Once in a while we gather up our recent “Did Not Finish” (DNF) and share what didn’t work for us:

Tori

And Jericho Burned by M.J. Compton: I was excited to get this book. I liked the premise of undercover rock band FBI agents/werewolves investigating a cult. I’m also a sucker for human/supernatural soul mate pairings. My problem was the romance. So many assumptions and misunderstandings that carry on far into the book. The hero sees his human soul mate and instantly falls for her but gets increasingly testy that she doesn’t behave like a werewolf-which she’s not. The heroine is understandably shocked by the insta-love the hero is feeling and the fact he’s a werewolf. Then she automatically assumes he’s just after her trust fund. Huh? Back & forth, back & forth…I grew annoyed by the stupidity they both showed. It’s too bad too because the cult storyline looked to be really interesting.

The Virgin Romance Novelist by Meghan Quinn: I was inundated with DMs from fellow readers that I HAD to read this book because the humor was outstanding. Everyone knows I love a good laugh in my rom coms so I immediately requested an arc. Imagine my disappointment that I didn’t find it funny but vaguely condescending and stereotypical. Older virgins seeking to lose their virginity is a tricky trope for me. I don’t like  that they are made sexually ignorant to the point of ridiculousness and given a “Rebecca of Sunnybrook farm” persona in order to offset their sexually active friends who come off course and randy. Being a virgin is not a death sentence and being sexually active doesn’t make you a walking douche who screws anything and everything. I’m also not a fan of naming  your body parts. Please…just stop. Calling your breasts, vagina, penis, ect…cutesy names is annoying and smacks of immaturity.

Sheena

Kilted for Pleasure by Melissa Blue: This was a miss for me. About a quarter through the book and I kept trying to come up with reasons to finish…I found myself stumped at “But the Kilts!!” Not engaging, slow moving- but without the good burn that’s sustaining. Besides being pelted by too many characters, it was too contrived and the novel lacked an essential uumpph factor. When H and h began practically brokering their sex deal and I wasnt remotely interested- I had to bail.

The Alpha’s Desire by  Willow Brooks :  The plot was full of holes…it felt ultra distressed;  as if the story didn’t know where it wanted to go or what it wanted to be.  InstaLust  parading as InstaLove. Hero is faux alpha, never connected to the ever exclaiming heroine (everything was “Hey! ” “Really!!!” “Wow!!”).  After surpassing my audible, “wait, what??” reading reaction cap, it was time to abort mission.

Mandi

Blindsided by Holly Mortimer: I don’t always love movie star hero or heroines, but the excerpt I read of this was cute so I gave it a try. I liked the heroine – who is sick of the dating scene but by chance meets a hunky movie star and decides to try romance with him. But the hero didn’t work for me. He was too cardboard-ish. He didn’t feel like a real person to me. Never connected to him.

Slightly Noble by Lilly Gayle: A pirate needs a wife and an heir, very quickly, to inherit his beloved family’s estate so he can properly bury his mother. He comes upon the heroine’s broken down coach – and she is unwed and in labor. Getting her help, he ends up marrying her while she is delivering her son. So now he has the wife and the baby and can move on with his life. Kind of a crazy set-up but it worked for me for a while…but I lost interest too. I wanted the hero to be a little more – piratey. And I think the story got dragged down after a while.