M

I am Lover of romance, who indulges in the romantic adventures of literature

My name is Renee, and I am the host of this site. I am a 34 year old woman, on the prowl for her mate, searching out the best of books, exploring the wilds of the imagination and delving into the heart of a beautiful love story.

 

Tea and Biscuits Book Discussions: Romance Hot Takes

by | Sep 20, 2021 | Tea and Biscuits Discussions | 10 comments

Tea and Biscuits Book Discussions is a feature here on Addicted To Romance where there is talk of books, blogging, and reading topics….so come on in and join in on the discussion

Today I want to share with you some ROMANCE HOT TAKES, I got the idea from Booktube, where you ask fellow readers and supporters their unpopular opinions involving books and the romance community and my views on these unpopular opinions. Now I want to say that these are all my opinions and if you disagree that is valid and more than okay.

The idea that you need to have a ton of kids to have a HEA , involving lots of kids in the epilogues 

I definitely agree with this. Now I love children and love seeing happy couples have lots of little tykes to love and nurture. However, there are all types of HEA and different couples are going to have different HEA’s. Children aren’t for everyone, or maybe the couple wait a while to have kids or its a couple that are more mature in age. So while I enjoy seeing kids in an epilogue, I also like seeing various happy ever after’s that aren’t all the same.

The Kiss Quotient Isn’t Good

I can definitely understand that. I do think that this book tends to be overhyped quite a bit. I think if I re read it today, I am not sure I would enjoy it quite as much. I do think its a solid romance and I really love the representation that is contained within it. But it is over hyped in my opinion.

Illustrated Covers Aren’t Good

YES!!! I definitely concur with this one here. I think these covers are horrid. Now in some circumstances, I think they have their place of course. And where physical models are more difficult to come by like those that are POC, so I can see the attraction for these. But I will say most of the ones I have read are not ROM COM’s but are marketed like that. I feel like these covers aren’t that attractive and really turn me off from reading these books. I just haven’t had the best experience with these, and I feel like its just a way for publishers to go cheap on covers. And personally, I am not that attracted to them, I just don’t find them appealing. They just have no meaning any more. And you never know if you are picking up a contemporary, a rom com, women’s fiction or YA.

Social Media isn’t a good enough reason to cancel an author

I am really hating this trend in romancelandia, and it wouldn’t surprise me if its in other genres but I have noticed it the most in the romance community. I miss the ole days where it didn’t matter the author’s political or social opinions, We are all different and have various views and we should NEVER punish authors for having views that aren’t the popular or “woke” view. It doesn’t make them evil, it just means they have a differing opinion. I have seen too many authors canceled just because they say something on twitter or Instagram that isn’t popular. We really should be fighting cancel culture and I know many authors that are more conservative but I would never reveal that because I know the community would come after them. I even experienced this level of hate in the community last year and I am telling you all….it can get bad. We as a society need to let go of all the hate. That is NOT what we are about, we are about support, encouragement and love because the romance community gets the most hate out of all the fiction genres, we should support each other no matter our religious, political or social views.

Indie romance is better than traditionally published works

I actually agree with this even though I still read quite a bit of traditionally published works. But some of my favorite books have been indie published. There is so much more flexibility when it comes to indie romance over traditional works. And lately traditional works just feel bland these days, not as much creativity as they used to have within them.

I don’t like smut or sex scenes in a romance novel

I can see where this is coming from, and while I don’t agree, we will all have various views on this topic. Personally, I don’t care one way or the other whether a romance novel has sex in it because that is not what makes a romance for me. While I like seeing the growth of the intimacy, it is not necessary for me. Some of my favorite romances have been fade to black. So I think its good that there are plenty of various levels of steam to be found in romance.

Dark Romance is disgusting and doesn’t see the appeal

I think you are all going to know my feelings on this one here. I LOVE a well-written dark romance novel. However, it’s not going to be a genre for everyone. But we should not shame each other for what we enjoy reading. There is no shame in enjoying a dark romance. And there are so many different levels to a dark romance. And just because you explore something edgier in a romance doesn’t mean you condone it in reality. This is fiction and sometimes it’s fun to explore something different and wild and crazy.

Any love story is a romance

I highly disagree with this statement. This is so controversial in the bookish community. A romance is only a romance if it has a HEA and is romance focused in the story. You can have a love story without it being a romance. Like Nicholas Sparks….he is not a romance author, he writes love stories but he doesn’t really write romance.

We need to be more honest about the double standards we set for heroines in romance

We, as romance readers, need to be more honest when it comes to heroines in romance novels and how toxic many of them actually are written. There is a double standard in criticizing the hero for certain actions but if a heroine does the same action …..we let that slide. And I think this is very problematic. Women can be cruel, toxic, abusive just as men can be, and just because we are women, doesn’t mean we should ever get away from these types of behaviors and have more honest open opinions about this.

There should be more dual POV books in romance and most of them should be that way

I will say that I don’t agree with this. I personally prefer 3rd POV over any other POV, mostly because I feel like you get multiple viewpoints without being too centered on one character all the time. And this is just the POV I grew up reading with so it is the one I am the most comfortable with.

So what do you think of these hot takes? Do you agree or disagree? All opinions are welcome! Let me know in the comments below!

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10 Comments

  1. Nadene

    I am with your assessment, except the one about The Kiss Quotient.?

    Reply
    • Lover of Romance

      LOL Yeah I know that is a HOT topic. I enjoyed it but I am not sure I would enjoy it quite as much today as I did then.

      Reply
  2. Tanya @ Girl Plus Books

    I’ve been loving the hot take videos on Booktube. Totally agree that kids are not necessary for every single HEA epilogue. Sometimes, sure, but certainly kids are not in everyone’s idea of HEA (including mine). I’ve been seeing a lot of Booktubers bash traditionally pubbed romance lately in favor of indie. And while I do read more indie than traditional, I don’t think one is better than the other. It’s just a matter of what the reader is looking for. There’s something out there for everyone. And OMG, don’t even get me started on illustrated covers. Gah! I loathe the trend and it needs to stop. It’s so overdone and the market is just saturated. Now every romance has to have a cartoon cover? I run the other way. LOL

    Reply
    • Lover of Romance

      Yes I am adoring the hot take videos as well, they are so fun to see how we view the romance and/or bookish world. LOL I can’t stand the illustrated covers, they are horrible right? And its even more and more every day. On NG I swear over half of them are illustrated and even if its an author I like, I run the other direction haha

      Reply
  3. Sam@WLABB

    There’s a lot up there I nodded along with, and things I never really realized as a trend (kids = HEA). I did enjoy TKQ, but there are tons of books out there that are overhyped and may not be your cup of tea (The Hating Game?Anna and the French Kiss? – books I enjoyed, but didn’t think were as amazing as people made them out to be). The thing about indie vs traditionally published romance is interesting to me. I have enjoyed plenty of romance from both, but I think the indies always seem more swoony or more focused on the romance maybe. There’s something, even if I cannot quite put my finger on it.

    Reply
    • Lover of Romance

      Well I liked TKQ, and I really enjoyed it but I do think its overhyped. I did read The Hating Game and liked it but it took a long time for me to pick it up. I agree, I think indie there is much more freedom to what you can write. Its just some of the covers are cringe haha

      Reply
  4. Carole @ Carole's Random Life

    Great post! I think that the illustrated covers are way over done. I liked The Kiss Quotient but I didn’t think it was the best book that I ever read or anything. I don’t really need to see kids in an epilogue. Kids are not for everyone!

    Reply
  5. Ann Lorz

    You said so much much there. I have to admit I do not like the new cover trend. I don’t find them appealing. I don’t need a super sexy cover model on mine but do like a real picture. I read a love a bunch of indie authors. I really like them. This is a great post.

    Reply
  6. Sophia Rose

    I like the hot takes style of discussion you are doing here. Several of these touched on the ‘live and let live’ attitude that is lacking in these days. If an author, blogger, reader, or anyone I am following approves of or does something I think is ethnically wrong then I will stop following, but I’d like to think I’m a big girl and can handle the fact- and even be friendly when that someone else has a different POV from me on important or even piddling issues. I don’t mind the graphic covers fad though they do give me a certain impression of the book within the covers (yes, I’m staring at two that made me ugly cry when I thought the books were light romcoms) and I’ve learned to be cautious and seek other clues of what the book is actually about. One of these days, I’ll read The Kiss Quotient so I can have an opinion on that. 😉

    Engaging post, Renee!

    Reply
  7. Mary Kirkland

    Kids- I like to see that the couple, maybe years later has at least one kid. Especially if I’m reading a really long series and the couple pops back up years later, it’s nice to see that they have kids. Maybe because I have a kid and a grandson. Personal preference.

    Dark romance- I’ve read some dark romance and because I read a lot of PNR if the romance is between a human and beastly vampire or feral werewolf and they end up happy, I love that. But even some dark romances where there’s no paranormal elements if the story is good, and I like it I’ll review it. I don’t care what others think

    Social media- I really don’t care where an author lies politically. Or any of my friends. The only time I;ll stop reading an author because of a social media post is when they are mean to readers, reviewers or say something mean to me personally. I stopped reading an author years ago when I posted a picture of my pet rats on fb and she made a comment of “Eww, vermin. They are cat food.”

    That didn’t go over well with me.

    Reply

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