What I wantI read a lot of romance novels and some of them can be rather repetitive. Regurgitating the same old plot, the same type of characters. Nothing new, nothing surprising and a book that I can predict how it's going to end.
So, here's my list of things I want in a romance novel.
- A strong and intelligent heroine. I want a smart woman who makes smart decisions and does things for smart reasons. I don't want a doormat, I want her to have a backbone. I hate simpering needy heroines.
- An intellgent hero. He can even be a geek. Sam Stark from JAK's Trust Me is one example of a geeky, yet very sexy hero.
- I want really good chemistry between the hero and heroine. Palpable sexual tension that eventually leads to some steamy and hot love scenes.
- I want funny and light. I want delightful. I want great dialogue, smart and snappy lines, but not teenagers who sound like some Dawson's Creek character.
- Conversely I want conflict and darkness. I want dark and tortured, troubled and serious. I like broody heros and heroines.
- I quite like older experienced heroines with younger men. I also like the Ugly Duckling type of story, where the plain Jane gets the handsome hero. I'm also a sucker for first love stories, or love reunited types of stories.
- I want interesting secondary characters. But I don't want them to overshadow the hero/heroine - the Jules/Robin/Adam storyline in SB's Hot Target is a great example of this. As secondary characters, their storyline was far more interesting than the main characters, Cosmo & Jane.
- If it is a historical novel, I want depth and historically accurate settings. I don't want the historical setting to be mere wallpaper.
And now for a few things I don't want in a romance novel.
- Babies/Children. I don't like cutesy kids. They tend to come of more annoying than cute. I don't find babies or children remotely romantic, so will avoid any books that mention them.
- Pregnant heroines. Especially heroines that are pregnant to another man, who is not the hero.
- Books that end with a wedding and children. Please. Let me decide when that happens. I don't need to be spoonfed everything.
- Virgin widows. There better be a damn good reason for this! A major pet peeve of mine. I'd much rather read about a widow who had a loving relationship with her first husband.
Tart at 11:00 AM |