Bodice Ripper Readers Anonymous discussion

When reading a Bodice Ripper,be it the first time or one of many in the growing TBR pile be prepared for the best..and yes the worst. What was the absolute worst book ever for you & why? Was it the story/plot?
A violent,bad temper,moody,not to die for Hero? A too naive,whimpy,whiney,nagging Heroine? Did they have no chemistry,passionate love scenes? Was the historical backdrop just not there to hold your interest?
Share your worst..because sometimes even what you may deem the worst book ever,just might be someone else's OTT Bodice Ripping pleasure! Or it can also help to decide do I really want to read that?

I think one of the worst I have ever read and admit I couldnt even finish was Marilee not only was the story badly written..it was a dirty( which it says on the cover)book..I mean DIRTY! Rape galore for starters,(and with many) and the characters..no appeal whatsoever. To sum it up a Jackie Collins writting a BR! But hey..might work for some.

I really disliked , hated the heroine.

, I forced myself to finish that book and ended up skimming it just to finish it.

Barbary bride by melissa masters was just an awful book to read!

Carolyn F. wrote: "I really disliked , hated the heroine.

, I forced myself to finish that book and ended up skimming it just to finish it."

It's funny you mentioned that one,I tried to get my daughter to try one of my romances and she picked that one and said the heroine was so stupid she couldnt finish it. I havent tried that one yet..so it's good to know it wasnt just her view point:)

Joli wrote: "Barbary bride by melissa masters was just an awful book to read!"

This one? I think Karla read that one too? And said it was pretty bad.

I don't think the awe-factor of a BR can flip on that switch of disgust, as a book can with poorly written characters. I know So Worthy My Love wasn't the legendary bodice ripper content we're accustomed to, but the heroine was intolerable. Something about an entirely 'broken' hero, through the heroine's own terse hand, that irks me to no end. >:O

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Sandi *~The Pirate Wench~* wrote: "To sum it up a Jackie Collins writting a BR! But hey..might work for some."

Hey, I resemble that remark. ;)

Yes, Barbary Bride was awful, but I'd recovered by the time I read the sequel, Barbary Bounty, and it was much better. Of course it helps to be in a "I love this Chuck Norris BR!" frame of mind because that's how it's written. :D

Probably the worst one I've read so far was A Splendid Passion. It was a total mess - boring and meandering.

And there you go..such a beautiful cover on that book,glad I waited for your review.Im surprised you read the sequel to Barbary Bride if the 1st one was bad..why did you torture yourself? Was the 2nd one any better?

I had it, so I decided to read it. It still had the same problems that Barbary Bride had, but this time I was ready for it and I could even see its gory charm. :P (And there was lots of gore to be charmed by.)

Karla (Mossy Love Grotto) wrote: "I had it, so I decided to read it. It still had the same problems that Barbary Bride had, but this time I was ready for it and I could even see its gory charm. :P (And there was lots of gore to be ..."

Your such an easy gal to please :D

Being nitpicky all the time only leaves you frustrated. :D

But you refused to read Claiming the Courtesan, that ENSURED you a good rant or twenty. >:( lmfao

I have another Anna Campbell book, so maybe I'll torture myself with that one. Sarah's epic screenplay of CtC has ruined me ever trying to actually read the book. :D

Heart of a Warrior by Johanna Lindsey has to be the absolute worst bodice ripper I have ever read. Plot…what plot? There is no plot! The heroine is a total and complete moron. The book is boring! I absolutely believe Lindsey raced through this book and spewed it out simply to cash in on her Ly-San-Ter series. It’s SO bad.

And here I thought Surrender My Love was bad. Heart of a Warrior is the Queen of bad books.

Carolyn F. wrote: "I really disliked , hated the heroine.

, I forced myself to finish that book and ended up skimming it just to finish it."

I do like some of Johanna Lindsey's books, but she does write some pretty unlikeable heroines.

Sea Fire by Karen Robards, hated it, hated both the hero (ha not much of a hero) and the heroine just had no spine!

IMO Jon was an abusive B* he raped the heroine who was a virgin (defo wasn't forced seduction) then continually called her a whore, even though he bedded a whore. He just had no redeeming qualities at all.

oh & Seized by Love by Susan Johnson, hated the so called hero, after his wife nearly died in childbirth he told her that he would TRY and be faithful !!

Tracyk wrote: "Sea Fire by Karen Robards, hated it, hated both the hero (ha not much of a hero) and the heroine just had no spine!

IMO Jon was an abusive B* he raped the heroine who was a virgin (defo wasn't for..."

It's one of those books you either loved or hated for sure,maybe it would have been better if the author had made her characters more likeable for sure Tracyk

Rosehaven by Catherine Coulter. Insensitive, obnoxious, rude, dim-witted hero (spoilers)who frequently puts down the heroines looks and compares her to his mistress has a mistress throughout the novel who he treats with tenderness and love, also throughout 95% of the novel. The overall reason I hated it was because given all of the hero's gross traits there is nothing to counter it and make him a Hero. He's not passionate for the heroine, obsessive, jealous, secretly in love, secretly in lust. Nothing

Ab wrote: "Rosehaven by Catherine Coulter. Insensitive, obnoxious, rude, dim-witted hero (spoilers)who frequently puts down the heroines looks and compares her to his mistress has a mistress throughout the no..."

Thanks Ab! III be sure to avoid this one:)

I think this had a cleaned up rerelease but I read the original and was enraged afterwards.

If I remember correctly: Heroine is raped very young and doesn't want to marry. Hero wants her and so arranges a marriage with her through her male guardian. She refuses to have sex with him and he thinks if she's raped and enjoys it then she'll share his bed. So he disquises himself, rapes her and then is angry that she's not a virgin. He feels betrayed by his bride when she kept refusing to marry him from the beginning.

This rape by the hero was not a "she really wanted it but was too proper to say so and he just used a little forced seduction" type thing.

Hated it and I haven't read another Catherine Coulter historical since.

Anything by Bertrice Small or Catherine Coulter. But one that really stands out is Rosamund

I really didn't like The wanton and Surrender love both by Rosemary Rogers.

Shannonreads wrote: "Anything by Bertrice Small or Catherine Coulter. But one that really stands out is Rosamund"

What was it Shannon for you?...her writing style? I think she writes a good BR/plot/story..but wish she would "tone-down" on some stuff.

I don't like Bertrice Small either.

Nah me to, i'm not a fan of Bertrice Small, Catherine Coulter or Rosemary Rogers.

=P Those women are matriarch's around these parts.

Lol, I grew up on Coulter. She's not my favorite anymore, but I still have fond memories of her books. Bertrice Small is a recent discovery for me within the last couple years, and I've liked her stuff mostly, the few I've read. Some better than others. The only Rogers I've read was Wicked Loving Lies, and it was ok too :)
I can't really think of one that made me want to toss the book.

I'm not a fan of Coulter, but I'm now glad I never tossed the rest of her books. I'm so curious about Rosehaven now. :D

My problem with Small is the few books iv'e read both hero & heroine have a few sexual partners & one book was just weird parts of it were porn - which is not what i want in a historical br romance eg being strapped down on a table and having a phallus inserted - oh lordy lord, not my cuppa.

As for Coulter & Rosemary they tend to make their hero's to cruel which is not for me.

Give me a hero who is dominating & masterful yeh but not cruel. Like Royce from Kingdom of Dreams or Lucien from Knight of Fire.

Have we got a discussion for best sexy hero's?

In one of the Bertrice Small books I read the heroine had better more enjoyable sex with the bad guy then with the hero. I wanted the hero to die so she could stay with the "bad guy". Who wasn't really even all that bad. He just wasn't her husband. The husband was an arranged marriage and she didn't even like him. He takes off on an errand for the king. She has a baby, then leaves the newborn with her mother and takes off after the hero whom she seemed to detest.

I didn't think Rosehaven was bad at all. The asshole hero in her medievals I hated was the guy in Warrior's Song (or as it used to be when it first came out). I hated that one!

Omg, I adore that cover, Kit. :O

I remember reading a Rosemary Roger's, I think one of the Sweet Savage Love series as a naive teenager. In this scene the heroine was in a Sultan's harem and he didn't want to take her virginity so he took her backdoor style. I was completely shocked... little did I know what I would be reading years later...

Lisa - (Aussie Girl) wrote: "I remember reading a Rosemary Roger's, I think one of the Sweet Savage Love series as a naive teenager. In this scene the heroine was in a Sultan's harem and he didn't want to take her virginity s..."

Yes indeedy..some of those old BR are tame compared to what is out there now :O

Lisa - (Aussie Girl) wrote: "I remember reading a Rosemary Roger's, I think one of the Sweet Savage Love series as a naive teenager. In this scene the heroine was in a Sultan's harem and he didn't want to take her virginity s..."

I think that scene is in the book by Rogers "Wicked loving lies".... it shocked me as well but of course I was younger...

I wish Woodiwiss was still considered a bodice ripper author to me, but these ladies have sullied/obscured my view of BRs forever. LMAO.... in a rather delightfully welcoming way. :D <3

Tracyk wrote: "oh & Seized by Love by Susan Johnson, hated the so called hero, after his wife nearly died in childbirth he told her that he would TRY and be faithful !!"

Oh I second that! I've tried to read it twice over the years because somebody sd it's soo good and I find myself wanting to throw it in the fireplace everytime I touch it.

Creeker wrote: ""

Really Creeker? How come? I loved this book when I read it many..many..years ago. Maybe I would feel different now. If I recall it was the Hero I only had issues with,but cant remember what. Maybe it is a time for that reread.

Oh my goodness, I know that everyone loves Kathleen Woodiwiss but this is my LEAST favorite book ever: The Flame and the Flower

After over 25 years of being a BR reader this is the first one that truly offended me, on so many levels. I HATED this book.

Holly wrote: "Oh my goodness, I know that everyone loves Kathleen Woodiwiss but this is my LEAST favorite book ever: The Flame and the Flower

After over 25 years of being a BR reader this is the first one that ..."

It's funny how our tastes change over the years,I loved this one..but Im finding as I re-read some of my "oldies" its just not the same.

Yep, Sandi I so agree. I've re-read a few over the last couple of years and the only one that was on the same enjoyment level was The Wolf and the Dove. Many seem super over the top and verbose to the max. Nevertheless, I still have such great memories of when I first discovered "bodice rippers"...

I kinda think of that term as books written in the 80's and 90's. Of more recently published novels say in the last 5 - 10 years what do you all consider good bodice rippers?

It has to have a right balance of romance/historical detail/adventure and I dont mind a misunderstanding or two. I dont like cheating/abusive/mean Hero's. Nor wipy lame Heroines.I dont mind the "forced" BR/ lovemaking as long as it's with the same guy. I really hate "pass-around Polly"themes.And the older BR maybe a little over the top,but III take them anyday over the newer boring fluffy romances

Well I've got Stormfire to read very soon... isn't this supposed to be one of the most controversial BR's ever written...

Its funny, all of the things that I've read and not minded as much in other BR drove me nuts in The Flame and the Flower. I read it recently because so many BR fanatics like myself recommeded it. I have no problem with forced seduction; Whitney, My Love (the original) is my favorite BR of all time. However, some of the other parts of the book, namely the slave owning aspect and calling one of the characters a 'negress' was too much.

I've read a ton of pre and post Civil War BR's that had slavery and slave owning in the background and it never bothered me. I wish I could put my finger on why it did in this book. It it made me seethe through reading this book and I will steer clear of ANY of her books in the future.

Holly wrote: "Its funny, all of the things that I've read and not minded as much in other BR drove me nuts in The Flame and the Flower. I read it recently because so many BR fanatics like myself recommeded it. I..."

I agree, wholeheartedly even. I too have read my share of Post Civil War BRs, biopics, historical fiction, etc., and the author's overuse of 'negress' was simply annoying. Had she not formally introduced the character to us in that chapter's beginning, then I could have obliged it a bit. However, such was not the case. The character's name is 'Hatti'.

I think I may have found it so disconcerting simply because other secondary characters, however fleeting their appearance, were referred to by name. Why bother really even granting the character a name if you intend to dub her 'Negress' throughout the novel?

To boot, I found the novel as a whole far too predictable and its supporting cast one-dimensional. I know its frivolous smut garnered to our guilty pleasures ... but c'mon, put a little 'umph' in there somewhere.

I'm a newcomer here (just started reading BRs these past two months) and have had a chance to read ... say thirty or so of the most recommended novels on the site. So far I've been entertained (though some of these are seriously putting my nightly Ambien regimen out of business). I'd like to put The Silver Devil up for honorable mention. The whole 'alpha male' archetype was notched up to nucking futs. I couldn't take the sociopath masquerading as a Duke seriously. Quite frankly I had hoped his right-hand dandy would have had a crack at the lukewarm heroine, as a little foray into sadomasochistic bondage and cross-dressing might have worked wonders for my ADHD.

Sandi *~The Pirate Wench~* wrote: "Creeker wrote: ""

Really Creeker? How come? I loved this book when I read it many..many..years ago. Maybe I would feel different now. If I recall it was the Hero I..."

You know I can honestly say I don't remember why. But I do remember thinking this is the worst bodice ripper I've read. May think dif if I read it again, but have no plans to lol.