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Reasons you avoid certain genres/themes
You do know they have the modern kind now? LOL.
Haha! Yeah but I used to have some friends that worked at Waldenbooks and that's how they all referred to like the Harlequin romance and that genre. So that's how I've referred to it since then.
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I like Harlequin! LOL! But I like certain "lines" I guess they call them. The Super romances and suspense, oh and Nocturne. When I first read romance and wanted more I searched and harlequin.com was the first on the list. Not sure what they were like say 10 years ago (gawd those covers) but I have read and enjoyed quite a few of their milder romances, for sure. Oh and Silhouette too!
I've only read one or two Harlequin books. In one case because I'd "met" the author online and wanted to read her book. In the other case because he is Nora Roberts and they've been republishing all of her Harleguins. That taught me something. Just as with any other publisher, some of the books are good and some aren't. The single book was OK. Not great, but certainly OK. I've never come across a Nora Roberts that wasn't readable. And I fell over the first published story she had ever written in a library book with four stories. It was obviously a beginning author's story, but it was a fun read. Short though.
I love the whole "granny porn" thing, but then I'm a granny. Maybe my taste in erotica is different from the taste of the current crop of teenagers.
OMG steamy romances...those covers used to crack me up! Even some of the paranormal romances covers are "steamy" but not usually of the open shirt greasy man-chest kind. Ew.
open shirt greasy man-chest kind. Ew.Ha! It catches my eye but it certainly isn't what sells me on buying the book.
Does anyone remember that really ugly man with the "long" blond hair. I NEVER figured out what was with the covers with him on them. Or the Regency books where the woman was actually wearing clothes more or less from the 1880s. Except that they were actually falling off her more than she was wearing them.
Wasn't Fabio the one on all those romance covers? And then he did the "I can't believe it's not butter" commercial? He is so not hot. I hate when guys have long hair.
Yes, that was his name. I couldn't be sure I had it right. It wasn't the hair so much, although I'll admit it put me off long hair. But he was UGLY!
LMAO! I forgot about the "I can't believe it's not butter" commercials! I never saw the attraction to him, either. It was only made worse when he attempted to talk! Ick.
I like long hair on guys in PNR. There is something sensual about it. Vamps, weres. Yum! I have no idea why b/c I don't like seeing a man with long hair (except my guy Dave Mustaine, hehe). I did not "grow up" seeing a lot of Fabio except for in the butter commercials. So not sexy.
I'm not a big fan of the long flowing locks on dudes. It not a deal breaker for me, though. Maybe Fabio ruined it for me?
Like Nathaniel in the Anita Blake series and his hair down to his ankles. There's nothing sensual or sexy about that to me. I read that and think, "I so would not want to deal with a man that has to spend more time on his hair than I do."
Almost all of Anita's men have very long hair, and frankly it is the one thing that I'm always turned off about.
I'm the exact opposite. Not every guy looks good with long hair, but as a general rule, guys with long hair are very hot to me. My hubby grew his hair long years ago, and I haven't let him cut it short again since. Kinda like Beth and Wrath in the BDB.;-)
Long hair is hot on a guy if it's neat and it has some body. I don't like it when it's thin and lifeless. I like guys who wear their long hair in a ponytail. Especially black or really dark hair. Yum!!!I also love really short hair (military style). Probably because I love military heroes.
Channing Tatum looks really hot with his short military hair. :)
I guess long hair is ok sometimes. I still think Eric (from the Sookie Stackhouse series) is sexy. It's not his hair that makes him sexy to me, though. I agree with Kristina. I don't want to deal with a guy who has more hair issues than me!
Danielle wrote: "Long hair is hot on a guy if it's neat and it has some body. I don't like it when it's thin and lifeless. I like guys who wear their long hair in a ponytail. Especially black or really dark hair. ..."Oh yeah, Danielle. Dark hair in a ponytail is yuuuuummy!
My guy doesn't really have any hair issues. He just combs it out, puts in a ponytail and he's good to go. When it gets close to waist-length, he'll start griping about too many tangles, and then I'm OK with him cutting it to shoulder-length to be more manageable. I just don't want him to go really short. I have long hair too though, so I can relate and do the same thing every couple of years.
LOL! I can see your point. I guess I just have a vision of stringy Crystal Gayle hair in my head. It all depends on the guy, I think. The only ones I'm going to say should DEFINATELY not have long hair are the guys who are bald on top. Oh wait...NO MULLETS, either!
Funny. I've always thought of Crystal Gayle's hair as being one of the few really long hair situations where I liked the hair.I think one of the reasons I don't like it is that I've been reading Victorian and Edwardian bios, with lots of photos of teen aged princesses with hair that BADLY needed to have their split ends trimmed. And in some cases they actually had reached the age where putting the hair up at least part way would have been normal in that time and place.
I have to stand firm in my position. No long hair! ;o) I guess that's the reason I only pick up heavy romance or erotica- to make fun of them. The covers are so ridiculous (no offense to those who love them). I never find the guys attractive. The girls have clothing hanging off their bodies. I just find it funny. I'm not interested in reading sex scenes. It's more fun to grab your man and act out your own!
My green eggs and ham is romance. Can't do it.
Mod
I don't like it when guys with long hair pull it back in a ponytail though...blah! It can't be messy either. (sigh) I am too picky. Only some guys can pass with long hair though...most look better with short hair. They guy has to be REALLY manly to look masculine with long hair...
Yes Joy that is why I like men with long hair in PNR only really. Not in regular romance really at all. I mean I dunno what it is but an author can really make a man with long flowing locks sound macho when said right. LOL. Not like I said it. LOL. That sounds really wrong for a man. I know it just takes the right kind of book with the right hero to be the image shattering proof that long hair is sexy!
Kristina wrote: "I have to stand firm in my position. No long hair! ;o) I guess that's the reason I only pick up heavy romance or erotica- to make fun of them. The covers are so ridiculous (no offense to those who ..."Hee hee! I just recently started reading romance novels (or bodice rippers, as my friend calls them). They ARE ridiculous, no doubt about it! I'm hooked on them like a crack addict, though. I accidentally picked up one that was "clean" last week and read the whole thing before I realized there wasn't going to be any raunchy sex in it. I didn't know that they even made romance novels without sex! I guess some people really read Playboy for the articles, too!
OMG once I started reading kink I had to grit my teeth to get through little or no sex in romance. I think if the story/character are strong and well written then its not so bad. But the anticipation + romance + kink = explosive ending. J.M. Snyder is the queen of well developed characters with engrossing inner dialog w; little or no sex [in some stories:]. She write m/m romances.
Okay, I'm sitting in court , using my iPhone, and trying not too laugh at some of these posts! Ok, I kind of get why you ladies love your romance. I just tend to like the shorter not so graphic love scenes. But if you ladies come across any particularly juicy scenes, please share! They do keep me entertained and I love reading them to my fiancé. I like to see what other adjectives we think of for "throbbing member"!
Kristina wrote: "I like to see what other adjectives we think of for "throbbing member"! "
Or "Burning Loins"! Romance novels make me laugh. I tried reading them before and laughed like little school girl who got to see her first kissing scene! lmao
Yet, PNR sex doesn't do that to me...go figure. Maybe it's the fantasy/paranormal aspect. Or it's just the words in the regular Romance that get me. Either way, "heaving busom (sp?)" and "slick manhood" creeps me out. haha
I haven't seen a lot of odd terms in the contemporary Romantica I read. I don't like hearing a man's cock described as a shaft. Like its a branch or machine part or something.
Romance novels go from sweet Regency novels (absolutely no sex of any kind) to as raunchy as they can get. I rather enjoyed the sweet Regency novels myself from time to time. I just plain like genre books as opposed to what was standard fiction back when I was younger. I like books that are about something. The something can be SF, fantasy, paranormal and urban whatever, mysteries, etc. Sex is good when it is well written. No sex is also good.
Starling: That's what I look for. I like for the author to convince me of whatever it happening is real [within the characters world:]. I like how u put that =D.
I love the chick-porn books! As far as the quality of the writing and storyline...Meh. It doesn't really matter as long as it has a lot of ridiculous sex scenes in it. I seriously lower my standards when it comes to this genre. LOL! Bring on the bare-chested vikings!
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I don't mind the word shaf(LOL), but there are plenty of other words for it that do bother me...
Anne wrote: "I love the chick-porn books! As far as the quality of the writing and storyline...Meh. It doesn't really matter as long as it has a lot of ridiculous sex scenes in it. I seriously lower my standard..."LMAO...that's hilarious!
Joy: It's when they use descriptive words along with shaft that I have issues...lol
Shaft is a pretty funny word! Makes me think of air vents for some reason. I wonder if there has ever been a book where the guy was described as having an itty bitty "member"! Doubt it. I know I wouldn't be interested in reading a romance where the man had a tiny weiner. Maybe I'm a little more shallow than I thought.
ROFL Anne! I have heard of [in M/M romance mind you:] 2 guys comparing their sizes. One being "average" but thick. Or something not to over the top like 8 or 9 inches. I don't know if its possible for romances to paint a man with a realistic or unfavorable brush. "If I wanted that I could look at my husband", sort of thinking. Some authors give even average sized men hurricane tongues and fingers like monkeys to get the job doesn't either way =D.
Hurricane tongues and monkey fingers!? LMAO!I agree that you don't want realism in a romance! I love my hubby, but we've been married long enough that we usually don't try to pull out any "new moves" to try and impress each other anymore. LOL!
I've ended up with a couple of romance novels lately that haven't had any of the juicy stuff in them. BOOO! Does anyone have any suggestions for authors of books so this kind of travisty doesn't happen to me anymore?
Bless you! I just put them on hold at my library!
Mod
LOL I just thought of a name for "it" that seriously bugs me... "Pizzle". LMAO!!! In the book I am currently reading, the woman calls it a pizzle. She even makes a joke about how her pug is proud of his "pizzle" in an attempt to make a boy laugh.
A "pizzle". Seriously? Reminds me of pixie stick and I don't think a guy would like the comparison.
Mod
Yep. It's in A Duke of Her Own the heroine waxes on for a good while about pizzle's. It makes the Duke and his son laugh, but I was dumbfounded that Eloisa James would use the word "pizzle" to describe the "center of a man's ego". LOL Terrible word for it! It def. does not inspire masculinity...
Wow. Pizzle? Wow. Never heard of that one before! Maybe she was running low on words for penis and decided to just make one up? LOL
Pizzle...that's HILARIOUS. I'm gonna start saying that. Pizzle...hahaha
Actually the word pizzle isn't a new one. I've seen it before. It is possible it is so old that it isn't around anymore.
His throbbing, aching pizzle. Yup, that just turned me on. ;)
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Books mentioned in this topic
Vanishing Acts (other topics)This Christmas (other topics)
Skaterboy (other topics)
A Duke of Her Own (other topics)
One Kiss From You (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
J.M. Snyder (other topics)Danielle Steel (other topics)
The "granny porn kind"? LMAO!!!