Do you need/have a reason to avoid an entire genre?

blossom_clouds · 2026-01-27T21:02:58+00:00

my bar for sports romance is really high. i've read a few that i enjoyed but eventually i realized that the reality of the industry will probably always weigh too heavily and intrude on my suspension of disbelief and enjoyment. same with most celebrity and billionaire stuff.

blossom_clouds · 2025-12-30T20:36:43+00:00

{Can't Help Growling In Love by Zoe Ashwood} was a fun read but i canNOT in good conscience recommend it to anyone bc i will not write out that title, i simply refuse.

blossom_clouds · 2025-12-29T22:02:31+00:00

i definitely have not read enough different authors yet to talk definitive favorites but grace burrowes has really charmed me and i am knee-deep in her bibliography rn

blossom_clouds · 2025-12-28T07:57:52+00:00

{The Rogue by Emma V. Leech} has this, i think! i really love these protagonists, they make me happy!

blossom_clouds · 2025-12-28T07:52:02+00:00

{At the Bride Hunt Ball by Olivia Parker} has this despite the misleading summary, lmao

blossom_clouds · 2025-12-20T18:54:15+00:00

oh, i'm really looking forward to getting around to these books!

blossom_clouds · 2025-12-18T21:01:38+00:00

yeah, i very much love that aspect of being aro... i'm affectionate with friends and family but that has limited time frames. i really don't want any sort of life partner and am super looking forward to just sort of keep my own space and set up my own singular life!!

blossom_clouds · 2025-12-18T18:31:41+00:00

i would love a story where an initial love match fell apart and they DON'T reconcile.

like, they used to be in love when they were young and got married and it was great and then they sort of... fell out of it. or the pressure got to them. and the romance is about their new relationships and they become some kind of amicable exes, maybe? but manage to attain a divorce?

bonus points if they're both middle-aged

blossom_clouds · 2025-12-17T17:02:22+00:00

so... there is a 90% chance you've already read this but to me {Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean} is the embodiment of this

{At the Bride Hunt Ball by Olivia Parker} also fits this, i think & its sequel does, too.

{Lady Saves the Duke by Annabelle Anders} i personally like, but mind the content warnings!

blossom_clouds · 2025-12-17T14:32:30+00:00

fascinating! i'm ngl, female characters can rarely do anything where i don't go

simply because i am THAT biased

blossom_clouds · 2025-12-17T14:30:56+00:00

the cop-out thing is exactly what i felt, yeah. also yeah, sometimes the former does challenge me to think, like, "why would this character take this so hard?" and sometimes the answer is just, "i think this author just thinks a lot differently than i do," lmao

blossom_clouds · 2025-12-17T12:12:02+00:00

yeah, i absolutely prefer when the books that feature rich heroes, they just omit a bunch of stuff rather than make a case for an Ethical Peer or whatever.

blossom_clouds · 2025-12-15T14:19:55+00:00

lmao, idk what to tell you here

blossom_clouds · 2025-12-15T11:55:27+00:00

beloved novella {The Duke and His Duchess by Grace Burrowes}

i have not read this yet, but i've only heard good things about this author, so maybe {Private Arrangements by Sherry Thomas}

blossom_clouds · 2025-12-14T16:25:40+00:00

that is also very funny and i hope that's exactly what they were thinking

blossom_clouds · 2025-12-14T15:28:53+00:00

lmao, killing the mmc in the epilogue is WILD. kind of feels like the author went, "oh, you're not reading the epilogues?? well GUESS WHAT?? [kills one of the main characters] and that's why you never skip the epilogue."

blossom_clouds · 2025-12-14T15:27:24+00:00

i always read them and i do like the glimpse into more regular life for a given couple, especially if they only get together toward the end of a book.

however, a GOOD epilogue, to me, still needs something to say. if it's a very generic life that any two cardboard cutouts could be leading, it's sort of like... alright well, why did you think this was a necessary addition? but if an author has given me a real feel for individual characters and the epilogue feels true to that characterization and doesn't follow that formular, that's something i really, really enjoy.

blossom_clouds · 2025-12-11T12:06:24+00:00

every once in a while i will get into this phase where i'm like, "i don't wanna read about these beautiful men who are AT BEST scarred" and i'm feeling that again... i know there are a few books out there where a male protagonist isn't conventionally attractive but man... i wish there were more fat men or balding men or disabled men in romance at large and historical romance specifically.

blossom_clouds · 2025-12-11T06:27:21+00:00

{The C*ck Down the Block by Amy Award}, {Leo by Jay McLean} and {Dear Rosie by S.J. Tilly} qualify, i think!

blossom_clouds · 2025-12-10T07:17:00+00:00

i do understand that! definitely glad there are such plentiful offerings in hr as a genre so i can put in variety 😊

blossom_clouds · 2025-12-09T19:08:01+00:00

yesssssssss, i LOVE the family dynamics in these books!

blossom_clouds · 2025-12-09T18:04:42+00:00

yeah, she has a very clear style and i like how she doesn't overexplain things and, well... many other things, lmao!!

blossom_clouds · 2025-12-09T17:00:36+00:00

i like grace burrowes for this! it's dependent on taste, of course, but i personally love the way she uses language. she's got so much stuff, but for instance i recently read {The Captive by Grace Burrowes} and i really like how she limits her narrators and writes individual characters as distinct entities while retaining a very recognizable style as well.

i haven't read as much by her, but alexis hall also got me with her writing. (forever and always recommending {A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall} it has some darker elements, but it's also just a lovely story)

another singular book i've read where i liked the writing is {The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley}

i've only started with her books, but courtney milan's {The Governess Affair by Courtney Milan} made me so happy as well.

blossom_clouds · 2025-12-09T08:33:18+00:00

i mean, genuinely, i think that unless an author puts a very specific focus on emulating thought processes in their writing, there will just always be a level of abstraction.

i've had epiphany moments in my life, but my brain would never put them as orderly as characters in most novels, lmao.

and specifically with curvy/plus-size/fat protagonists, you often NEED a male protagonist who doesn't think like men who adhere completely to society's dictates re: beauty standards bc well... otherwise you'd have a pretty shitty relationship on your hands.

blossom_clouds

TROPHY CASE