Basically I feel like booktok ruined the romance genre for me. Not to say that every book that's popular online is bad, but… well, you know. Basically I'm looking for a romance that meets the following two criteria:
1) Characters that actually have a personality and chemistry. I'm sick of this insta-love "trope". It's obvious they're not trying to explore the concept of "love at first sight" but rather want to get to the spicy scenes faster. I'm not opposed to sex scenes in my books, but not at the expense of the plot and characters. If that's all I want I'll just read some 30 page erotica where the sex is the "plot".
My other problem with the insta-love trope is that it's often written like fanfiction– not in that it's poorly written, but that it feels like the characters are bland and poorly written BECAUSE some tropes only work in a fanfiction setting. This kind of "insta love" only works in fanfic because we have the canon as a shortcut for their personality and traits. As consumers of fic we understand that and rather get straight to the story because we all share that common foundation.
2) No romanticized rape. We all know what I'm talking about. I'm talking about how many of these so-called romance books romanticize rape and call it "dark romance" without ever even acknowledging that it was rape in the first place. Now I have nothing against "Alpha Male" style characters, but how many times do we see these characters who completely disregard what his partner says either sexually or otherwise and it has zero acknowledgement in book and then readers just handwave and say it's okay because "they're in love" or it's not rape because "she came". Come on. Now I'm not against dark romance, toxic relationships, sex or even rape, as long as it's actually part of the plot and has in book effects/consequences.
Honestly it feels ridiculous that I have to say this, but I'm desperate now. I've been in a reading rut recently because I just can't find good recommendations. I've ignored the problem for years by just working through my classics bucket list, but ya girl is itching for something that actually takes place in the 21st century. Sorry for the rant, but I just miss the days when you can browse bookshelves and take things home without fear. Yeah it's always been a mixed bag, sometimes you find a hidden gem, sometimes it's garbage, and most of the time it's middle of the road but good enough to not feel like I want my time back. These last few months it seems like every "bestselling" or "top rated" romance book has the same problems and they're so formulaic it doesn't even feel like different authors. Sure, sometimes we all want some popcorn literature, but damn… I need even the smallest sprinkling of substance. Ya girl has been lost in the romance book desert and I'm just looking for some sustenance.
Basically any subgenre, het or queer, preferably with a setting in the 21st century but I'm not opposed to some good sci-fi or fantasy. Books for an adult audience only (and I don't necessarily mean NSFW, just not in the mood for YA). Either English or Spanish.
Thanks in advance!
by Lufthansa138
2 Comments
Deeper – Megan Hart – kind of “the one who got away”, but has a twist
Pen Pal – J.T. Geissinger – this got marked on a lot of lists as dark romance, but it’s not in the way you think. The relationship does seem kind of sudden, but (at least to me) it made sense in the book.
Reynolds Protective series by Dr Rebecca Sharp – focused more on the plot than the smexy bits. The series is about 4 brothers who run a protection agency/bodyguard group and their characters are based on the team in Criminal Minds. I admit ti succumbs to soem tropes – stalkers, FMC in WitSec, surprise baby, fake marriage, etc. but I don’t mind tropes when the characters are at least interesting.
The Winter Sea or Bellewether by Susanna Kearsley, The Dating Charade or Meet Me in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson