Genetically the results of that are disastrous.

I still don't dig.

I've read some that are good about sister-brother of re-married parents. Oddly enough classified under "incest" (and they're not since they're not biologically related).

Ughhhh, I hate incest. I don't see how a dad/mother could look at their son/daughter and think of anything romantic. Or the brother/sister or sister/sister or brother/brother, whatever. That's just gross, IMO.

But maybe we should get back to the topic...? Another thing I think kills a romance!- history! Some people can pull off a good historical fiction, but I personally hate it. It's extremely hard- no matter how much research- to write a book based in say, 1624. Also, I just don't like them. :]

I wonder why historical romances seem to be so popular, considering that there are plenty of them in supermarkets and bookstores.

Michael

Yeah, but personally, I think it's hard to find a good one. I've only found a select few that I deem good enough to actually sit down and read. But that's just me.

Really? I haven't come across many, but the few that I have read I enjoyed a lot. Of course, if you don't like historical fiction, you don't like it. But there was nothing that seemed extremely wrong for the time period in them. Not that I'm even remotely an expert or anything XD But it wasn't like the girl from 1756 shouted "Hey biatch! Step away from my boyfriend!"

I don't know, I guess I just don't like it. :]

But that was kinda funny, haha.

Well think why people read romances in the first place. Why not historical romances? They are sometimes more intriguing because the plotline is less commonplace. I seriously doubt the ability of most Fictionpress writers to pull off a good historical fiction because they seldom take enough time out to research the generation they are placing the story in so sometimes I find myself questioning their history rather than enjoying the story.

True, and that may be the reason I don't like them to begin with- because I've read too many that weren't well researched. If you could recommend a good one, however, I might just be convinced.

One of the particularly good ones I've read was Solitaire by S. Renee. It's set in the time of the Revolutionary War. As I said before, I'm really not the one to judge the facts in a historical story (I'm definitely not a history buff), but this author seems to have done a wonderful job.

Huh. Then I guess I'll have to read it sometime.

OK, some of the things that annoy the crap out of me in romance stories are:

1) Grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. Unfortunately, this is quite common and annoying

2) Long winded descriptions. I hate it when the person goes on and on about how they're feeling or what would happen or whatever the heck they talk about. I mean, how can you think about all this in the span of a few seconds before you have to act? And when I mean long winded, I mean people who describe about what their character is feeling in six long paragraphs. I hate it when things get TOO heavy

3) Ooh! Stereotypes! I really, REALLY hate this. I hate cheerleaders who are always preppy, simple minded witches (I don't want to swear). Or jocks who are so stupid that they aren't able to string two words together. Or emos who only think about killing themselves or other people. Cheerleaders have the right to have bad days that don't always include, 'Oh my God, that witch made out with my boyfriend. And, like, I broke a friggin nail! How friggin ** off this day was! I'm going to, like, drown my sorrows and binge the whole day!' DOWN WITH STEREOTYPES!

4) Incest stories. Even step brothers/sisters/mothers/fathers. It's wrong!!!!!!!!!

However, I don't mind cliches or happy endings because they are comforting. If, for example, I read a really good story and it's ending was really sad, like the protagonist of the story doesn't end with the girl/guy, I get upset. I don't mean extremes, like 'And we all lived happily ever after'; but something subtle with a hint of mystery. I find a sense of familiarity with them. I know this isn't life because life rarely ends with happily ever after. But that's why they're fiction.

(:

"Stories never really end, Meggie," he had one told her, "even if books like to pretend they do. Stories go on. They don't end on hte last page any more than they begin on the first page."

-Inkheart, Cornelia Funke

Really good book. Read it

"romances between the abducter and abduptee"

Oh, yeah. I agree with most of you guys about the 'abducter and abduptee romance'. Just horrible. I even read a book once with a story like that. O___O

What was the title of this book?

"Incest stories. Even step brothers/sisters/mothers/fathers. It's wrong!!!!!!!!!"

I agree. I think it's slightly disturbing when there are 4 different romantic relationships going on in one "big happy family", and that's excluding the mother-father one.

And I tend to stop reading stories right in the middle of the page that have whole blocks of text that seem to give me with no information. Do us a favor and either space it out or cut it out.

I think it was Hero For Hire or something. Couldn't recall the author though... :P

I apologize in advance. I didn't realize while typing that this was so long. I'll understand if nobody reads it :-)

I haven't been on FP for a very long time, but I have noticed several bothersome traits in many of the stories on here. One probelm I have is the ingenue as a female lead (the blushing, innocent and naive girl). Weak female characters are a huge turnoff for me, mostly because I cannot relate to them, because they do not represent real women. I do not understand why it's taboo for a female lead to recognize her attractiveness and refuse to apologize for it. I also don't understand why the female lead needs to be so naive and inexperienced when it comes to sex. I'm not saying to make the female characters ** or anything like that, I just don't see the appeal of having a MC who's barely even held hands with a guy. I don't consider myself a feminist-Nazi or anything like that, but I do appreciate and admire female MCs who realize that a relationship-even with the hottest, most popular guy in school-won't complete them. I also appreciate it when the lead realizes ahead of time that The Boy is attracted to them, when clearly all the signs are there. Too often on FP I find stories where the male love interest has to do everything but tattoo the lead's name on his chest before she realizes he's in love with her. I truly cannot handle a MC that's unnecessarily oblivious.

A second issue I have with some of the stories on FP, is the "chase-the-girl-until-she-finally-caves-in" storyline. In reality, it just doesn't work that way. I suppose that I can understand that many teenage girls enjoy the idea of being chased, of having someone care that much about them that they would go to through hell and back, but that's not how life works. Realistically, most of these men would have given up on the lead and moved on, leaving the girl to wallow in the land of What Might Have Been. And don't even get me started on the male teenage leads who do this-I think I've seen that type of thing happen once. And even then, it wasn't an intense gropefest-in-every-empty-janitor's-closet kind of thing. People have better things to do than wait around for some stubborn, nonsensical character to figure their life out. Even though I still haven't figured out how I feel about the book, I hold Gone With the Wind's ending in high regard.

I'm a bit tired of typing at this point, so I'll just sort of list the rest of my complaints: too-suave hero (especially in teen dramas. ), females who are too abrasive ("He said, 'Good morning," and she punched him.), too sarcastic, too sensitive (they take offense to every tiny thing the male lead does), males who jerks up until the last few chapters, yet we're expected to love them. And last but not least, in teen fiction, whatever happened to the awkwardness every teenager feels at some point in their life? I feel like this gets all too often ignored, especially during kissing/sex scenes. Everything is perfect, perfect, perfect. Their first kiss brings fireworks and explosions and the first time they make love everything goes smoothly. In real life, it's not unusual to hear horror stories about situations like these, for example, one party shoving their (unwanted) tongue down the other's throat too soon, too much saliva, the other person not being very good, etc. I'd really like to read a story where the lead has kissed/slept with better, but the nonphysical aspect of the two characters relationship is enough to make them never want anyone else.

Anyway, this isn't as if I'm saying that my own work is perfect, or even that it meets all of these standards. Because it doesn't. But I do make a sincere effort. For example, I have 2 stories up now and in one, Le Desespoir D'Audrey, the male lead is an awkward teenage boy who fancies his neighbor from afar (is that irony or an oxymoron? I'm not sure). The female lead is a teenage girl who has gone through nearly half the boys in her grade and shows no repentance. (I've only posted the first chapter, but as the story unfolds it will be clear that her actions do not go without-emotional-consequence. ) My second story, Ralph & Sadie, is just something new I've been working on. The characters resemble those found in the classic screwball comedy; they're not as original. I'll still be giving them depth, however the story as a whole is much more light hearted.

Inkheart, lol. I read it. Lots of descriptions, but it's been a while since I've been involved in a fantasy/adventure story, so yeah, I like it too. =3

Of course, grammar ruins a story. But at times, if the story is REALLY good, then grammar, aside, I don't care.

Description. Yeah, some would be nice. There's a limit, obviously.

Happy endings? I like 'em, too.

Sex scenes. Haha, the flower descriptions make me laugh! If it's for humor, okay, but seriously, in a serious story, no thank you.

You guys, reading is when you get away from reality for a little bit. Can't we be optimistic and look at the world in a brighter light? Sure, life sucks like hell. You don't want to see someone else happier than you. You're jealous. You just don't like that it is so.

Be optimistic! We can be happy for the characters. It's okay to imagine, but don't let your imagination get the best of you in real life!! O_O

And what's wrong with high school romance? It happens in real life, too. Some people get married to their high school sweetheart and remain with them forever. I think my parents are one of those... haha, U_U.

(So much to say, so little time.)

I hate, hate, HATE first person narrative in a romance. I'm reading because I want to know what happens, not what one self-involved, gum-chewing, wearing heels while running from the bad guy, so awesome you wonder why she even needs the muscle-bound ex-Navy Seal with intimacy issues to help her out.

I need depth to my characters, particularly the female. I want to feel that little drop in my tummy when he realizes he's in love with her and he's terrified as heck. I want to see the journey they both take to overcome not only their external but their internal obstacles on their way to finally coming together as a partnership in love.

I'm not too fond of the "so beautiful his teeth and man-parts ached" sort of women. I've always preferred a heroine who was a little on the plain side, or had a flaw like unruly hair, or being short, or was nearly blind (great for the "throw me the gun" moments). Flaws are what make us human and they make our characters even more relatable.

I'm also a big hater when it comes to a romance novel where not only is there no declaration of love (can these really be called a romance novel?) but the main characters don't end up together. Either she's a cruel Scarlett O'Hara type, or he's secretly evil and must be destroyed, or one of them dies while attempting to solve the mystery without any sort of backup. Or the complete and utter lack of resolution (those of you who read short story collections can probably relate to this). How can a novel just end with the bad guy dying without giving the reader a clear idea of where the lovers are going in their relationship, especially if they weren't talking to each other due to a fight right before the big showdown with the bad guy? I mean, seriously... AARGH!

I also have to agree with the biddles description issues. I hate reading along and suddenly hearing about a throbbing purple rod, or creaming textures... {{shudder}} I have problems with medical terminology in the middle of a love scene. "He shuddered as she stroked the length his ** and one adventurous hand moved to lightly caress his perineum. He couldn't wait to slide his own fingers into her dripping **."

First of all, dripping? Eww.... I know we've all read something like that. Secondly, and more to the point, don't the technical terms just pull you out of the scene? Or is it just me? I always feel like I'm suddenly reading a medical chart when an author just falls back on the technical terms. I'll take purple prose before I'll be satisfied with something out of Grey's Anatomy. Or, I may just be being too picky.

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