There are several reasons why I have a problem with “Romance” novels. Let’s begin:

1. The Plot – The plot of nearly every romance novel ever written is basically the same. They follow a formula, much like a romantic comedy movie. Two people meet (man and woman, two men, two women, whatever) and either instantly fall for each other or instantly hate one another. Most of the time it’s an instant attraction that they just can’t resist. Their meeting is followed by wild, passionate, kinky sex for pages and pages. Some incident will occur after that that usually results in one person being in trouble and the other having to save that person. Situation resolved, the two get together, end book.
2.  The Characters – Characters in romance novels rarely have much substance or growth and they tend to be rather stereotypical. You get the sexy, gorgeous alpha male who feels the instant need to protect his new found mate from any and all harm! Oh and screw her brains out asap. Female characters are often even worse in their stereotypes. They’re always the shy, good girl who would never take home a random stranger she just met, but then does exactly that. Romance authors try to tell the reader that this is how their characters would normally act, but then have them do the exact opposite. It’s confusing and annoying. If your character wouldn’t normally go out to a bar and pick up a hot stranger, they shouldn’t be doing that now.
3. The Sex – Every romance novel is full of sex. Not nearly as much as something categorized as Erotica, but still, sex is the focus of the book. In my personal opinion, two people meeting and falling instantly into bed with each other is NOT romantic. That is NOT love, it’s lust plain and simple. If i was interested in sex scenes I could watch porn for free on the internet and there would probably be just as much substance to the plot and characters. I’ve heard people say they skip over the sex scenes. What? Seriously? If you’re reading a book, you shouldn’t be skipping pages.

Also, how many ways can sex be described before it all just become the same. I’m not interested in how large a guy’s penis is or how wet a girl is. Honestly, that kind of stuff just annoys me and makes me not want to keep reading. Sex is NOT romance! there’s not deep meaningful connection between the characters. It’s all just chemical reactions.

Now, I’m not saying that sex should not be in books at all.  I just think it that it should be done tastefully and it should be part of the natural progression of a relationship.

4. Romance Series – Romance series annoy me because each book will focus on a specific couple and once that couple is together,  they’re no longer the focus. Each book in a romance series, focuses on X and Y getting together. They may appear in other books in the series but then they’re only side characters, so don’t get attached.

Have an opinion on this subject? Agree or disagree with me? I’ve love to know what other people think, so share in the comments!