I’m a romance book junkie! I can’t get enough. I read all kinds of romance: historical, suspense, humorous, sad, BDSM, erotic, cowboys, sports, paranormal, and everything in between. I love the build up, the tragedy, and the happily ever after or happily for now.
What don’t I like? Book Blurbs that represent a book as being a romance novel or novella, but then include graphically violent scenes that include things such as rape. There’s nothing romantic about rape. The one exception is when the story mentions that a character has been violated in the past and it is done as part of the character development.
However, CONSENSUAL simulated rape in a kinky BDSM scene in a novel can be hot if written well.
A reader’s reaction to a book starts at the book blurb. It puts the reader in a particular mindset and sets up expectations. When the book doesn’t meet those expectations it can be disappointing. If the book goes off into a completely different direction, it can either be great or can be a bust. That’s a serious risk. Beware, the result can be a scathing review. It’s the bad reviews that make more of an impression than the good reviews.
I’ve been an avid book reader for years and I’ve been blogging about books for one year. I try to be very fair about my book reviews. I make it a policy not to bash authors or books.
Please don’t misrepresent a story with a falsified book blurb.
Indulge in Life's Guilty Pleasures 
Absolutely agree. This applies to all genres, not just romance. I also would add that putting key information in your book blurb is necessary. I find this sometimes a problem with historical fiction. The cover will show that the book is historical but the book blurb doesn’t mention from what time period or place. Historical fiction readers like to read books from specific time periods, not necessarily from all time periods. So they should know up front what the time period is for the book.
Tam
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Very true. The book blurb should attract the readers that want to read the book. Thanks for stopping by my blog.
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Oh my – my thoughts exactly! There should be a “Romance Rating” as in x rated, R rated, something to let readers know more about the content.
There are lots of authors who don’t seem to understand what romance is. Rape is not an act of intimacy. Being aggressive and hurting a woman is not sexy.
Grt article 👍👍
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Thank you. I like your idea about a romance rating.
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[…] Misleading Book Blurbs Lead to Bad Reviews […]
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