I know that readers can be really divided about romance – it’s a genre that falls prey to repetitive tropes and you’re almost guaranteed some semblance of a happy ending. For those that enjoy romance novels, that last part is one of the things that I enjoy most about romance. I like picking up a romance novel once in a while for a feel good read, and I’m an especially big fan of historical romance. However there are many genres of romance that I have absolutely no interest in and actively avoid.
Keep in mind that this is my own personal preference, so if a genre on this list is one of your favorites please don’t take it personally, I’m a firm believer that we should always read what makes us happy no matter what other people say!
Billionaire Bad Boy
The romance genre that I loathe the most is the billionaire bad boy. I’ve said it before, but I feel that many of these relationships just aren’t that believable. Many of the main characters are your every day plain Jane and a prince charming billionaire. Even worse are the “bad boys” which usually have plot lines or relationship dynamics that I find personally troubling. As for my personal experience dating a few reasonably rich guys, I can say also that the relationship always felt uneven, with money becoming a topic that they brought up often and just not something that I prefer to weigh a relationship on.
Paranormal
When I was young I was pretty into vampire romance novels and a few werewolf ones. I don’t know when or why my preferences changed, perhaps it was the overabundance of these types of novels that many became much the same. I have never been all that big on urban fantasy novels and so paranormal romance tends to end up on my no thanks list. On very rare occasions I may consider a vampire romance given my deep love of the horror genre and vampires in particular, but in general I don’t have much interest if romance is the central focus.
Cowboys
I’ll be up front that I’m not a country girl by any stretch of the imagination. While I’ve spent a great deal of my life living in the American South, there is just nothing about country and cowboys that has ever appealed to me. Now I’m not trying to be a hater, many of my closest friends have been big into country music and cowboy hats and that is perfectly okay with me. Hell, my husband is a Texan born and raised, I find his Southern roots sexy as hell, but thank goodness he is not a cowboy. This just isn’t my jam.
Christmas
Now I will preface this by saying that I LOVE the holidays! Once October begins I get hit with the holiday fever and enjoy making big plans for my family and friends, my husband and I throw wild holiday parties every year. Christmas in particular always fills me with warm and fuzzy feelings remembering my childhood and seeing the smiles on my children’s faces knowing they’ll still have the same happy memories that I do. However when it comes to Christmas romance novels I just find no appeal to them. Maybe it’s because I tend to be focused on family with the holidays and bundling up in all the most comfortable winter clothes, romance just isn’t at the top of my list.
Military
For those that know me personally this may seem like a funny one given my track record of dating men in the Navy, my husband is an active duty service member. Not that I’m attracted to military guys specifically, I’ve just spent most of my life living in areas that had a heavy military presence due to growing up in a Navy family. Not even kidding, around 4 out of 5 times the people I meet have served in some capacity. The reality of a military marriage comes with a lot of difficulties that I’m sure are explored in the novels, the most obvious being long periods of separation where communication isn’t guaranteed and it is definitely a major test for the strength of a relationship. I am perfectly happy being a military spouse, but the way that these romances are portrayed especially on the covers often feels really tacky to me.
Let’s Discuss!
♥ Are you a fan of romance novels? Why or why not?
♥ What genres or tropes turn you off?
♥ Do you find the romances portrayed in novels to be realistic?
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