I couldn't get into KA's Dream Man series. It may be that the first book I read in it was Motorcycle Man. I didn't like the way Tack treated Tara in the first chapter and that tainted the whole book for me. I do like some of her books in the Colorado series and the 'Burg but I didn't get into the Chaos books.
I think MC books have a rep of cheating and treating the women like things so I don't read those either unless I have spoilers galore.
I struggled with her Chaos Series too. I remember despising Mystery Man too because the entire premise was just so awful and the way the H treated the h (Gwen iirc). I wanted to shoot him. I can't stand it when H's behave badly and there's no grovel. Only saying, "I'm sorry" isn't a grovel imo.
I do like a lot of KA's books and there are some KA books that I adore - like her Fantasyland Series and her werewolf/Vampire one.
I think she is either one of those authors you love or you hate. She really does not know anything about sentence structure. Some of her sentences are as long as paragraphs. She also has a habit of going into detail about all the fashion the h is wearing or the decorations in the house. The other thing I don't like about her books are the men are man-ho's most of the time and there is a lot of OW in the books. Not OW drama necessarily but they show up. I do like that if there are second chance romances that the h is not always celibate and pining for the H while he is out ho-ing around. So she is hit or miss for me. I don't like BDSM so I haven't read her new series and don't plan to and I won't read her MC books either. I am not into high angst and I think those have a lot of it.
I did like The Gamble, Knight (he is an anti-hero imo), Sweet Dreams (h is kinda a jerk for 20% of the book), Lady Luck (LOVED IT!!!) and several other I liked.
Dennie--I'm thinking there was something about her books that turned me off of them but I can't remember what.
Her grammar and run on sentences are hard to get used to. Many of her books have a lot of inner monolog about her hair, clothes and/or furnishings. A lot of useless words IMO.
Post by Samantha K on Sept 3, 2017 18:28:20 GMT -7
Sherry -
If you ever decide to read a KA book, I highly recommend her Fantasyland series. It has the same things Dennie mentioned as it's her style but the stories in that series are very unique. I've been unable to find anything like them, dang it.
The h's are transported (some unexpectedly) to an alternate "Earth". On this alternate Earth, we all have dopplegangers. The h in book 1 wants to go to this alternate Earth to see her parents (dopplegangers. They were killed years ago.) She's transported on her doppleganger's wedding day, right before the wedding. She's very confused as to what's going on as her doppleganger didn't give her this info. (They switched places via magic from a witch. The witches were able to communicate with each other.) The H is the typical KA j/p alphahole. Oh and remember, no one knows they switched places so the H (& everyone else) thinks she's her doppleganger.
FYI - There are some KA books I struggle with too. I've read so many books that I tend to bore easily.
Dennie - I loved Sweet Dreams too. I loved the whole idea behind that book and wish there were more books out there like that. I didn't enjoy when the H went off for a month to go on a bounty hunt (you know why I'm sure). My favorite parts of that story are when the H's a dick and the h gives it right back to him. I love that. I wish it had continued longer. I started to get bored towards the end but the first part of the story, I loved and have reread several times.
I also liked Knight but have only read it the one time.
Last Edit: Sept 3, 2017 18:37:22 GMT -7 by Samantha K
Came up with another one since it is all over tv right now. The whole Outlander series. I have not read it (or watched it) and just don't want to. I have no actual reason why, just a general dislike of the heroine flip flopping between the times and the husbands. It feels opportunistic and selfish maybe? That isn't the right wording but it is hard to explain the feeling. I just have a basic eww feeling whenever I read anything about Claire for no real reason at all! It is the same feeling I get when the heroine (but not the hero?) is a reporter. I will avoid that unless the reviews are amazing and even then I am gritting my teeth to get through it most of the time. Another one I haven't read and probably never will is The Coming Home Place - Mary Spencer. Just from what I have been spoiled on, that hero is irredeemable and unforgivable. To my hard, brittle heart anyway!
Post by secretromancejunkie on Sept 18, 2017 16:01:31 GMT -7
I'm with Diane on the Outlander series. I think for me it's that there's no completion. It just goes on and on like a soap opera. I want my romance to have an HEA that I can sink my teeth into. I hate being dragged along on a never ending story.
When a book comes out ( a romance ) that is a part of a series. By which I mean a story about one couple spread over several books. I will wait until all the books are available before I'll start reading the series. I want to know that there will be a reward at the end of all my reading.
I read the first 3 Outlander books years ago, and lost interest by the end of the 3rd. I have not watched the show and don't plan to. As said above, it started feeling like a soap opera, and I've never been a fan of those.
Diane - Claire being married really bothered me too. My husband and I had a lengthy discussion about it. Claire was forced to marry Jaime and it had to be consummated. This was to save her life. Nevertheless, it bothered me and I felt like she was cheating. It was my husband who pointed out that she had no reason to believe she would ever return to her time and her husband wasn't alive in the time period she was in. He compared it to a widow remarrying. (The widow would have two husbands from two different points in time.) It made more sense to me that way but still bothered me immensely too.
As far as the tv show goes, it's not for everyone. It has disturbing content. Jaime is raped in it and it's brutal, graphic and difficult to watch. It wasn't glossed over. Also, he was whipped so badly when he was younger that his back was ravaged and scarred horribly. It almost killed him. This scene is showed to the viewer as a flashback.
I watch the show only because of the romance and the actor who plays the H. Sam Heughan is smokin' hot! Seriously. (If he was ugly, I wouldn't watch it, lol.) He's so dang good looking it's insane and the sex scenes are super steamy. (He's naked quite a bit.😆)
Last Edit: Sept 18, 2017 22:34:41 GMT -7 by Samantha K
I often find my opinion running counter to what seems popular with other readers. I have yet to manage to make it through a Mariana Zapata book. They bore me to tears.
Penny Reid is another. I dnf'd Neanderthal Seeks Human because I couldn't stand the h and the whole book was her POV. It was juvenile and the humor too contrived for my tastes.
Also, maybe I should hide as I say this, Kristen Ashley. I tried 3 of her books and dnf'd all 3. The style drives me nuts, and you will never convince me the H is a genius when he can't even speak in complete sentences. My inner editor got tired of rolling her eyes.
agreads, I am with you regarding Kristen Ashley--I'll hide with you. I tried one and couldn't even get through the "Look Inside" portion. I have never read Penny Reid's books since they're written in the first person. Same with Mariana Zapata.
Another one that was recommended to me several years ago (right when Amazon/publishers began the 21-day book loan thing) was "Beautiful Disaster" (Jamie someone was the author, I think). I despised it.
Another one that was recommended to me several years ago (right when Amazon/publishers began the 21-day book loan thing) was "Beautiful Disaster" (Jamie someone was the author, I think). I despised it.
I'm probably in the minority because I liked Beautiful Disaster but I despised the way she treated the H. She was so cold and heartless. I'm someone who loves a hero groveling but the extent to which he groveled with her remaining cold was awful. I felt so bad for him and he was the one who cheated, lol.
I love Lisa Kleypas but her contemporaries are only MEH for me. All except for Sugar Daddy - Travis Book 1. That book was a complete snooze fest for me. In my review I said it was more chick lit than romance. I'm not dissing chick lit, it just isn't my cuppa. Plus, I rarely enjoy first person. Yet, 8/10 people that reviewed it gave it 4 or 5 stars.
secretromancejunkie, I love Lisa Kleypas's historicals, but will not read her contemporaries except for some of the Friday Harbor ones. Whatever series the Sugar Daddy book is in are all, if I remember correctly, written in first person, which for the most part I cannot stand reading.
I'm with Diane on the Outlander series. I think for me it's that there's no completion. It just goes on and on like a soap opera. I want my romance to have an HEA that I can sink my teeth into. I hate being dragged along on a never ending story.
When a book comes out ( a romance ) that is a part of a series. By which I mean a story about one couple spread over several books. I will wait until all the books are available before I'll start reading the series. I want to know that there will be a reward at the end of all my reading.
secretromancejunkie, have you ever read the Deanna Raybourn Lady Julia Grey series? I have only read the first one, but it's a complete story where the characters get their "happy for now" and the subsequent books are, if I remember correctly, just new mysteries for them to solve together. I loved the first one, which is saying a lot because, as I've said in earlier posts, I normally hate first-person books.
Last Edit: Oct 3, 2017 20:09:10 GMT -7 by Samantha K