I just posted a new column on Romancing the Blog. This time I'm talking about the lack of any indication in romances, particularly erotic romances, of just what the sex-to-story ratio is. It makes it tough to know just what you're going to get when you spend your money; just because you like explicit sex doesn't mean you want the books you read to be 80+ percent sex scenes. It's not about limiting what's published or complaining that there's not enough of "my" kind of book out there, but rather about giving readers the info they need to find the books they'll like. Come read, and tell me what you think.
Angie
9 comments:
Sometimes I've wished for the same thing. I like me a good sex scene, but I prefer a good story overall to the salacious stuff.
WW -- me too. [nod] Sex is great, but I prefer it to have some point besides, "Whee, sex!" :) I don't mind that the "Whee, sex!" books are out there, I just get annoyed when I buy one of them accidentally.
Angie
Good column. A rating system would not solve all the problems, though. It would be nice if reviewers would make these points. I definitely don't want my story so full of sex that the story is pushed out. Story first.
Charles -- I agree, but not all books are reviewed. I'd like to have something on each book which gives me some sort of clue, even if I could get more and better info on some of them from reviews.
Angie
...just because you like explicit sex doesn't mean you want the books you read to be 80+ percent sex scenes.
This is something Mrs. Giggles talks about in her reviews all the time; one review I read yesterday had the sex scene...in the very first scene! (Sheesh. Isn't it better to get to know the characters first before having them jump in the sack? Makes for a better story, I would think.)
Hmm. I'll have to check out Romancing the Blog. Haven't looked at that in quite some time.
I'd like to have something on each book which gives me some sort of clue, even if I could get more and better info on some of them from reviews.
Good idea. And like you said, not all books are reviewed, and some of the reviewers don't exactly let you know how much "Whee, sex!" scenes there are.
Nancy -- see, I don't necessarily have a problem with a story beginning with sex. I can imagine ways it would work, and serve as a perfectly good intro to the characters and their situation. Depends what the story's about. But yes, there has to be some way to let people know what's in that package, so people who don't like books that start with sex scenes can avoid them. [duck] It's not really an issue with hardcopy books you get at the bookstore, I suppose, since you have the option of browsing through the book itself, but if you buy online, or get e-books, you're pretty much stuck with whatever the vendor has decided to show you.
Angie
I think people who review books could point out the sex but most of the time when I am reviewing a book I don't think about the sex. I mean yeah it had some in there but if it flows with the story and makes sense then by all means I'm not going to mention it.
The only time I do is when it was TOO MUCH for that story or the plot was nothing but sex.
You made some excellent points I do wish there was a system to either "warn" readers are "excite" them.
Sometimes I want sex with my story so I buy authors I know have them ex. Lora Leigh
Other times I don't want sex so I tend to go look for urban fantasy or sci-fi that doesn't have it. Hell that is why I started reading YA books to get away from that ;)
Sarai -- The problem with not mentioning it if it's OK is that a lot of reviewers don't mention it at all, so it's not usually a case of no news being good news. [wry smile] I've read rave reviews of books I ended up skimming most of the way through. Of course, those reviewers probably like that kind of book; that's cool, but it makes their reviews less useful for me, since they're about equally enthusiastic either way.
Angie
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