The last romance novel I read was a big stinker. The characters were boring; the heroine a utter moron and the hero? A classic rogue, hard and evil, turned idiot by his love for the undeserving and quite possibly slow heroine. I spend too much money on romance novels to be treated this way. That’s hard earned cash I spend hours each week making at a job that’s the exactly exciting (that’s best left for another post). I feel betrayed each time an author of mine (I’m very possessive with my favorite authors) decides to write something they seem to have put together in two days. I’m done. No more Miz Nice Gal! I’ve decided to implement a “3 Strikes and You’re Out” Rule to apply to books by my favorite authors. The rule clearly states that if your books fail to give me butterflies and orgasms three times in a row, you’re out. Yep! Say goodbye to my money. Take your book and shove it..and yada yada yada. 
I’m sure the authors are shaking in their boots right now (snicker). I feel like if we all did this, we’d be guaranteed better novels, more innovative and original plots, heroes and heroines that don’t remind you of the town idiot.
Am I the only one noticing the deterioration of quality here? I feel betrayed!
I’m the kind of person who gives people the benefit of the doubt time and time again. I’m one of those annoying people who always have to make excuses for someone who’s screwed them over. “Oh, they were abused as children” or “Their husband treats them like crap.” Yep, I’m that person. Well, actually…I was that person. I’ve recently been doing a lot of motivational reading, as well as journaling and reevaluating my life and the choices I’ve made. I noticed that I waste a lot of my time making excuses for people, spending time with people who don’t appreciate me or care about me. I also read books that don’t do anything but frustrate me and cause my IQ to drop to two digits.
I read romance novels to feel good, to be inspired, to get the butterflies I may or may not get in my personal life. When I continuously shell out $7.99 for books by favorite authors that don’t even come close to making me happy, I hurt myself, as well as my wallet. It’s time for change. I think I’m inspired by all the political debates lately. The candidates are constantly talking about change. Change is good and it’s time to get on with it. I’ve reached my limit. Have you reached yours?
Have you given up on any of your favorite authors? What brought this about?
No related posts.
Daniela’s love for books began as a child in her native San Francisco, where she lived a block away from her local library. The love (some call it OBSESSION) followed her to college where she studied English and History and soon developed a passion for Britain’s Victorian and Regency periods. She loves Jane Austen and considers Austen’s lesser known PERSUASION one of the greatest romances of all time. Daniela reads any chance she gets; her favorite romance authors are Lisa Kleypas (she claims to be her #1 fan), Mary Balogh, Loretta Chase, Julie Anne Long and Candace Hern.
For me, it depends on a couple of things.
First, have I liked them before? If Jane Author has written a book, or better yet several, that had me boinging with glee and reccing them to all my friends, I’ll give her a lot more leeway than I will to Mary Writer whose work I’ve never read before. Track record counts. I read at least six or eight Johanna Lindsey books that didn’t really do much for me before I stopped buying her, because I kept hoping, but if someone I’m trying for the first time strikes out, it can take some really spectacular recs from friends I trust absolutely to get me to try them again.
Second, exactly why did I not enjoy the book? If someone has a lot of craftsmanship errors, whether line-level or book-level or whatever, I’m more likely to toss the book and not buy that writer again. If it’s well written but just wasn’t my cup of tea for some specific reason, then I’m more likely to check out that writer’s next book to see whether it has the same characteristic I didn’t care for in the first one. If it doesn’t, then I’ll quite likely give it a try. If it does — hey, two in a row — then I’m more likely to scratch that writer off my list for good, or at least until I get that aforementioned spectacular rec.
But yeah, there definitely comes a time when you have to let go, and how many “Meh” books it takes to make me let a writer go depends on how much I enjoyed their books in the past. Someone who was up toward the top of my favorites list gets more strikes than someone I just sort of enjoyed when I didn’t have anything else to read.
The first specific example that comes to my mind was when Linda Lael Miller shifted over to contemporaries — which are fine but I don’t generally care for them unless they’re urban fantasy or paranormal or something like that. Heck, I was paying her a compliment just by reading the late-19th century American and Australian stories she’d written earlier, neither of which is a setting I’m really into.
She was just that good, though, and Banner O’Brien was one of my favorite books for many years in spite of its setting. The straight contemporaries were one step too far for me, though, and I eventually stopped buying her books. Not that she stopped writing good books, but because she stopped writing stuff I was into.
Angie
you’re much better than I am! Although, it depends. If it’s a new-to-me author, I give them one chance and that’s it. If it’s a well-liked author, two more shots. A favorite, favorite author…I tend to hang in until (with a series) something REALLY annoys me. Then we’re done, through, history. If they’re stand-alones, I’ll probably keep coming back, on the understanding that I won’t always connect to every book, but those I do connect to are pure magic.
I tend to cling to fave authors because the next one has to recapture the former glory, right? Right?!?! Even when no, not right becomes glaringly apparent and I finally give up, I follow the buzz on their new releases just in case…
I’m merciless with new-to-me authors, though. If they fail to win me over in one book, they go on The List (dun-dun-duhhhhn), and I won’t invest my time or money in giving them a second chance. There are plenty of other unknowns I’d rather give a first chance.
Hi, everyone…I’m generally a lurker here but this subject definitely hit a nerve. Daniela, thank you for bringing up this topic. It seems to me that a few writers out there seem to be bored with their craft and it is showing… and three strikes seems reasonable to me.
I used to buy a few authors without even reading the back cover because I knew I was going to get a good story anyway. Then I started noticing that the books seemed recycled. Slight setting change, different names for the characters, but basically the same plot. I gave up on an extremely popular author a few years ago because of this and am about to throw in the towel for another one.
Another thing that bothers me is when series go on for too long. I enjoy series as I like being able to learn a lot more about a character than what I would in a single-title book. However -again- new offerings in a series I used to love seem to be recycled. I read a very recent offering and thought, you used four of the same elements you used in another book. Not ‘books’, book. Why didn’t you just call this one I’m Trying Again? Actually, why didn’t you write a new book?
However, on the upside, in searching for something else to read in place of their books, I have discovered some terrific writers – always a good thing! I probably wouldn’t even have glanced at the title if I had just run into the store to pick up a new book belonging to one of those other authors.
As I have a terrible memory, there are very few authors that I give up on. Well, I might give up on them but then I forget and pick their next book up. LOL
This time of year, I find it challenging to get into any book. It is not the book’s fault. It’s mine. I have the winter blah’s (where did you go Mr. Sun??).
If it’s money you’re worried about, learn to speed-read the first couple of chapters while you’re still standing in the book aisle. It’s saved me bazillions.
Angie hits the nail on the head for me – it all depends on my “history” with that author. If they have delivered numerous books I’ve lurved they get more leeway. There are countless authors I have given up on after one book – which probably isn’t fair, but in my defense I usually had a strong, negative reaction to that book. My TBR is so massive, that I don’t have the luxury of granting many second, third and fourth chances.
That said, I can’t seem to cut the cord on two mystery series that I’ve read since a teen. Quality has gotten to be a huge issue with both, and while I might read the books quickly, the newer titles are pathetic shadows of the “glory days.” My advice? Don’t become a librarian. Because while I stopped buying these two mystery authors with my own cold hard cash, I continue to check their books out from work. It’s sad really.
I haven’t exactly dumped an author, like you I do tend to give people 2nd, 3rd, and 4th chances. But I have taken a break from an author say for a year or two. I may skip the next couple of books, giving them the excuse that maybe they’re having a bad year personally and its affecting their work. Hoping that when I decide to re-visit them the work will be the caliber that I’m used to. And sometimes I do find myself never going back to that author usually because during my hiatus from them I’ve found someone else that I like better but the abandonment is never intentional.
It depends for me on whether the book is merely “meh” or “toss it across the room so fast I’ll only feel vaguely guilty if I hit a cat or my husband.”
Nora Roberts, for example, is hit-or-miss with me. I keep picking her up because the ones I like, I really like. Even the ones I don’t like, though, are perfectly decent books, just not something that grabs me.
And I didn’t love the first JR Ward book I picked up–the hero was great, but the heroine bored me–but something about her voice appeals to me enough that I’ll try again.
However, several very popular authors (no names mentioned in case you love ‘em–or they’re reading), who managed to hit a pet peeve in the first few chapters of the first book I picked up and are now on my “no way!” list. *shudders*
I think Kimber An has the best solution. I personally don’t have favorite authors; the people who wrote my favorite books have always come out with something that didn’t move me. But that’s okay. As an author myself, I can understand the importance of stirring up the pot. No one wants to write the same book over and over again. I think that romance is particularly difficult to write on a constant basis. The formula rules are so rigid that it is difficult to write something fresh and new, so before too long they all seem the same (at least to me). Their eyes meet . . . they each look magnificent . . . the attraction is immediate and strong . . . the family and friends are introduced in an obvious set-up for a series . . .
<i<I noticed that I waste a lot of my time making excuses for people, spending time with people who don’t appreciate me or care about me. I also read books that don’t do anything but frustrate me and cause my IQ to drop to two digits.
LOL don’t you think you are assigning a hella lot of modivation to authors? Isn’t it possible you have changed and no longer like the same types of books?
Or they have changed style because they wanted to try something different. Maybe they LIKE what they are writing and it isn’t because they don’t value your opinion just that it isn’t all about you. Or me. Or even the reader. If they are writing what they ‘think’ we want but it isn’t what they ‘want’ to write, don’t you think that would show?
And then there is the simple fact that what you like, might not be what is selling. Do authors write to please you so you can spend your hard earned 8 bucks and lose all the other readers 8 bucks who are currently buying them?
or you know motivation
I honestly have to wonder if it’s the books that are changing or is it me? I used to devour romances, three or four a week and I was impatiently waiting for more. I stalked them, made lists of release dates, visited the bookstore religiously every Tuesday. Suddenly almost everything I read felt flat, had a numbing sameness to it, bored me silly. I think I glutted myself. I’d done the same thing on Science Fiction as a teen and am only now recovering YEARS later. I still find the occasional romance that gives me the old warm glow (mostly from trusted *must buy* authors), but the glow is a precious commodity these days, and I really really really don’t think it’s the books, I think it’s me.
I think I’m more tolerant in some ways and less in others.
For example, if I pick up a new author and the prose is so clumsy that I can’t concentrate on the story, I never read further. I will often read more than one book by an author, even if I didn’t like the story that much, if the prose is beautiful.
If a book has been recommended to me by someone whose tastes I trust, and I don’t like it, I will often try a second novel by that author, just to make sure.
I will continue to read an author’s books that are…”cracktastic” might be the word…even if there are plotholes and exaggerated emotional responses, because I find those books to be fun. Repetition isn’t so much of an issue for me there.
I guess you could say the three strike rule is what I follow. If an author fails to wow me after a few books I just stop buying them and may borrow them from a library but that’s a big MAY. As far as new authors I try to give them the benefit of the doubt but with so many new ones coming out I can’t help but ignore them when someone else catches my attention.
Being an aspiring author I try to read the first books of everyone with a grain of salt. Why? Because we all start off rough and work to improve with every book. But with authors that have a ton of books out that I love well I just hold them to a higher standard I guess. And like I stated above there are so many new authors coming out every year that if you slack off I will just go
check out someone else.
I think a lot of authors get stuck in a comfort zone and are scared to move out of that zone because it works for them. So they write the same old thing over and over not realizing that we get tired of it. I think that is when I get fed up with my favorites.
What a great POST!! I will not reiterate what everyone’s said but I am cutting down on what I read. I’ve been reading more ebooks lately and found them to be better overall than books that are only printed. I love the “hot” books that are $15 or more a pop. I look at reviews- if the book hasn’t gotten 4+ ratings, I don’t give it a second look. I also go to the public library for more popular authors. Affordability is the issue with me. I also have branched out with mysteries and non-fiction. I came to the conclusion that I cannot read romance all the time either.
Great topic, Daniela! I’ve spent too much time wondering if it’s me or if it’s them when I drop a favorite author. My conclusion is that it is a little of both.
If I find of new author I love I search out her back list–there are few who are not repeating themselves and are consistently entertaining. Even then, for example a newly discovered author with half dozen solid hits in their column, out comes number seven and it can lose me instantly if said author has dumped all the aspects of her stories I adored. On the other hand, (to be completely difficult) if she never varies her stories after a while, no matter how charmingly told the tale is, I grow weary of the repetition and buy no more.
I’ve never actually given up a favorite author, but sometimes I will take a break from them if the storyline gets old. On the other hand, I will try out a new (or new to me) author, but if after two books I don’t like their voice, I’ll probably never read them again. A friend of mine ranted and raved about a certain author and how great she was. After reading one book and absolutely hating the hero, I decided to give her another chance and found I still felt the same. I’d probably never go so far as 3 strikes. Two is enough for me, thank you!
If I don’t connect with an author’s voice, or if the characters are just NOT my kind of people (meaning that the things that are supposed to make me like them make me hate them), or the book is History Salad© (a little bit from here, a little bit from there, and some made up stuff that makes no sense at all for good measure) I’m very unlikely to try even a second book by the same author. Sometimes the place the author is coming from is just too alien to the place I’m coming from and there’s no hope of meeting happily in the middle. It’s no one’s fault, and doesn’t mean they’re a terrible writer or a bad person, it just means they’re not my cuppa.
None of us can be all things to all readers. We just have to hope that as authors and readers we manage to find out way to the “right†readers/books.
This is a great topic. I think we’ve all read books by our favorites that didn’t land on the keeper shelf. I read lots of different genres besides romance like mystery and fantasy. I think an author can’t be on their best game all the time just like a baseball pitcher, a quarterback or even a mom. I always give my favorites a second and third chance. I’m sure our own tastes change also as we mature.
I’m just curious as to why some writers’ novels don’t give me goosebumps anymore. Judging from reviews by other sites, they don’t give them to anyone else either. My tastes have evolved definitely, but they’re not that much different. If they were, I’d hate every book. I admit sometimes I have high expectations and get a little ticked when the book I’ve been waiting months for is just “meh,” but these books are more than “meh.” YES, I WANT TO BURN THEM, FLING THEM ACROSS THE ROOM. They’re amateurish and dull and not at all even close to what I know the author is capable of. This is why I get frustrated. These authors are amazing and lately…I don’t what happened.
Ok..now I’m wondering if I’ve been too harsh on them. This is what happens each time. I feel guilty and then end up buying the next book.
I love Joanne Harris.
Have you ever read, Five Quarters of The Orange? Wonderful book! I have a hard time finding a really good romance book that is truly interesting.
I want quality writing as well. At times that is hard to find.
~Nita~
I’ve given up on lots of authors. Kathleen Woodiwiss was one of the first. I loved her first three books. In fact, ‘Shanna’ is one of my all time favorite books. But the rest, ehh.
I’ve recently given up on a favorite author. While I’ve been reading her books with pleasure since the early eighties, her recent books are too much alike. It makes me SAD to give up….why is that?
In general, I believe that romance writing is not as well done as it was in years past. Yes, part of the change is within me. My tastes and life experiences have changed. However, when I pick up something from my Keeper shelf, I still am carried away. The writing is clean and evocative, the character’s rich and memorable, the action compelling. Plain and simple the story is good.
Too many romances I pick up these days are one dimensional or just plain bland. My life is too busy to be bored in my entertainment life.
I read Romance novels, all types, starting with Pirates and Southerners yrs and yrs ago. What I have notice and has become my big bug !! Years ago I would find a mistake in the copy maybe 2 times a year. I have noticed in the last 2-3 yrs that I am lucky to get through even ONE book without a copy error. I’m not a perfectionist, but does no one take pride or responsibility in their profession anymore? I read so much that all these mistake just stick out and they just seem to be getting worse. (sorry for the rant)
Daniela, I wholeheartedly agree with you–good topic. I have “must buy” authors whose books have become blah or have very weird subjects. Some have joined the paranormal genre, which isn’t for me. However, most are still writing Contemps, but, just not good ones. One fave author (of over 40+ books, all of which I had purchased) wrote a HC that was so awful I never finished it (I would give it a D). It was close to being a horror novel. My $ had been wasted, & I was angry. From that point, I decided I would not buy her HCs, & would do diligent research before I buy her PBs. For me, 2 strikes & I am gone. One can be bad, but, the next better measure up. There’s too many on my TBR to waste my time.