Dear Readers,
Now that the holiday season has ended, and the wrong answer to questions like “have I been naughty or nice” won’t leave me with a lump of coal in my stocking (at least for another year), I feel that I’m can finally admit my greatest sin�
Read Meljean’s complete letter in Borders Romance Newsletter….
But WAIT there’s more…
You can get a $1 off any of the following romance novels
(I didn’t link to one because it is not a romance.
* Surviving Demon Island by Jaci Burton
* Rising Moon by Lori Handeland
* Eternal Hunger by Cameron Dean
* The Rest Falls Away by Colleen Gleason
* Surrender to a Scoundrel by Julianne MacLean
* Not Another New Year’s by Christie Ridgway
* Wild and Wicked in Scotland by Melody Thomas
* Demon Angel by Meljean Brook
* Lethal Justice by Fern Michaels
* Howling Moon by C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp
* Tempted in the Night by Robin T. Popp
* Touched by Darkness by Catherine Spangler
* Desire Never Dies by Jenna Petersen
* Blood Lines by Eileen Wilks
Well, isn’t that just peachy? The thing is, I enjoy non-romances. I often read Koontz, or King, or any other number of authors who write mysteries. But if I buy a romance novel, it’s because I want romance. Not because I want mystery and a lot of sex.
This is the kind of thing that will ultimately hurt publishers, IMO. If they keep marketing books wrong, eventually readers are going to say screw it and stop buying from them completely.
And aren’t they hurting themselves, really? Although it’s a bit sad, there’s a certain stigma attached to the label “romance”. Smut, anyone? How many other readers would they pick up if the marketed it correctly? Just a thought.
I really love non-romances too … it’s just when I go in with the expectation of a romance and get something different … I dunno, I feel like I got cheated somehow. Like getting chocolate when I asked for vanilla at the ice cream store … sure, I like chocolate — but that’s not what I asked, wanted, and paid for.
It is too bad — because romance readers would have probably been paying attention to the Dean books anyway, just as so many pay attention to the Harrison books, LKH, LUNA, etc … so they wouldn’t have been missing out on the romance audience that purchases those books anyway. But instead they mislabeled, and alienated readers that they might have kept if they hadn’t classified it as romance.
wow, I had no idea the last Candace Steele novel caused such an uproar. I read it, enjoyed it, cried a bit, reviewed it and didn’t look back at the amazon reviews until just now. I honestly don’t see what all the fuss is about. I love romance books just as much as the next person and I don’t have a problem with its classification as a paranormal romance. It felt like a romance to me- the focus of this trilogy was much more on the romance between Candace and Ash than on the paranormal or the mystery or whatever. I will admit there probably was too much sex in the third one, though.
I kind of enjoyed the ending, because, hey, how often does that happen? And isn’t it a testament to how much people enjoyed the book (despite their protestations to the contrary) that they were so pissed off at the end? Anyway, just a thought.
“And isn’t it a testament to how much people enjoyed the book (despite their protestations to the contrary) that they were so pissed off at the end? Anyway, just a thought.”
That was one thing I noticed — is that the disappointment level did seem elevated because they really cared about the characters (although the additional sex was another common complaint *g*).
I think I would have been one of those upset, just because I do have the expectation of a HEA when I see “romance”. However, if I picked it up now knowing that it would end without that happy ending, I’d be okay. Which makes no sense, because the story itself wouldn’t change … just my expectations.
But you know, as I was typing this, I was just reminded of my first experience with this kind of thing: it was a teen romance (I think First Love from Silhouette) called AND MILES TO GO and it not only was told from the guy’s POV (shock!!) the girl left him at the end.
I was crushed, because I totally hadn’t expected it. And looking back, I can see and appreciate that it was the right decision for the characters and the story … but still that shock has tainted the first reading, and I could never really, truly enjoy it again.
I did buy more books by the author, though. Or rather, stole them from my sister.