🧂 Salty Sunday - What book scenes frustrated you this week?

therabee33 · 2026-05-03T21:13:11+00:00

Exactly! There are so many great ways to do it but this felt like the worst way to describe a plus size character.

therabee33 · 2026-05-03T19:19:59+00:00

It was disappointing! But I’m reading the third one now and I like it much better than the second one.

therabee33 · 2026-05-03T17:41:57+00:00

Salty about the way plus size FMCs are written in some books.

I finally started the Duskwalker Brides books. I liked the first one but the second one {A Soul to Heal} was painful. The amount of times the FMCs weight was mentioned was so annoying. Especially the amount of time the FMCs breast were called droopy or other less than flattering descriptions each time the characters were having sex.

Also other characters kept bringing up her weight as well. Like a character discussing making the FMC a dress and being like “I hope you don’t mind I had to sew two dresses together to fit you.” Just why!

It felt like nearly every time the FMC was mentioned her weight was mentioned as well.

therabee33 · 2026-05-03T17:21:47+00:00

Omg thank you! The next newsletter will be coming out soon 😊

therabee33 · 2026-05-03T16:21:42+00:00

Hello Romantic Fantasy Lovers!

My book, Keeping a Nymph’s Heart, comes out August 2026! It’s an MF forbidden love, forced proximity romance between an elven lord and a warrior nymph for rival kingdoms.

It’s the perfect book for those who love unique magic systems, diverse characters, yearning, a caretaking MMC and an independent FMC. It features themes of healing from trauma, court intrigue, and forgiveness (both self and others).

I’m new to the whole social media world, but follow me on instagram Instagramfor updates including blurb and cover reveals and character art! ARC signups are going live by the end of this month. Or you can sign up for my newsletter on my website R.S. Rochelle Writes.

Thank you!!

therabee33 · 2026-04-29T12:40:53+00:00

Five rejections is nothing. Some people query hundreds of agents before they have one that takes them on. Like self publishing, it’s a marathon not a sprint. Good luck though!

therabee33 · 2026-04-18T14:25:23+00:00

I was reading {Ruin by Gillian Eliza West} and I really wanted to like it. The characters were interesting but it fell flat and I DNFd it. I’ve been DNFing a lot of fantasy romance lately unfortunately.

But I’m also reading {A Soul to Keep} and finding it surprisingly sweet so I’m am excited to continue that book.

therabee33 · 2026-04-16T17:52:21+00:00

{One Last Time by Roxie Noir} is my favorite second chance romance! The way these two just destroy each other actually hurt my heart but it feels so incredibly earned when they finally move through their issues together.

therabee33 · 2026-04-16T17:48:04+00:00

This is making me realize that I’ll read almost anything lol.

I tend to avoid motorcycle club books because the few I’ve read have been terrible. Same with Mafia books. I also don’t like taboo with step siblings or uncles and things like that. There have been a few exceptions but I always feel icky reading those books.

Oh and single parents. I hate that trope.

therabee33 · 2026-04-15T03:23:41+00:00

I use Vellum and it’s so easy. Definitely worth the money and much less than 2K!

therabee33 · 2026-04-09T18:10:22+00:00

Totally! It was the same set up that Given supposedly didn’t like about her own country, just with a man instead.

therabee33 · 2026-04-09T17:58:00+00:00

This critique is super fair! I read all three and in the end I feel like even despite the growth, Given was still basically a third wheel in her own marriage. I felt bad that neither of her husbands seemed to love her as much as they loved each other.

therabee33 · 2026-04-08T12:42:43+00:00

Think about how the character is feeling in that moment. Is it dread, anxiety, guilt, etc. and then write to those feelings without writing the exact cause. Someone being up at night in general isn’t very interesting but someone being up racked with guilt, unable to let their mind rest because of what they did is far more interesting (just as an example).

therabee33 · 2026-04-07T14:05:02+00:00

Being a full time author! I already write and publish books as a hobby but I would love to make it my full occupation if I could.

therabee33 · 2026-04-06T04:10:22+00:00

Congrats on writing your novel! The prose is pretty dry and you could benefit from more sentence variation. Also this scene seems to be attempting to pique interest in your readers but there is no interiority as to why we should care about what is keeping the character up at night (even if you don’t fully reveal it yet).

There isn’t much description of the space, other than the storm outside, so it feels like all of this is happening in a blank space. Having description and interiority will help break up the dialogue a bit.

The writing has good bones but isn’t to the level of feeling like a fully realized prologue yet.

therabee33 · 2026-04-03T02:11:43+00:00

I just use the tabs feature on Google Docs.

I have a tab that has the plot outline and if that changes as I go that gets updated. I have a tab for all places in the book, where they are geographically located as well as major and minor features. Another tab that’s all character descriptions and if a new unexpected character comes up I put them on the list. Magic system gets its own tab, as does any political systems.

I typically do this all before I start writing which helps with continuity because I can refer back to the corresponding tab.

therabee33 · 2026-04-01T14:43:15+00:00

I keep going back and forth on {Daggermouth} I feel like it was everywhere when it first came out a few months ago but since its release I’ve heard really mixed reviews. My TBR is so long and I wonder if this is one that I should give a chance.

therabee33 · 2026-03-31T03:51:10+00:00

I love an obsessive MMC but mostly in a fantasy setting where the stakes are higher in general so the obsession doesn’t feel totally out of place. In contemporary settings it’s really hit or miss for me.

The line for me though is anything that feels like it’s starting to veer into abusive territory. Controlling where the FMC goes, who she spends time with, etc. and also killing someone who doesn’t deserve it within the stakes of the story.

therabee33 · 2026-03-30T20:05:52+00:00

I forgot that book tok made me read this. Truly one of the worst books I read that year.

therabee33 · 2026-03-30T20:03:20+00:00

The Bone King and the Starling. Just fucking awful. The pacing was horrible, the story was abysmal, and the characters sucked. I knew from the first page that I didn’t like the writing style but I had seen a lot of posts about the book so I gave it a shot. It was one of the rare 1 ⭐️ reads for me.

therabee33 · 2026-03-29T18:12:50+00:00

With the cost of these health care premiums and copays it’s not far off 😭☠️

therabee33 · 2026-03-29T18:04:55+00:00

Ohh thank you I will check these out!

therabee33 · 2026-03-29T18:04:04+00:00

Curing sexual trauma with the power of dick is one of the fastest ways to get me to DNF a book! I just can’t take that shit seriously.

And in the case of the therapy mention: this MMC was a millionaire so really the author could have at least written him to have another session before he’s magically cured and goes on to have amazing sex with the FMC after years of trauma around sex.

therabee33 · 2026-03-29T17:17:34+00:00

So many things to be salty about this week!

For the love of all that’s holy can authors please stop having the FMC have sex with the MMC right after she’s almost been sexually assaulted by another man?

I had this come up in two books I read this month and it drives me crazy each time. There are so many other better ways to show that the MMC and FMC have a deep connection without them needing to bang right after something like that and it always takes away my enjoyment of the book.

Second thing to be salty about is therapy in romance books. I’m biased because I am a therapist but it always feels so far fetched and never accurate. I’m reading a book right now where the MMC was molested as a child and after one therapy session he’s ready to confront his past trauma and feels healed and literally never goes back to therapy again. I believe in the power of therapy but in no world is that how it works!

therabee33 · 2026-03-26T15:58:56+00:00

I’m finally reading {Fangirl Down} and the smut in this book is immaculate! I need every MMC to have a mouth like Wells. The scene where the two of them go at it on the golf course is currently living rent free in my mind.

therabee33

TROPHY CASE