Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl
Hi everybody and welcome to a new Top Ten Tuesday! Today’s post is all about things we wish books had more or less of, and as a self-proclaimed hopeless romantic, of course I went for romance.
So without further ado, here are my opinions:
Book I Wish Had More Romance (I Love Me Some Slow-Burn, But I’m Also Quite Impatient…)
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE these books. I mean, some of these are my favorite books of all time and I praise them for their slow-burn and yet at the same time, I wanted more romance. More hand-holding. More pining. More kissing. More swooning. I’m a hopeless romantic, please don’t judge me, okay? So both things can be true at the same time: I can love these books and still wish they had more romance.
Book I Wish Had Less Romance (Smut, I Mostly Mean Smut)
Romance in books is always a difficult balance for me. I want it to be prominent, yes. But when it comes to smutty scenes, the amount I’m happy with can be a little difficult to predict. And I’ve found that a little goes a long way. I love them, and I also don’t want to wait too long for them BUT I also don’t want them to take over the plot or I don’t want to get the feeling that the characters are all lust and little love. I know this line will be different for all of us and that’s perfectly okay. But for the below books, I personally wish they had a little less romance and a little more plot/character development instead.
Books That Got The Balance Just Right <3
This was the PERFECT amount of romance for me! *chef’s kiss*
Tell Me:
How do you feel about romance in books?
What’s too much and what’s too little?
Finding that one book that balances one of our favorite elements (I too love a good romance in novels) is tough. I’m glad you have some that get it right (and I love how you formatted this topic, too).
It’s indeed a tough balance but it makes it all the more special when you read one of those books that gets it completely right 🙂
I think it’s interesting that you love slow-burn relationships but are also impatient. 🙂
Haha yes, I know it’s very contradictory 🙂
So totally agree with Icebreaker! That book was so long and it felt like nothing happened because it was all sex scenes! The author almost completely skipped over what I thought was the point of the book.
Yes exactly, I’m glad I’m not the only one who felt that way about the book!
Halfway to the Grave is the perfect book. No one can convince me otherwise! Also yes to Delivering Evil For Experts. I really feel like rereading the series now!
I agree completely about Halfway to the Grave being the perfect book! And a Guild Codex reread does sound like an excellent idea 😉
Lol the smut books. The only one I haven’t read on that list is The Nanny but I couldn’t agree more about the other books (especially JLA’s books)! 🫣
Haha glad to know I’m not the only one who felt that way about the JLA books! I really loved the series at first but I’ve honestly given up by now…
Ha! Look at my post as I began with less smut 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Haha I like that we have the same thoughts about those books 😀
Finding the right balance in a romance can be so hard. Sometimes the slow burn is great, others it’s too slow. There are time the physical relationship takes over the book, and other times you just sit there screaming at the book telling them to just do something already.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/authors-take-notes-ten-things-i-want-more-of/
Yes exactly! It’s such a fine line and it can even shift from day to day depending on my mood. But when a book get the balance exactly right it’s amazing 🙂
I love romance in my books, but no smut. I prefer closed door romance books. I am not a huge fan of insta-love either, it rarely works.
Insta-love is definitely one of my least favorite tropes too!
I know what you mean about the balance of the smut scenes. Sometimes you have nothing for half the book but once the door opens all of a sudden there is a ton. At every moment. Like, please no.
Yes exactly! I like a little smut, but I don’t like it taking over the plot. It needs to be a decent balance 🙂
I love that you went with this topic. I’m the same way. I want a lot of kissing and some smut. I want to swoon. I don’t want to roll my eyes because the characters are hopping in bed every other page. Like you said, it’s a fine balance.
I actually haven’t read any of the books you have on your list, although ALL of them are on my TBR. I look forward to reading them and seeing if I agree with you on the balance. 😀
Yes exactly! It’s such a fine balance and it’s different for everyone and it may even be different for me depending on the day and my mood 😉
I hope you’ll love all of these and I am curious how you’ll feel about the balance too 😀
I enjoyed Dear Aaron, but I seriously did not think those two were ever going to admit to their feelings! LOL
Yes exactly! It’s one of my all-time faves and I both love the slow burn and hate it at the same time! Like, I wanted just a bit more and a bit sooner 🙂