Top Ten Tuesday | Pros & Cons of Romance

Top Ten Tuesday is a book meme created by The Broke and the Bookish, with new topics posted every Tuesday.  I plan on playing along sporadically if I like the topic, and feel I may have something to add to the conversation.

In honor of it being Valentine’s week, this Tuesday’s topic is Top Ten Likes & Dislikes of Romance in Books. I can take or leave bookish romance, and certainly feel there is a place for it, but it’s not something I need in every single book I read.  Let’s get the negatives out of the way first…

Cons:

 

1.      I feel like everyone will say this, but Insta-Love. It’s so annoying. I believe in such a thing as instant attraction, or instant lust… but for real, people… don’t change your whole life around for someone you’ve just met a millisecond ago. (Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed Twilight back in the day, but the insta-love was a bit much).

 

2.    As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, not a fan of lying or infidelity. So many books do this, and SOMETIMES I can get over it and still enjoy the book, but there are ways to make love “forbidden” without cheating.

 

3.    When a couple’s relationship is ONLY about the sex, and all you get is page after page after page of sex scenes, with little to nothing else of substance, yet they’re “so in love”… I, frankly, get a little bored.

 

4.    When authors use really bad words for body parts – i.e. “mound,” “member,” “man stick,” I could go on… (And you should go on, and let me know some of your favorites in the comments for a good chuckle!)

 

5.    Non-consensual sex. Never okay, and NOT sexy.

 

Pros:

 

6.    I love when the romance is smoldering, and builds and builds with a touch here, a glance there, and creates all this romantic tension, and then finally they up and kiss… That’s good stuff.

 

7.    When a romantic relationship develops with people who already have an existing platonic relationship – i.e. neighbor, friend, acquaintance – as this feels more realistic.

 

8.    I’m no prude, and enjoy a well done sex scene here and there, which is actually pretty challenging to execute. I think focusing on the lead up to the actual deed seems to work best to create some tension, and then don’t have to use any of the cringe-worthy words I listed above. I, personally, don’t need every tiny little detail, or a lesson in erotic anatomy. (The Bride Quartet is the only Nora Roberts I have ever read, and probably ever will read, so I can’t speak to her other works, but I LOVE this series).

 

9.    When romance develops between unconventional characters – a la Eleanor & Park style.  I just LOVE when books successfully pull off awkwardness in romance, because that’s real life people.

 

10.    When a couple is well matched… meaning it’s not just the guy saving the day all the time, or the woman only taking care of her man.  I like when there’s give and take in a relationship, and an equal balance of “power”.

 

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