Dear Authors, Show some respect

Dear Authors,

Please refrain from writing about disabilities unless you have direct experience or have invested substantial effort into thorough research. What may seem like a simple characteristic often carries profound significance. It is very different than assigning eye or hair color to a character. Disabilities are not mere plot devices to enhance book sales or fill a category; they are lived experiences with complexities that deserve respect. Misrepresentation or inaccuracies in portraying these experiences can cause real harm.

I recently finished a book by a #1 New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author, whose work I’ve enjoyed for years, including previous installments in this series. However, I was deeply disappointed by the portrayal of a deaf character who received a cochlear implant. While the depiction of life within the Deaf community was somewhat addressed, the author’s treatment of the cochlear implant process was grossly oversimplified and inaccurate, as if the author didn’t understand the profound difference between cochlear implants and hearing aids. This careless portrayal is hurtful and disrespectful to those who have undergone the challenging journey of receiving a surgically implanted cochlear implant and learning to hear and speak.

While I don’t expect fiction, especially romance, to provide a perfect scientific representation of medical issues, I do believe that a touch of realism in portraying characters’ struggles is crucial. Accurately reflecting these challenges adds depth and authenticity to the story, allowing readers to connect with the characters on a more meaningful level.

Anything less diminishes the experiences of readers who have lived these realities, and it shows a lack of respect for the authenticity their stories deserve.

Erotic World Book Day 2024

Overruling Judgment
by Liz Ellyn

Ian refuses to allow an explosive night of passion to derail his desire to make partner at the law firm. But, her tempting presence in the office, along with her alluring scent, mocks his resolve.

JD’s the hot art teacher with the body and stamina of a former professional hockey player. He’s a creative master, in and out of the bedroom, who captures the affection of the brilliant young attorney, but he second-guesses if he’s enough for her. 

Sasha won’t settle for less in her career or love life. It’s all or nothing. After a twist of fate and a proclamation of love, Sasha escapes choosing between Ian and JD. The alternative is far more arousing.

With careers in flux and hearts on the line, how will they all find the fortitude to come out on top?


Huck’s Legacy
by Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy

He’s an undercover DEA agent, trying to infiltrate The Diamondbacks, an infamous motorcycle club, in Hollywood. When Huck sees a beautiful woman who intrigues him, he wants her. Summer is on the run from an incident back in Nashville that put her in fear for her life. Working as a waitress in a diner near Hollywood Boulevard, Summer is drawn to the bad boy biker. Their mutual attraction fires a wild passion and shared nights but as the danger increases, passion turns to something deeper, something real.  When he’s outed as a Fed, he’s about to be executed when Summer steps in to save him. Although he’s seriously injured, they escape the Diamondbacks and leave Hollywood but trouble follows them all the way back to his hometown in Mississippi. The stakes are high – life or death – and the chance for a happily ever after is in jeopardy.


Grimdarke
by AK Nevermore

Out of options and on the run after her psychotic father’s released from jail, Kit Parson heads to the only place she might be safe from him, the Maw of Mayhem MC. The unexpected move buys her time, but also a puts her at risk— Surrounded by shifters, her inner cat begs to be released, and after witnessing a brutal attack on her mother as a child, she refuses to let the monster out.

Totally doable, provided no bodily fluids are ever exchanged.

That means hooking up with the MC’s hot as hell VP, Grimdarke James, is off the table. Mourning the recent murder of the club’s alpha and struggling to control his inner cat, the tattooed Viking god is on thin ice. If he goes feral again, he’ll be put down. Which makes his cat’s insistence that Kit belongs to him problematic, upsetting the delicate balance of the MCs internal politics, and the woman blackmailing Grim.

But when Kit’s father catches up with her, Grim has no choice but to trust his cat, and Kit can’t deny their chemistry. Can they hold on to each other when everything is try to tear them apart? After a gruesome triple murder propels them deeper into the paranormal world, they find themselves with unlikely allies, and against mounting odds threatening to destroy everything they hold dear…


Crossing the Border
by Margaret L. Carter

Paula, a bestselling horror novelist’s widow, discovers his fiction was based on a terrifying alternate dimension he stumbled into through a labyrinth in the woods on their property. Right before his death, he warned her not to publish his final work in progress. However, Doug, his agent and literary executor, their best friend, urges Paula to get her husband’s posthumous work into print. When an obsessive fan keeps telling her the stories are based on fact and she is in danger, she appeals to Doug for help. He insists they should publish the last book, while she’s determined to obey her husband’s dying wish. Meanwhile, they also fight against their long-suppressed attraction to each other. Doug once wanted to become more than a friend to her, and now that she’s free, those feelings flare up again.


Burning Ivy
by Brandy Hynes

Dandelion wishes. Grains of sand. Shooting stars. Butterfly kisses.
Murder and mothballs. Carnage and blood.
Black leather gloves and too many lilies.
Time can swallow her whole, and it’s almost up.

WELLS

She’s my mission. My prize. My obsession.
Ivy Kingston is the most wanted woman in the world for reasons she is completely oblivious to,
reasons I intend to capitalize on.
She needs a husband to receive her inheritance, so I’m on the hunt for a wife. As long as it’s her.
I’m not who she thinks I am.
But she has no idea who she really is either.
I’ll be her groom. Her keeper. Her lover.
And quite possibly her demise.

IVY
People often underestimate me.
They shouldn’t.
Gavin Wells is dreamy and delicious. Dark and mysterious. His world is exactly where I want to
be.
But he’s got me in a choke hold of smoke and mirrors.
Someone should have warned him that burning ivy releases toxic spores.

Confusion over three star book ratings

Three Star Book Reviews, what do you mean?

Average? Okay? Meh? Pretty-good?

A three-star book review can leave both authors and readers feeling uncertain. It’s neither a resounding endorsement nor a harsh critique, making it challenging to gauge the book’s overall quality. In the end, a three-star review highlights the subjective nature of opinions and the nuanced experience of literature.