My take on romance novels is this: I know there are times that people fall in ❤ love ❤ in a very short period of time. So this is not to say that I do not believe in love at first sight or love happening in a couple of days. But I do not think it is a somewhat credible love story when two people just go through a few shared experiences and then at the end of it they say, “Oh you are the one that I want to be with for the rest of my life.”

I am the type that I know romance novels need for you to suspend belief because the sequence of events require everything to fall in place so that it happens exactly a certain way. Even with every fairy tale there is a chance that it could happen disregarding the magic part. No one has a fairy godmother. But they could have someone in their life that had has a lot of money and can make things happen as if it was magic, and that is almost the same thing.

Because I read various types of romances, some are more tame than others. In an effort to help you determine if a romance is for you, I decided that I need to have a guide-

Heat Index

• Tame – So cool, almost cold 🔥 (love scenes are non-existent )
• Getting warm under the collar 🔥 🔥 (love scenes are mentioned, but details glossed over)
• Steamy 🔥 🔥 🔥  (love scenes are definitely happening, but described politely)
• Smokin 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 (love scenes are frequent and descriptive)
• Sizzlin from the heat!!! 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 (so much action is going on and its so descriptive, it is like a movie with the volume up)

WHAT I HAVE NO TOLERANCE FOR…

There are certain behaviors that I feel have no place in romance novels.

Stalking is not appropriate for a romance novel. No means no. If the love interest does not want the other person, everyone should respect that decision. They should not force a relationship.

Use of force when one person is saying “No” is rape. Once again, no means no. It does not matter if it appears that “they really want it,” I cringe. Rape is a serious crime that should not be romanticized in any way.

Verbal abuse or emotional abuse is not appropriate for a romance novel. I don’t care how tortured of a person he or she is, that is no excuse to mistreat another individual.

I do not like love triangles, but more importantly I do not like it when one of the individuals in the romance is married. If one is in a relationship, they should not seek a physical relationship outside of their marriage out of respect for their vows. If the current relationship is an unhealthy one, they need to get out of it before starting with a potential love interest.

That is not to say I will not read the book, because a lot of times when some of these aspects are in a novel it is not apparent from the synopsis of the book. These are just some of the things that will negatively impact my review of the book.

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