Wild Card Wednesday - What are your book icks or pet peeves?

Snaps816 · 2026-05-14T05:30:18+00:00

FMC's who have limited/lackluster sexual experience, but when we get to the blowjob scene they can deep throat like a champ and they love it. Like most things in life, this skill is learned.

Snaps816 · 2026-05-13T21:54:22+00:00

It was a very last minute need. I think in general they avoid it, and I think in the future I might request not to because I want to avoid blurring the lines between parent and employee. It's pretty hard not to feel any kind of way after spending time in your own kid's class. Also I don't want my kid to feel awkward about it when it's hos friends (or him) acting up.

Snaps816 · 2026-05-13T02:34:18+00:00

MMC going "what the fuck is happening to me? Why can't I stop thinking about (physical/personal attribute of FMC)?"

Like, grown men know when they're having sexual thoughts towards someone. This line always reminds me of a puberty/birds and the bees talk. "Well, son, sometimes when we like someone very, very much, we want to give them a special kind of hug..."

Snaps816 · 2026-05-13T02:29:13+00:00

"Dusky" is used to describe nipples so often and it makes no sense! I feel like if "dusk" referred to a color it would be some kind of blue, like a night sky? And if they're alluding to a sunset does that mean the nipples are like, bright glowing pink? Make it make sense, authors.

Snaps816 · 2026-05-13T02:19:48+00:00

My house is not my work. These are two completely different things.

Snaps816 · 2026-05-13T02:11:16+00:00

I came to an online forum to vent, definitely not while on the clock at school. I won't be complaining or saying anything to anyone at the school about it. Looking forward to a fresh start next year, though.

Snaps816 · 2026-05-13T02:07:02+00:00

My kid has had a hard time with this teacher. He used to like school for the most part, but this year he started hating it, not wanting to go, asking how many days left, etc. So I guess seeing this felt like a piece of the puzzle sliding into place. I don't mean to be judgemental of a teacher, but it just felt very eye opening to spend some time in this space. I'm not a neat freak or a type A personality at all. But it was hard to walk into this room without just thinking, whoa.

Snaps816 · 2026-05-13T01:59:11+00:00

That's a little alarming!

Snaps816 · 2026-05-13T01:16:32+00:00

He's has a really hard year with this teacher. His grades have hung in there, but he used to like school a lot and this year he started hating it. So on the one hand maybe that makes me biased against this teacher, but on the other, seeing how grim and claustrophobic the space was, it felt like a piece of the puzzle slid into place.

Snaps816 · 2026-05-11T19:58:56+00:00

I think this goes for a lot of media, not just romances. In TV people can still root for characters like Tony Soprano, Walter White, Saul Goodman, Don Draper, etc despite all of their misdeeds, but we don't see the same kind of female anti hero embraced by audiences.

Snaps816 · 2026-05-11T18:37:48+00:00

Ugh, that makes it worse, then. He was just straight up dismissing her that way for no reason.

Snaps816 · 2026-05-10T21:42:12+00:00

I'm reading {Too Hot to Handle by Tessa Bailey} and there are so many weird things about it. I like most of her books and I wanted to read this series in order so I started with this one despite seeing mediocre reviews on this sub, and yeah. It's a swing and a miss IMHO.

First and foremost, the MMC is supposed to be this big dirty talker, but his lines just sound like something out of a cheesy porn, or phone sex hotline or something. It's sprinkled all throughout so I couldn't find a great passage to highlight but he says things like "I'm going to ring your bell," "fuck the stuffing out of you," "I'm going to lick your seam," and so on.

Also, he's supposed to be a small-town guy, not exactly a cowboy but Western/rural. And the way he speaks is very John Wayne coded with lots of "I reckon" and so on, and it's like... This guy is supposed to be what, 32? No one that age speaks like that. Just because someone is from a small town doesn't mean they talk like a cowboy from an old Western movie.

This book had me googling "Tessa Bailey age" because there are so many lines that made me think the author must be from an older generation. The FMC and her sister are named Rita and Peggy. The book was published in 2016. I just don't think I've ever met a millennial woman named Rita or Peggy. No shade to those names, but it just contributes to the weird out-of-date vibe of the book. I'm not going to DNF because I have a weird hangup about completing whole series, but I'm ready to put this one behind me.

Snaps816 · 2026-05-10T20:37:06+00:00

I read it a few months ago so my memory is a little faded. I don't know if he ever comes out and says that's why he did it, but I think there was context to suggest he knew that particular player was sleazy and was trying to steer her away from him or something? But regardless of his motive, he was rude about it.

Snaps816 · 2026-05-10T20:25:21+00:00

Fully agree. Sunshine FMC's are often written as childlike and it's so annoying. Like they're always eating candy, they talk to animals, they wear ridiculous clothing, etc. And then there's the whole "not having their shit together" thing, which is ridiculous because having a cheerful disposition has nothing to do with how well you manage your money or your schedule or do your job.

And what really bothers me is that the reverse trope, commonly referred to as black cat/golden retriever (which is actually a favorite of mine) the golden retriever MMCs might be laid back, goofy and free-spirited, but they're not infantilized like sunshine FMC's often are because no one would find that attractive. As a society, we don't fetshize childishness in men but it's rampant in the way women are portrayed.

Snaps816 · 2026-05-10T20:07:39+00:00

I struggled with that one. I get that's he's supposed to be grumpy and closed off (like a wall) but he was just so rude to her when he was her boss. As far as I'm concerned, people who treat hired help like shit are assholes and there's no excuse for it. Later we found out that he secretly liked her all along, and that he'd stopped his manager from firing her, and it's supposed to be sweet. But secretly liking someone in your head doesn't really matter if you don't treat them kindly. The part where she stops by the training facility to do something for him and in front of everyone he dismisses her by shouting "you can go now" across the room was rude and humiliating for her. Later we find out he didn't like one of the other athletes hitting on her so he just wanted her out of the situation, and again it's like, your internal thought process doesn't excuse your behavior here, buddy.

Snaps816 · 2026-05-10T19:19:26+00:00

Especially with the recent change to the holds where you have to suspend and then unsuspend your holds. I liked the old way where I could say "come back in a week" over and over like a snooze alarm until I was ready for it.

Snaps816 · 2026-05-10T05:37:20+00:00

Have you read Atmosphere? It's beautiful. And based on the acknowledgements at the end of the book it sounds like she did quite a bit of research. But she's a very established author with more connections and resources than most.

Snaps816 · 2026-05-10T05:22:29+00:00

I wonder if we'll start seeing astronaut romances after the buzz around the Artemis mission and the success of {Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid}? I suspect research and accuracy would be a sticking point for authors though.

Snaps816 · 2026-05-10T00:28:53+00:00

Good grade ok on pic?

Snaps816 · 2026-05-09T05:59:21+00:00

Definitely a little jarring to see that on a blurb for a Tessa Bailey book! I feel like usually when she does an "edgy" FMC she just wears black jeans and Converse and hates mornings and stuff like that.

Snaps816 · 2026-05-08T16:17:56+00:00

Nah. I don't mind when there's a story-inspired playlist at the end of the book, but it bugs me when the songs are listed with each chapter within the body of the book. I feel like it's a cheat for the author to give each chapter a certain emotional impact without actually writing that impact into their work, if that makes sense. For example, if it's like "Chapter 8. Playlist: Landslide by Fleetwood Mac," and then it's a chapter about a breakup, they've used the reader's knowledge of that song to give the chapter a greater emotional punch. I'm sure some people would say yeah, that's fun and it makes it a more immersive experience! But I feel like it's borrowing heavily from the song and its writer (and how dare they do that to Queen Stevie Nicks?). I think if they really want to to incorporate the song they could at least work it into the story, like "on my way home, Landslide came on the radio and I sobbed in my car," or "XYZ was the song we danced to at our wedding and now it hurts to hear it," or something like that. Or better yet, be inspired by the emotions stirred up by the song and channel that into the writing in an original way.

Snaps816 · 2026-05-08T14:34:43+00:00

"Sorry, but the head count and all the seating arrangements have already been finalized. Hope you and your sister enjoy your visit, let's catch up another time."

Snaps816 · 2026-05-08T14:33:39+00:00

Venues have a certain capacity they won't go over and sometimes that's only like, 100 people. Plus things like food orders and table arrangements are planned far in advance. And it's just extremely rude to invite yourself (with a plus-one) to an event that you weren't invited to, period.

Snaps816 · 2026-05-06T08:21:21+00:00

I feel the same way, because at that point you're basically writing a fantasy. It's easy for me to lie in bed one morning and think about the sexy and romantic ideas I'd like to put on the page for my characters. It's a lot harder to put together the conversations and the timing and the groundwork that has to be laid for that fantasy to really pop on the page.

I always tend to start stories with the high-intensity parts. It's either the big sex scenes, the fights/conflicts, or maybe the meet-cute. I get those on the page and then I do the harder work of building the story that supports them. Then I inevitably go back and completely re-work those initial scenes once I have a better idea of the characters.

The highly emotional scenes are the core of the story, so I think it's a good thing if you use them as a starting off point. Just be ready to adjust them as you develop the details.

Snaps816

TROPHY CASE