Romance Lovers for the Challenge-Impaired discussion

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If you have been buying an author's books for years and she writes one that you don't like/love, do you give her another chance? If so, how many chances? How big does the let down have to be? If you paid a lot for a hardback and didn't think it was worth it, do you resist the next time one comes out and wait for it in paperback? Or do you try her next publication via the library? Not to mention those expensive audio books. What are your thoughts?

I always read reviews and recommendations. I will sometimes read a book even if the reviews conflict each other but then I don't hold it against the author if it is a disappointing book. So I pretty much cover myself. It is very important to me NOT to waist time on a bad book. I never go to the library any more... not with amazon and the nook now .. oh and ebay. It would cost more money to drive to the library than buy used books and have them arrive at your front door!
I have mercy for authors who write good books because I know it must be hard to come up with winning stories over and over. So when I find an author who has books I love I can forgive her duds .... I will just try to avoid them. And that is where goodreads come in with everyones reviews. And all I have to do is look at the books I like and the books others like or don't like and vola .... I will have a like minded person to glean from!

I always give authors the benefit of the doubt that not everything is gonna be great and eventually they'll write somethign I'm unimpressed with. I don't blow that author off after it if it is an auto-buy author. I'll give another chance or two. However, three in a row I don't like, I usually follow the three strikes and you're out rule.

Faithmarie wrote: "It would cost more money to drive to the library than buy used books and have them arrive at your front door!..."

Sad, but true, FM! It is getting ridiculous. No LOL following that statement. :-(

Kelley wrote: "However, three in a row I don't like, I usually follow the three strikes and you're out rule."

Kelly, I am leaning this way. One of my all-time-favorite-auto-buy-authors let me down in a very big way. She has a new book out - in hardback - that I am in a dither about even reading, let alone buying. So, I discovered my library has it available in both PDA form and audio - both of which I can download. :-) But there are many admirers ahead of me. If I do like it, I will definitely buy it. Another a-b-a has skipped every other book (good-disappointment-good-disappointment, etc.). However, none of hers can be downloaded.

If it's an autobuy author for me than yes. Although if a few books in a row suck then they will probably not be autobuy for me anymore.

I tend to be less forgiving to new to me authors. I have nearly 1000 unread books here. If the 1st one I read of an author doesn't impress me much then they probably won't get a second chance from me. Unless I happen to have another one of theirs in my pile already. I just have too many books already to add more that there's a good chance I won't like.

I think my husband would cut my credit cards up if I autobuy author's books...... and I wouldn't blame him.

If it was an author that I've always loved and she suddenly writes on that I didn't like I will give her another chance. If it's a new author I'm reading I will sometimes give another chance if I see there is some potential in the writing.

I always give my favorite authors another try or two, or even three; especially if its one that I've been reading for years. I'll even buy their next book in hardcover as long as I can get if from amazon.com for 1/2 the price.

I too, give my fav authors another 1-3 tries. However, if they have let me down too many times I will usually read the hardback from the library only

Mary wrote: "If it's an autobuy author for me than yes. Although if a few books in a row suck then they will probably not be autobuy for me anymore.

I tend to be less forgiving to new to me authors. I hav..."

I agree...I'm usually more forgiving to autobuy authors especially those I've been reading for years.

A fave author of mine (loved her historicals) let me down in one of her contemporaries - I couldn't stomach that story because I felt I was being taken for a ride whilst being given a lobotomy.
I won't give her contemporaries another chance, but her historicals I may try again.

I like the three strikes and out rule.
My problem is that when I find a book I REALLY liked the writing style of, I go and get a whole bunch of the authors bsacklist and then read them in fairly quick succession. It's happened with a couple of authors that I find their stories had become almost formulaic, which is such a disappointment, but possibly not something I would notice so much if I didn't read them all in a row :-)

CaroB wrote: "but possibly not something I would notice so much if I didn't read them all in a row :-) ..."

Ditto!!! I do this sometimes until I OD on the author, so I've learned to pace myself. It is hard when they are really good; I get so excited when I find a new author I really like/love.

Yes. I tend to keep reading the same author, especially if I'm reading a series because I don't like starting a series and leaving it incomplete. I want to follow a series through to the end to find out what the overall plot is. That's why I tend to give at least certain authors many chances.

The letdown would have to be very big for me. For example, one of my former favorite authors did not write series per se but her books are connected in some way or are in the same world. Although I had not been happy with her later books, I kept reading until one day I just could not take it anymore because of how repetitive everything started sounding.

I do not like to buy hardcovers in the first place. They are not as easy to carry around, especially when I commute, and they are more expensive. Therefore, if a hardcover disappointed me, I will likely wait for the paperback to come out and/or I would read the book either in the bookstore or library and purchase the paperback later if it's a series or a collection (this falls under the "don't like to leave a series unfinished" - I want all the books whether I like them or not). I made an exception for Anne Bishop's Black Jewels books. I was disappointed in Tangled Webs, which I'd purchased hardcover and really regretted. Nonetheless, I was still interested and eager to read the next book in that world so I did purchase that one in hardcover.

I do not enjoy listening to audiobooks. The fact that they cost so much does not help me want to listen to them.

I'm very selective on which authors I'll "auto-buy" their new releases so I'm pretty safe in getting one I like. However, it does happen from time to time.

I will still buy them if it was just one book. If it happens again, I'll hesitate before buying the 3rd. After that I figure they'll fallen down the wonderland tunnel never to be heard from again. At least not by me.

I can't say as that's happened though. At least not that I remember.

niquae wrote: "Yes. I tend to keep reading the same author, especially if I'm reading a series because I don't like starting a series and leaving it incomplete. I want to follow a series through to the end to fin..."

I'm with you. I don't like buying hardcovers either, unless they're on a sale, or a loooong awaited release. Hardcovers are just too expensive, and if the the book turns out to disappointing, it's just that much more upsetting to me. Thank goodness I've gotten into to ebooks lately; although I think they can be a expensive too.

Michelle, I think I might grade a hardcover book down a little more harshly if I was a little disappointed in the book, just because of the expense. I agree with you about the ebooks and don't understand when there is a wide variance in price. Some are, like, $3 to $4 higher!

Lisa Kay wrote: "Michelle, I think I might grade a hardcover book down a little more harshly if I was a little disappointed in the book, just because of the expense. I agree with you about the ebooks and don't und..."

I don't get how ebooks are priced either!

You know what I also don't understand is, an author's novels being released in mass market paperback, but then as the series becomes more popular, they're released in trade-size paperback, or hardcover. I know that as an author/ series increases in popularity, that they command more money. But it just seems unfair to the readers, and also messes up my collection, LOL!

Yes, Michelle. I really love Roberta Gellis, and now her books are being re-released on Kindle; however, they are more expensive than the average Kindle ebook. This really disappoints me. :-( But...on the GOOD side, they are lendable once, unlike some other ebooks. Other authors are doing their re-releases from long ago as low as $2.99, and may or may not make them lendable. I kind of understand when a book is still out in hardback why they are more expensive in Kindle form, especially when the Kindle price lowers when they come out in paperback...still.

Michelle wrote: "But it just seems unfair to the readers, and also messes up my collection, LOL"

Definitely the same here! Although I was happy for my friend to think of me when she bought me a Christmas (or was it birthday?) gift of The Fiery Cross in hardcover, I was not happy to have ruined my collection of mass market paperbacks. lol. Now I just buy whatever and console myself by saying that when I have a steady income, I'll get rid of my current collection and buy a new one with similar covers and size. rofl.

How about when the cover style changes as the Outlander books did? Those irritate me too, especially if the covers look better than the ones I've got.

niquae wrote: "Michelle wrote: "But it just seems unfair to the readers, and also messes up my collection, LOL"

Definitely the same here! Although I was happy for my friend to think of me when she bought me a Ch..."

Yes! It definitely irritates me when the cover style changes. If its a series that I really like, I almost can't sit still until all the books in my collection match! I'm sick and and I know it, LOL!

Oh Niquae and Michelle, I thought I was the only one! LOL. I want all my covers in a series to match.

hahaha! Definitely not. I think that's part of the reason why I still prefer paperbacks/hardcovers to e-books. Matched covers and sizes look nice on your bookshelf. :D

That is why I used to do a risky thing and buy all the books in a series when I discovered a new author I thought I'd like. I can't do that any more with the financial crunch. *sigh* So now it really bugs me. I gone so far as to go to another book store to see if they have the other cover. Now Borders is closed, I can't even do that!

Lisa Kay wrote: "That is why I used to do a risky thing and buy all the books in a series when I discovered a new author I thought I'd like. I can't do that any more with the financial crunch. *sigh* So now it r..."

As of right now, the Borders near me is still open, and luckily its practically across the street from Barnes and Noble, so going from store to store in search of particular covers isn't too bad. And of course there's always amazon!

niquae wrote: "hahaha! Definitely not. I think that's part of the reason why I still prefer paperbacks/hardcovers to e-books. Matched covers and sizes look nice on your bookshelf. :D"

Yes they do make your bookshelf look nice. I plan on getting new bookshelves this weekend, and I can't wait to just spend hours gazing at my books once they're on the new shelves, LOL!

I'm pretty forgiving, it takes me 2 or 3 books. Sometimes an author just slips up once - I think Lori Foster proved that when her straight contemporary last in a series hero suddenly turned out to be from the future and have someone popping in to tell him things - aLOT of people cried foul with that one and she kind of apologized. She was trying on a different look, started writing paranormal under another name, her contemps are now just contemps, and everyone is happy.

Sometimes, however, a clunker or two is the beginning of the end. Back when I read lots of fantasy, I wastched both Anne McCaffrey and Mercedes Lackey pedal a tricycle of a gently sloping cliff, and it wasn't pretty, let me tell you.

I think alot of editors are wary about pissing off readers in this day and age, so frankly it happens less, and its almost more likely to be an issue where someone kind of went outside their usual plot/genre/feel.

I tried Servant: The Acceptance and couldn't get into it; read about 1/2 through the book and just stopped. I have read all of Lori Foster's contemporaries and just love them. I love Lynn Kurland medieval books (some with time travel). However, I couldn't get into her Nine Kingdom books, I have one that I've tried about four times. I am weird, but I like to have names that I can pronounce in the books I read, so I don't read a lot of fantasy. Maybe I should try them on audio. Or maybe I should have started at the beginning of the series on either of these. LOL! About the only author I can think of off hand that made the cross-over for me was Kresley Cole. I was hooked, and hooked big-time, with A Hunger Like No Other.

Lisa Kay wrote: "I tried Servant: The Acceptance and couldn't get into it; read about 1/2 through the book and just stopped. I have read all of Lori Foster's contemporaries and just l..."

How funny. I loved Lynn Kurland's Nine Kingdom's books (that series is one of my auto-buys) although she really disappointed me with the latest one, Spellweaver. I'm still going to read the next book but...she really disappointed me!

But I refuse to touch her time-traveling historical romances. I don't really care for time-traveling. It's a pity since a great deal of her connected books have time-traveling in them!

That's okay, Niquae. We'll agree and get cozy over something else. LOL! I really should try them on audio.

lol. Perhaps audio would help. I think I like her Nine Kingdoms books because I was a heavy fantasy reader before I read romance. :)

Darn, I just checked our library and no audio of the Nine Kingdomes series.

I used to have several auto-buy authors, but now I'm down to one. I still check out the books of the others at the library if possible, and I may buy the book if I liked it. I like the fact that I know what I'm going to get with Jayne Ann Krentz/Amanda Quick/Jayne Castle-quirky characters, an interesting plot usually involving a mystery and often psychic talents (her Arcane books), family, some humor, and the all important HEA.

Sandra J, I haven't read any of Jayne Ann Krentz new books in awhile. I did just listen to , which was very well narrated and the story still held up. Love the "all important HEA."

My favorites among all the Amanda Quick novels are , a Beauty and the Beast type story, and one of her Arcane novels, . The audio of The Third Circle is good, too.

I've been meaning to read Sandra, I guess I'll have to moving it up on my TBR list