A little while ago, I bought a book by a romance writer who’s pretty well known in their particular subgenre. The blurb sounded good and promised an interesting story, and the excerpt was from a pretty hot sex scene, which I also appreciate. Everything looked good, so I got out my credit card and bought it and read it.
The story was good. What there was of it. Because it turned out that the novel I’d bought was actually, as best as I can estimate, a novelette which had been padded out to novel length with lots and lots (and lots and lots) of sex. I mean, lots. There was a sex scene in pretty much every chapter, whether it needed it or not, and many chapters were nothing but sex.
Now, I like sex in my romances. I even like kinky sex, threesomes and moresomes and BDSM and puppy play and piercing and a bunch of other things which are definitely not found in books by mainstream publishers. It’s not the sex per se which I object to, or I wouldn’t buy erotic romances.
My problem is that, for me, the story comes first. I want sex in my romances, but I want the sex to support the story. I want the sex scenes to pull their weight, to advance the plot or explore character or develop the relationship or something — to serve some purpose besides encouraging the reader to go, “Yay, more sex!” Sex just for the sake of sex bores me and I’m not particularly interested in buying books where the plot is a thin framework whose only purpose is to encompass as much sex as can possibly be crammed into it.
I’m in my mid-forties and maybe that’s why. I started reading historical romances when I was twelve, back in the seventies when most of them were incredibly explicit (Alyx, anyone?) and even when you add gay sex and kinky sex in, I have a lot of “Been there, read that, got the T-shirt” sort of attitude in me. When I come across a sex scene which doesn’t seem to serve any particular purpose in the story, I start skimming and don’t go back to reading until the actual story starts up again. And when I pay money for a book and end up doing considerably more skimming than actual reading, I feel annoyed and frustrated, and a bit cheated.
Okay, fine, that’s me. I know there are many readers who love books which contain as much hot, moaning, slurpy sex as can be physically contained between the covers (or in the file, or whatever), and that’s cool. I think it’s great that there are books out there for everyone, whether you like your romances sweet and culminating with a devoted kiss, or hot and raunchy with as little space as possible wasted on plot, or somewhere in the middle. There’s a wide spectrum of readers and a wide spectrum of books, and I’ll defend anyone’s right to have the kinds of books they like to read.
The problem, though, is when readers have a hard time finding the kinds of books they want to read.
Many publishers give some sort of indication of the “hotness” of the sex in their books. That’s great, but it doesn’t really address my issue. A book can have “mild” sex scenes, but still have what are, in my personal opinion, way too many of them. Or a book can have a “blazing” heat rating, and have it refer to a single (really hot and wild) sex scene. The “hotness” ratings are great for readers who only want a certain intensity of sex, but doesn’t communicate anything useful for the readers who are more interested in the sex-to-plot ratio.
It’s not even a matter of a bare number or percentage, either, although that’d be helpful and better than nothing. But one of my favorite erotic romances has a lot of sex — it’s just all relevant to the plot, the characters and their relationship. Whenever I reread this book I’m surprised by just how much sex there is, because it doesn’t feel like it. It all grows organically out of the story, rather than being pasted on just to have more sex. I’m fine with a book having lots of sex if it all fits and flows and contributes to the advancement of the story.
Even reading reviews doesn’t usually give me any good info on this topic. I don’t read that many review sites, but I don’t remember anyone ever mentioning in a review that there was a lot of pointless sex, or that all the sex supported the story, or anything similar. It’s just not mentioned.
Of course, what’d be best would be for the publishers to come up with some sort of rating system, like that for the “hotness” of the sex scenes, so that there was an indication on every book (or even just on the publisher’s web site) giving the info, so I’d have some idea of where I could spend my money with some assurance that I’ll actually get the sort of romance I like to read. I’ll admit, though, that I’m having a hard time coming up with a neat, concise rating that’d indicate Percentage of Sex-For-Story Versus Sex-For-Fun (see, I’m trying not to be biased in my terminology) in a book. Or heck, even just a rough indication of what percentage of the book is sex versus how much is story would be great; at least, it’d be better than what we have now, which is nothing.
As it is, though, I’m very reluctant to ever buy anything else by the popular writer I mentioned up at the top. This person gets lots of great, gushing reviews, and the story I read was very good. It just didn’t take up enough of the book. And I’ve read other books by other writers which left me with a similar impression of disappointment and impatience, which makes me even less eager to lay down my money next time.
I don’t want to stop anyone from writing the kinds of books they want, nor do I want to deprive any readers of the sorts of books they love. I’d just like to have a system which would let all of us actually find the kinds of books we want to spend our money and our time on.
Anyone have any ideas…?
Amen, Angela. I tend to think too many different rating systems would get confusing, though I like the idea of knowing how ‘hot’ a book is going to be, some of the hottest ones out there don’t have ‘more’ sex as much as they have ‘better’ sex. IMHO.
My suggestion for publshers would be rather than a rating system, they should require a good plot. There are an awful lot of pubs out there who seem to be only looking for sex scenes. Requiring a book to have a strong plot regardless of how much sex is crammed between the pages [virtual or not] would ensure that everyone gets what they want, including the readers who care less for the plot than for the sex. I’ve never heard a reader or reviewer complain that a book had too much plot and not enough meaningless sex.
by Bernadette Gardner March 10th, 2008 at 7:44 amMaybe you, or a group of like-minded individuals, (I’m with you sister) need to set up a blog, or a review site that does reviews of strictly the sex scenes and how they work in a book.
I think it would be a great site. I know I’d bookmark it. I think there could be some great discussions about what works and doesn’t work in sex scenes, and people who want to know if the book in question will be a “hot read for them” will have some information.
Huh, I like this idea.
by Chessie March 10th, 2008 at 7:51 amI figure that if sex is mentioned in either the excerpt or the blurb, the story is going to be more about sex than anything else.
Because I’m not looking for that (I get bored during the sex scenes also), I give it a pass. A buddy of mine, however, snaps these books up.
What makes me wince is long sex scenes with no dialogue. Am I the only person that chats?? I find the dead silence spooky, even in novels.
by Kimber Chin March 10th, 2008 at 8:26 amI don’t chat. LOL What am I supposed to say?
by Chessie March 10th, 2008 at 8:38 amWe always try to remember to give a Heat Level on our reviews at Enduring Romance, by the way, and let readers know how it works with the story. We’re not the only bloggers who do this either.
by Kimber An March 10th, 2008 at 8:52 amI’m for a Rating System. Anything which helps a reader feel confident in their purchase is a good thing.
by Kimber An March 10th, 2008 at 8:55 amThe difficulty with coming up with a rating system for sex vs plot is that some people believe all sex scenes are gratuitous yet some believe (as I do) that they can range from gratuitous to poignant and integral to the plot and relationship development.
Detailed reviews might help some readers find exactly what they’re seeking but personally I like trying new things, which means I can deal with the occasional disappointment. It’s just part of being an eclectic reader.
by Elena Greene March 10th, 2008 at 9:20 amBernadette — that’d make a lot of us happy, sure, but there are plenty of readers who like books where there are 45 chapters and only 12 of them actually have plot. I don’t know why, but I don’t have to know why, in all seriousness. The book I mentioned at the top of the column did have a very good story, it was just a story which should have (IMO) only been a novelette or so. The book’s gotten good reviews, though, and has sold well, so obviously a lot of people like it just fine the way it is, and I’m okay with that. I just don’t want to buy it, which means I (and you, and others like us who prefer more plot in our stories) need some way of distinguishing it from the ones we like.
Chessie — I’d bookmark it too, especially if it reviewed m/m. I wouldn’t be comfortable doing it myself, though, since I’m a writer and I’d feel funny doing reviews of what’s essentially my competition. [laugh/flail] It just feels like too big a conflict of interest; even if I believe I could be fair about it, there’s no reason anyone else should think so. I’d love to see someone else (or more realistically, a group of someones) start up something like this.
Or for that matter, I’d love to see the existing reviewers start mentioning this factor in their regular reviews. That’d still leave out a lot of books, since not everything gets reviewed, but it’d be a good start.
Angie
by Angela Benedetti March 10th, 2008 at 9:38 amKimber C — that’s probably a decent rule of thumb, but I think you’d get quite a few false positives that way. [ponder] It likely works as well as anything else we have right now, though. [nod]
About talking during sex, some people do and some people don’t. I don’t really have a preference either way, but I try to portray a wide variety of character types, and now that you’ve mentioned it, it gives me one more characteristic to think about, so thanks.
Kimber A — heat level usually refers to the… well, the hotness of the sex, not to how much of it there is in the story or whether the sex that’s there supports the story or is just there for readers who enjoy lots of sex. I’ll check out your blog, though.
Elena — I think that if anyone did come up with a relevance-to-plot rating for sex, it’s a given that whoever did the rating would have to be objective about it. Neither people who think all sex is gratuitous nor people who thing plot is a waste of verbage should be the people rating the books.
What does make this a bit complicated, though, is I’m not looking for just a straight percentage of the pages which contain sex, nor am I looking to define some sort of divide between people who love fictional sex and people who hate it. (Aside from the fact that that’d still leave a lot of people out.) “Relevance” or “usefulness” of the scenes is tougher to judge. For me, if a scene contributes to advancing the plot, defining character or developing a relationship, I’m good with it. Anyone who’s a writer or editor or a good reviewer should be able to make that judgment, regardless of what their personal preference is. [crossed fingers]
Angie
by Angela Benedetti March 10th, 2008 at 9:39 amit’s a given that whoever did the rating would have to be objective about it
Based on how widely reviews can differ already, I think it’d be hard to find enough objective reviewers. But it certainly couldn’t hurt if romance reviewers made sure their reviews addressed this question. It’s a good discussion point!
Another issue I see with this concept is that there could be a real or perceived stigma to sexy romances with a low relevance-to-plot rating even though we know there are readers who don’t care or even prefer their stories that way. It’d be tricky to do this sort of rating without at least appearing to criticize their taste, something I’d never want to do.
by Elena Greene March 10th, 2008 at 10:19 amElena — there could be a real or perceived stigma to sexy romances with a low relevance-to-plot rating even though we know there are readers who don’t care or even prefer their stories that way. It’d be tricky to do this sort of rating without at least appearing to criticize their taste, something I’d never want to do.
I agree, absolutely. [nodnod] The point is to find a way for everyone to be able to easily find the stories they want, not for one segment or another of the readership to be shoved into a corner and ignored or looked down on. :/
Angie
by Angela Benedetti March 10th, 2008 at 10:33 amI think this posting goes to the exact heart of one of my main issues in choosing books. Primarily plot and character development is most important to me. I like sex in my books *if* it’s relevant to the story, advances the plot forward, and allows me to learn something about the characters. I have found myself skimming past love scenes as well just to get back to the story - because I’m not learning anything about them during that scene. This issue is one of the main reason I read certain lines of category romances. I *know* almost with certainty what level of sex I’ll be getting, and the only test is whether it’s moves the story forward. I’d certainly read more broadly if this weren’t an issue.
I recently spent $8 on an erotic romance where the heroine had great, hot sex with everyone EXCEPT the hero. Their love story seemed a bad appendage on a sexy romping adventure. Romance was the wrong category, though. I hate finishing a book thinking the couple will be in divorce court in a couple of years.
by Jessica March 10th, 2008 at 12:52 pm“I don’t chat. LOL What am I supposed to say?”
(Grinning)
I mostly talk about my day.
Sometimes about the stock trades I made.
I try not to talk about family,
especially not his mother.
That is SO not sexy.
But I wouldn’t reco that pillow talk for romances.
by Kimber Chin March 10th, 2008 at 12:58 pmHowever, if you have a chatty heroine,
I doubt she is going to shut up during sex.
I like a little bump and grind as much as the next gal, but if there is no emotional development, the sex is just sex. I want to connect to the characters as people.
Susan Johnson does a great job with this. The couple can spend the first half of the book doing nothing but getting, er, intimately acquainted, and by the time the HEA rolls around, I’m sniffling.
by Jill Sorenson March 10th, 2008 at 12:59 pmI’ve had several really good authors who have either ran out of quality stories, or who think that sex is the only thing that sells. I’ve had to stop buying from those aurhors until I hear a decent review. A real shame in my opinion.
I too like sex, hot, sloppy, smutty and kinky in a story, no problemo man.. but there has to be a story to add it to. In my opinion, the sex should be the icing to a good novel, but without a substantial cake to put it on… all you end up with is sugar and fat.
In closing, thanks for posting this topic - it’s one that has been brought up and discussed behind closed emails because there are folks who don’t want to insult or offend other authors.. especially if they are with the same publishers.
*clink* my 2 ¢
by BBMRebel March 10th, 2008 at 1:02 pmThat’s why erotic romance is so difficult. Ideally the sex promotes the plot or characterization AND is exciting.
by Treva Harte March 10th, 2008 at 1:10 pmJessica — I’ve never been terribly interested in category books before, but that would be one benefit. [nod]
I recently spent $8 on an erotic romance where the heroine had great, hot sex with everyone EXCEPT the hero.
I’ll bet a lot of people liked it for that very reason, though.
And I’ll bet there are even more people out there who’d buy it if they knew it was a sex romp and not actually a romance.
Jill — it’s definitely doable, yes. [nod] I’ve read books with a lot of sex, where all of it was relevant and necessary to the plot and character development and such. It’s harder to do, but when a writer succeeds, I think the books are great.
Reb — hey! [wave] Yes, this is a potentially awkward topic, but I thought it needed to be addressed. And I’m honestly not trying to marginalize anyone for what they write or for what they prefer to read. I have my own preferences, yes, but I think some way of indicating which particular book is of what kind would benefit everyone. I know I’d spend money more freely if I were more sure of what I was going to get, and it sounds like other people would too. That’s good for everyone, right?
In my opinion, the sex should be the icing to a good novel, but without a substantial cake to put it on… all you end up with is sugar and fat.
Exactly. [nod] Although when I was younger, I liked to sit down with just a can of frosting and a spoon.
A lot of people still do like to, and that’s fine. I’d like some way of telling which dessert is just a huge pile of frosting and which one has a cake in the middle. They should both be available, but they should be labelled somehow.
Treva — I agree. [nod] A book which has a lot of sex but also makes every sex scene serve a purpose is very difficult to do well, but would probably satisfy both sorts of readers. Until every erotic romance writer can pull it off, though, I’d still like some labels.
Angie
by Angela Benedetti March 10th, 2008 at 1:53 pmI hate to say this, I’ll probably get kicked out of the man club for it, but too much sex in a novel (or movie, for that matter) bores the hell out of me.
I’m with you. I like a good story. If that story cries out for a great sex scene, I’m all for it. But sex for sex’s sake (in books, at least) gets awfully tedious after awhile.
by Robert Gregory Browne March 10th, 2008 at 2:23 pmI think the industry should adopt a simple number system. Books could have a small “4″ or “23″ or “82″ somewhere on the cover or spine. That would not be the “hotness” number nor even the number of sex scenes in the book. It would be the average number of pages between sex scenes. Very straightforward and universally applicable, I’m thinking.
by KeVinK March 10th, 2008 at 11:42 pmRobert — good to know it’s not just a female thing.
KeVin — LOL! That’d be one way to do it, I suppose. It still wouldn’t give any information about the relevance of those sex scenes to the plot, but at least it’d give readers the… sex density? of the book. That’s a start. [grin]
Angie
by Angela Benedetti March 11th, 2008 at 1:27 amRight. But it wouldn’t tell you how long the sex scenes were or what kind of sex (and who gets this job anyhow??) Trust me, trying to label sex is very difficult. We do our best at Loose Id.
by Treva Harte March 11th, 2008 at 7:38 amI’m back to the issue of objectivity (or lack thereof) in deciding whether a sex scene is gratuitous or not.
Some authors will do a fade out before a couple’s first sex scene, then show them smiling at each other over breakfast the next morning. They feel this is enough to show the couple’s growing intimacy. Other authors feel it’s more powerful to show the scene than to hint about it after the fact.
It’s a personal creative decision on the part of the writer. In the same way I think the decision of what is really gratuitous would inevitably be affected by the reader’s attitudes. Is the sex considered gratuitous if it doesn’t relate to the plot or is it gratuitous if the same result could have been accomplished without showing the sex?
And yes, I know, sometimes something really different happens during the sex that would be hard to show another way. But thinking back to many emotionally powerful sex scenes I’ve read, some could *in theory* be replaced with a fadeout, plot basically intact. I just think the emotional impact would be lost.
by Elena Greene March 11th, 2008 at 9:01 amI think any ratings system like that would end up being more cumbersome than it was worth, because there are no clear definitions. I was reading a contemporary romance last night, and I thought the sex scenes in it were just as explicit as in some of the erotic novels I’ve read. If one tries to categorize by number, well, what’s the magic number? And how do you number the scenes, if for example more than one encounter happens in the same time and place, which is one defintion of a scene?
I also think marketing categories are in the midst of a shift, which means a lot of books will be categorized in ways that, five years from now, we might find absurd.
by Victoria Janssen March 11th, 2008 at 10:11 amThe issue of having too little “story” padded with lots of filler is by no means limited to “hot” romance! I’m not in favor of a rating system, but speaking hypothetically, such a a system should be applied to *all* filler passages, not just sex.
Lately I’ve read several historical romances that don’t seem to have enough story to justify their length. These books might be better suited to the old super-short traditional Regency format, or as a shortish Harlequin Historical. In these books, it’s not sex that’s the filer; it’s flabby writing, static scenes, repetitive plot points, showing a scene once and then going through it a second time to interpret it for the reader. (As if the reader didn’t get it the first time?)
Not all fiction is written with story as a primary goal, but I think it’s expected in most romances. In terms of story, a sex scene is just like any other kind of scene. If it doesn’t develop plot, character, or conflict, it could create a dead zone.
by RfP March 11th, 2008 at 10:41 amTreva — oh, I realize that. [nod] If it were easy, we’d probably be doing it already. After all, customers who have more confidence about what they’re buying will spend more money and that’s good for everyone. No reason not to do it if there were an easy way to manage it.
Elena — it’s not really about whether a writer should or shouldn’t be writing sex, though. Everyone should be writing whatever they want, and readers should be able to find the kinds of books they want. I just want to know what I’m getting before I’ve spent my money.
I’m not looking at whether a piece of information could have been conveyed to the reader in some other fashion than through a sex scene. If there is information being conveyed through the sex scene (info significant to the story, not just the guy’s favorite flavor of lube or whatever) then I’d be willing to call that an “integral” sex scene, even if the writer could have conveyed that info some other way.
Victoria — explicitness (or “heat” or “spice” or “kinkiness” or whatever) isn’t relevant, though. Many publishers already assign a heat rating to their books. Pointless sex scenes can be spicy-hot or as bland as water; my issue is with the “pointless” part, not the heat level. You’re definitely right that this would be complex to implement, though.
RfP — very true. [nod] My own recent experience is that sex scenes are more likely to be duct-taped into otherwise enjoyable books, while other types of padding tend to be more… invasive? of the story as a whole. In other words, I’m less likely to enjoy any part of a story that’s padded out and written in a sloppy, flabby fashion with extra description or rehashes of action or five characters each musing about a scene the reader already saw. Whereas I can easily imagine snipping the extra sex out of the books which are only padded with sex, and having a good (if shorter) story. Maybe it’s because I’m a writer myself and have a hard time not looking under the hood, but it seems like a qualitative difference to me. [ponder]
Angie
by Angela Benedetti March 11th, 2008 at 11:16 amya’ know… ratings based on “heat” or “kink” might not really be the answer either - I’ve read some great - great books where the sex was scorchin’ hawt!! and it complimented the story, and there was plenty of story too - -
And -
I’ve read some stories, where the sex was soso but there was way to much of soso sex and not enough story -
So.. unless there is a ’system’ where orgasms were counted - and if you figured you had 100 orgasms, and a 200 page book - you could then see the ratio of sex to story
by BBMRebel March 11th, 2008 at 11:23 amReb — exactly. [nod] The heat level of the sex doesn’t really say anything about whether or not it pulls its weight in the story, so just a heat rating wouldn’t really convey the info I want. Although there are other reasons for giving heat ratings on books, and many publishers do so.
You know, when you get down to it, I suppose it’s more about sheer bulk. When I hit a sex scene which I don’t think serves any purpose in the book other than “Hey, sex!” I start skimming. So what I really want to know is, if I buy this book, how many pages will I skim over, versus how many will I actually read? There you go — that’s what I want to know. And I suppose that for the people who like and appreciate sex for its own sake, they might want to know how much of that boring story stuff they’d have to skim through compared with how many pages of the story they’d actually read.
Of course, figuring out where to draw the line so we can actually make those counts is the tricky part. :/
Angie
by Angela Benedetti March 11th, 2008 at 11:29 amThis is a great discussion!
I’ve decided I’m against the idea of labels or measurements of sexual content. I like “hot” romances, but there are plenty of books I’ve enjoyed that had little or no sex at all. Catherine Coulter’s LORD HARRY is one. I might not have bought that had I known the relationship was never consummated, and it was a great book.
I’ve also recently purchased a title by Avon Red, thinking it would be really spicy, and it was…not.
I’d rather buy the book not knowing. It’s usually the story that disappoints me, not the sexual content, or lack thereof.
by Jill Sorenson March 11th, 2008 at 11:38 amJill — I like both kinds too, from sweet Regencies to BDSM kink-fests. [nod] I can enjoy any spice level on the sex, so long as it’s all there for a purpose beyond just being sexy. For readers who’d rather not know, though, that’s something I hadn’t thought of. Humm. Maybe it’d be better, then, for the info to be available on the publisher’s web site, so people who want to know can go look and people who don’t want to know won’t see it? Or is that too complicated?
Angie
by Angela Benedetti March 11th, 2008 at 11:54 amSweet - no nookie
Mildly Sensual - nookie, but it’s assumed and not ’seen’ on the page
Sensual - nookie, but no graphic descriptions of body parts normally covered by a Lands End bathing suit.
Highly Sensual - nookie with some graphic description, but not the kind you’d hear in a bar.
Anything more than that is Erotica, from my point of view, and it’s not my cup of tea.
by Kimber An March 11th, 2008 at 1:55 pmKimber An — but I’m not talking about heat level. (I obviously didn’t explain this well from the beginning, since a lot of people are confused. My bad.
) If half the pages in the book are devoted to “sensual” descriptions of nookie, none of which advance the plot or define the characters or develop the relationship or whatever, if it’s just sensual nookie for the sake of nookie, I’d like it to be marked somehow so I can avoid it. And I do like the hotter kinds of sex scenes you consider to be erotica.
I’m not talking about language used or level of detail in descriptions or whatever — I’m talking about the story coming to a halt while the sex is on, and story-halting sex taking up a significant percentage of the book. I’d like to be able to avoid stories like that. And people who like lots of sex and consider the story as something that just gets in the way would probably like to be able to find them more easily so they can buy them.
Pointless sex can come in any level of heat or explicitness, from hot to mild. It’s the “pointless” part that I’d like to avoid, and others would like to be able to zero in on. You’re right that erotic romance is more likely to go in this direction than the more mainstream romances, but I’ve found myself skimming over sex scenes there, too.
Angie
by Angie March 11th, 2008 at 2:08 pmI may be simplifying here but you’re complaining about bad writing. For erotic romance the usual problems are either plot (or lack thereof) and/or sex. Of course characterization, motivation, etc. can enter into the bad writing. It’s mostly erotic romance where the bad sex or irrelevant sex matter. But it can happen in other genres and other romances.
by Treva Harte March 11th, 2008 at 2:24 pmTreva — I don’t think I’m necessarily talking only about bad writing, although of course that can enter into it. The specific book I mentioned at the top of the column, and others I’ve read like it, had perfectly good plots, likeable characters, relationship development, etc. They just had too much sex for my personal taste. A lot of other people, reviewers among them, like these books, so I’m not going to say they were badly written; they’re just not what I’m looking for as a reader, and I’d like some way of distinguishing plot-heavy books from sex-heavy books so I know where to spend my money.
Maybe it’s just a matter of definitions. If I let myself be selfish about it, I’d probably be willing to call the sex-heavy books badly written. But they’re very popular and so dismissing them as bad books just because I don’t like them reminds me a bit too much of how some people who don’t like romance as a genre dismiss it all as trashy.
If your definition of bad writing governs what Loose Id chooses to publish, though, maybe I’ll do more shopping over there.
Angie
by Angela Benedetti March 11th, 2008 at 2:34 pmWell, if sex bores you in a story, I’d say that was bad writing. And I’d like to think we balance our sex with our romance and our story although I suspect sometimes Too Much Sex does slip in there. But we try.
by Treva Harte March 11th, 2008 at 2:39 pmTreva — I guess I’m looking at it as a matter of taste. Some people enjoy reading sex for the sake of sex very much; I’m just not one of them. It’s like, I prefer my fettucini alfredo with no onions, but that doesn’t mean that fettucini with onions is made wrong or badly. It’s just different, and it’s helpful if the restaurants that make it with onions list them on the menu.
Angie
by Angela Benedetti March 11th, 2008 at 2:43 pmOK, I swear we must have read the same book. I haven’t done a write up on it for precisely this reason. The writing was impeccable, the story line that was there was great, but there was so little of it compared to the amount of sex that I was disappointed. And normally I am a huge fan of this author. And I’ve read another of hers that was mostly sex, but the title and the entire blurb indicated that and I expected it. Again, I don’t mind sex, but I want it as part of the plot, not the plot wound around x number of sex scenes. And again, it was well written, but I craved more of the plot, which was really very good.
Great post! I was wondering if I was the only person feeling like this.
by MG Braden March 11th, 2008 at 3:20 pm