whole point) Anyyyyway.
I agree with a lot of these things, but I will read them if they are written well. I just don’t like poorly written work where these hated things are thrown in for convenience.
Great post! xoxo
Great list… I too have a moral issue with student/teacher relationships but love a good soul mate story. I really hate overly dragged out get togethers! Too intense sex scenes in an earlier romance kind of kill the romance a bit too