Are there books you love to hate? Or certain characters from books you love to hate?
Obviously we here at Book Binge have a few. Jenny from A Kingdom of Dreams by Judith McNaught comes to mind. And A Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux.
But do you ever hate a book so much, yet can’t find one single person who shares your passion?
That’s how I am with Suzanne Brockmann. Of all the books of hers I’ve read, the only book I truly enjoyed was Heart Throb, which isn’t related to any other book she’s ever written (at least, not that I know of).
Caution: Possible series spoilers below.
Her Troubleshooters series just pissed me off. I hated the first book. Kelly and Tom were both retarded, and she was so TSTL I wanted to scream. As the series progressed, I found myself hating them more and more. But I kept reading, because EVERY SINGLE PERSON who I know that read them said they were amazing. And because Rowena was so obsessed with Sam Starret I felt like I had to at least read up to his book.
I’ve regretted that decision ever since. Deeply regretted.
You see, I couldn’t find a single thing about Sam to love. Not.One.Single.Thing. And Alyssa? OH HELLS NO. Talk about TSTL. And then there was Kelly, who still refused to marry Tom because she’s dumb, until she HAD to marry him because he got locked up in prison and she couldn’t see him otherwise. So they had the most retarded wedding in the history of all weddings. And it took FOUR BOOKS for that to happen.
And Max and what’s her face…they just danced around each other. Even before their book came out I hated his reasons for staying away…Although, she didn’t seem TSTL. Of course, I never read their book, so I can’t say if she turned that way, but whatever…
End Possible Spoilers
From what I could tell, every single heroine had Penis Envy and SB wrote her heroes as dickless as possible.
My favorite kind of hero is the one who’s fierce and alpha, but totally in love with his woman, and completely willing to do anything for her. But I draw the line at sniveling, whining crybabies who don’t have a backbone.
Ugh.
See, I told you I love to hate them.
But..it seems I’m alone in this. I have yet to meet another person who didn’t like these. Some people I’ve talked to didn’t really care for them, but not one person hated them the way I did.
Everyone loves the things I hated. They think the heroines are strong and independent. They think the heroes are alpha but sensitive. They think the stories are engaging and the action fast paced.
I didn’t see any of those things.
So, maybe I’m alone in my hatred of all things SB (except Heart Throb), but am I alone in hating a book everyone else seems to love?
Tell me, has this ever happened to you? What book/series have you read that everyone raved about, but you love to hate?
Please, tell me I’m not the only one…
*gasp* Oh yes I did. LOL
You guys are making me laugh. I loved Sam and Alyssa and I loved Max and Gina but neither story lived up to the hype that I put in my brain. So I’m on a break with her. I want her to get ahead of me because the whole ‘story arc’ thing is painful. You get sucked in and then things get worse and then they stumble onto a HEA. Ugh. But I was a SB fangirl for years – it wasn’t until Max and Gina that I was all ‘fuck no!’. Max was no longer Max – like you say, he became just like every other hero instead of the stick up his ass guy he was. He actually sang an Elvis song at the end. Double Ugh!!
I don’t get the love for J.D. Robb’s Eve and Roarke. I know. I’m a problem for all of society. I have to admit I only read the first one (there was one paragraph where I felt a real emotion from the characters) and started the second one and fell asleep. BORED!
I think if the publisher put only the relationship parts into one book I might try it. Other than that, I just couldn’t care.
OMG – Outlander – I just remembered the love for this one. I read to the part where the hero and heroine got married. They were watching fish in a stream – WATCHING FISH IN A STREAM!! Hell, I like watching fish too but I don’t want to read pages of it!
So yeah, those I don’t get.
I’ll have to think of others.
CindyS
*gasp*
Oh no you didn’t…
Holly, you’re my new best friend! I hated those books by Brockmann! I thought I was the only one 😉
Lemme say this first: I’m a huge SB fan…nothing wrong with that. :o)
And to answer you’re question: Yes, I can’t seem to like any paranormal stuff. Honestly, I try–I’ve tried Karen Marie Moning, then Angela Knight, and a couple of others, I think. I just can’t seem to seriously read each one of those stuff and end up skimming them then come up with MEH! for a reaction. Every freakin’ time.
I JUST up a review for a Suzanne Brockmann book.
SB wrote her heroes as dickless as possible.
Thats EXACTLY how I feel about the hero in Ladies man. OMG thats a perfect description.
LOL 😛 I wouldn’t say I love to hate some books or authors… but I don’t always understand the hype or love for certain ones. I’m with Holly for Suzanne Brockmann. I don’t hate her, but I don’t enjoy her books… way too many storylines and there’s so much hype for certain characters, but when it comes to their stories, boring.
hmmm, Susan Elizabeth Phillips is another that I don’t really enjoy.
I can agree that HEART THROB is one very damn good book.
I can’t say I hated every Brockman book, but there is one I hate with a seething passion – The Defiant Hero. Hated, hated, hated it!!
And sadly *big sob because I used to love her books* Julie Garwood falls into that category. I tried rereading a couple of her books years later and hated them.
I agree with Heart Throb though – loved that one.
I’m not an SB fan but I do enjoy some of her older Seal Team 10 books. Like Prince Joe and Harvard’s Education. Books like Heartthrob and Bodyguard were OK.
Nath – I’m with you on SEP. I’ve read a few but more out of desperation for something new. Her books are too ’emotional’ for me. Same with Catherine Anderson.
I love to HATE J R Ward’s book Lover Revealed. I hated, hated, hated it! WITH PASSION! And it’s a nearly irresistible compulsion to jump into any discussion about it and say “I absolutely hated Butch’s book!” LOL!
Of course, I thought the BDB series was just OK before Butch’s book anyway. I am one of the few (that I’ve met) that don’t get the “WOW” from the series. I really don’t get the fan-girl following that she seems to have. *shrug*
Great topic ladies! Lots of fodder for discussion. You should start a Yahoo group/discussion board.
Ange,
I hated Butch’s book, too. Seriously. Well, I liked the John stuff, but that’s it. And I wasn’t that much of a fan of the series before, either. I loved Dark Lover but wasn’t too interested after that. Blech.
Kristie,
Which book is The Defiant Hero? Is that Kelly and Tom’s book? I can’t keep the titles straight.
And I used to love JG’s historicals but I’m over it now. And her contemps? Hell no.
Rosie,
Very emotional, wasn’t it?
Nath,
I love SEP. LOL Too funny that we’re so opposite on that.
Chantal,
I’m so glad I’m not the only one who thought so. *sigh* Vindication is SWEET! haha
Kookie,
No, there’s nothing wrong with that.
I’ve never been able to get into Angela Knight, either. She just doesn’t appeal. I loved KMM’s Highlander books but never had the urge to read her new series.
Ana,
YAY! I’m not the only one!
Cindy,
I think we’re getting ready to do another post about that…books that don’t live up to the hype.
I lurrrve JDR, but I get how other people don’t care for them. Ween’s never been able to get into the series either.
I tried reading Outlander ages ago, but never could get past like the 5th chapter. I figure I’ll read them someday..or not. lol
I hated Sam soooooooooooo much I wrote two posts about it. That Gone too far book is one of the stupidest novels I have EVER EVER read! and Alyssa, there was nothing likable in that character, how on earth did she get two men to fall in love with her?
The one I can’t stand is the one with John/Nils and Meg. I hated her, hated her, hated her. And when I read that of all her heroines, she considered herself most like Meg – well, made me not want to read anymore SB – so I haven’t.
you know my feelings on this! hee
The one uber looooved book that stands out to me that I couldn’t get on board with is “Outlander”. NO WAIT- Laura Kinsale’s Flowers in the Storm? or something like that. Oh for that matter ANY Kinsale is one big snoozefest to me yet she seems to instill much squeeing from the majority of romance readers.
I hate SB’s heroines. I hated Kelly. Hated Meg. I liked Teri and Savannah, but hated Joan. Alyssa/Sam and Max/Gina did NOT live up to the hype. But I’ll continue reading the series b/c I love the series as a whole. Retarded, I know.
I hated A Knight in Shining Armor. Not love to hate, just hate. The ending totally ruined the book for me. I wouldn’t even give it a 1 out of 5. HATE IT.
Vicious,
But you didn’t read the other books, so you were missing out on a lot of stuff…but it’s all good, hate it or love it, I love it enough for every dang body! LOL.
There are plenty books that I just don’t get the hype over, I read some JDR books and I just didn’t care for it but everyone loves it…I don’t get it.
There are probably others but I can’t think of any right now.
Sam and Alyssa 4eva!
Max and Gina 4eva!
Now that I’ve got that out of the way, and an author who seems to induce much rapture, but whom I merely find ok is Jennifer Crusie. They leave me feeling…empty. They aren’t awful by any stretch, there’s just nothing that compels me to read another by her.
The first thing that comes to mind is Lara Adrian’s recent Midnight Breeds series. It’s not that I HATE them so much as they are Black Dagger Carpathian “meh” retreads. Nothing original, nothing memorable outside of what JR Ward and Christine Feehan had already created.
Speaking of JR Ward and Christine Feehan (and let me throw in Sherrilyn Kenyon, too)… their books ARE absolutely enjoyable but I TRULY do not understand the zealous frenzy they seem to incite in many fans.
Vicious – Ooooooh, Sam. I ABSOLUTELY hated that character too. In EVERY book including his own, which I only read because he and Alyssa were like a car-wreck that you just can’t help rubber-necking to see. Ugh! Gina & Max was just blah. I didn’t even care enough to hate.
I read The Admiral’s Bride by SB today. I have liked most of the earlier original Seal team books but this one was BAD! There is a major ‘old enough to be her dad’ factor – which I could live with – but he’s TOTALLY still in love with his deceased wife (who he’d been with for 30 years) throughout the whole book. Even in the end when he ‘loves’ the heroine I still felt like she got screwed.
qb – I’ve noticed an increase in cult-ish followings for authors too! I just don’t roll like that. Even if it’s a favorite author (ahem, Nalini Singh) I might do a fan-girl squeeeee and pimp her out like there’s no tomorrow but some of these rabid fans actually go around attacking people who think the author is less that FABULOUS. And a few (a VERY few) authors even encourage or ask people to do it. That’s just TOTALLY wrong IMO!
Do you think that the increased presence of authors on the internet via blogs, bb, & chats have created the increase in hyper-fans? I’ve been a rabid romance reader for about 20 years and I don’t remember it being like this before.
VT, I forgot you hated Sam as much as I do. Poor Rowena. haha
Casee,
I rated AKISA @ 3.5 for the story and -2.0 for the ending. Hated it!
You crack me up, with the whole, HATED them but I’ll still read it. haha
Dev,
I really like JC, but I don’t think she can ever top Bet Me, and all her other novels seem pale in comparison.
QB,
I’m working on another post about just that. How so many authors do write enjoyable books, but I don’t see how fangirls become rabid over them. I remember one particular JRW fan threatening to send Z to “lesser” our asses. Huh. Last time I checked, that was fiction.
Ange,
I actually wrote a post about that on SF once. It’s not that I think authors having blogs send their fans into Rabidville, but I do think they encourage less rational behavior by creating online lives for their characters.
There are some unbalanced people in the world. By having character chats and bringing them to life online, I think that’s just saying, “Ok, become rabid and crazy..see, I’m real”.
But I don’t think just having a presence online does that. The Lovely Nora Roberts spends a lot of time online. She’s constantly posting at various blogs and etc, but her fans aren’t rabid and crazy.
Oh, JR Ward!
I love to hate those books.
I am SO excited for the next one. Next month, right?
But I know I will have tons to bitch about after I read it.
I can’t stand the way the brothes talk. OMG, it fucking sucks.
You know, I am unashamedly an LKH fangirl. Hell, I even got to be a corpse in her newest ABVH book. HOWEVER, I actually still retain a sense of humor. As long as it’s her writing that’s trashed, and not her personal life, then I’m down wit dat. (*snicker* that’s a BDB K-Fedism for Chantal).
The proliferation of author message boards DOES appear to have created a climate of US vs. THEM for several authors besides LKH, such as JR Ward and Sherrilyn Kenyon.
IMO, though, Sherrilyn Kenyon seems to have forgotten that not everyone visits her message boards to disect every word she writes. Her recent books seem to have been written with these uber fans in mind, leaving casual readers like me lost. I’m sticking with the DH series only until Ash’s story is released, then I’m done. I don’t have a clue what the hell is going on in her books anymore.
QB, that did make me laugh. True. lol
I hear you about LKH. I’m only on book 2 of the Anita Blake series, but I have read all the crap about her personal life.
It’s annoying. People should mind their own business.
Holly,
I can’t stand a sissy hero and Sam spend 3/4 of the book either crying, or thinking about crying, or moaning, or complaining, or about to throw up, or crying some more. Honestly, it was enough to give me a migrane. Get a grip idiot! LOL
I tried reading the one with the bald guy and the doctor (?) the ones that had (or think they had?) sex in a car in HS and then were reunited in some idiotic plot with someone dying of cancer and the gardiner who took care of him? I stopped reading when the bald guy came out to talk to the heroine, her father and someone’s grandfather in his undies and no shirt. How can you respect a guy that would do that? WHAT WAS THE NEED OF THAT? Did he not own any clothes? *sigh*
Vicious – OMG! your ‘synopsis’ is HILARIOUS. I almost fell out of my chair I was laughing so hard. I had to read it 3 or 4 times before I could identify which book you were talking about. It’s The Unsung Hero, right? With Tom & Kelly?
Chantal,
I love to hate JRW, too. There’s so much to bitch about with each new book.
QB,
I haven’t read any of her more recent releases (I think DSOTM was the last one I read) so I can’t say if she’s gotten worse, but I do think she set herself up for failure when she started the series with so many rules for the world she created.
By the time she got to DSOTM, she’d already broken almost all of the cardinal rules of the DH’s. I hate stuff like that.
Oh, and I’ve never read LKH. But I’ve heard good and bad. Maybe someday…
VT,
Girl, I am SO with you. I don’t understand how so many women are head over heels for Sam when all he did was puke and cry. that is SO NOT HOT.
And The Unsung Hero just started my love of hating these. They were both complete idiots. Although..I don’t remember the underwear incident. I’m totally snickering over that.
Ange,
That’s what I got from her synopsis.