u/standard_issue_cat_0

Just curious if others have the same problem. Not trying to yuck anyone’s yum.

A lot of my favorite tropes are often paired with tropes that I don’t enjoy reading...

For me personally, it’s:

• age gap and daddy kink. I LOVE age gap, but I can’t read daddy kink. I've never even had a father irl lol. I have no idea why I can’t learn to at least ignore it...
• sex workers and mental health issues. I like reading about sex workers, but I’ve never found a book where they aren’t tortured, abused, depressed, hating touch, or suicidal. Yes, a lot of sex workers do struggle with these things, but not everyone does. There are better and worse conditions, and there are also different backgrounds for how people end up in that kind of job, whether they were forced into it or chose it themselves. How do I know? I did it for a decade.
• pain play / rough sex and dom/sub dynamics. I do like reading different kinks, MCs exploring new ways to have fun, trying stuff out, but they often end up falling into dom/sub or slave/master dynamics. I can read it if it stays in the bedroom only, but I’m tired of it. If it becomes their lifestyle outside the bedroom, I’m out. If I read about one more orgasm denial / cock cage for weeks and one MC bossing the other one around, I might cry.

which book gave you the worst book hangover?
like the kind where you couldn’t start another book for days.

what made it hit so hard?

the characters, the ending, the writing style, emotional damage, obsession, all of it?

For me it was the Administration Series.

I think it was because of how unique the main character was and the excellent writing. It really made me feel everything while also giving me a lot to think about.

I immediately needed to reread my favorite scenes, and sometimes while searching for one particular scene, I’d suddenly realize an hour later that I’d just been randomly rereading the whole book again.

In general, books hit me hardest when the characters are complex and morally fucked up. Not purely good or bad, but maybe one shade lighter than pure evil. The kind of character who is absolutely a monster, but then does one thing that changes how you see them. Or you learn something about their past and suddenly you start to understand why they are the way they are.

And it’s not even about redeeming or rehabilitating them by the end. I’m much more interested in exploring their mind in detail and understanding how they think, how they justify things, how they function.

Looking for a homophobic MC who falls in love and accepts his sexuality (that's the end goal). I'd like the MC to end up being bi or gay, but not "gay for you". I want the book to really focus on sexual exploration, basically erotica, but falling in love and an HEA is a must.

The setting can be anything, but preferably sports, military, police, etc.

Hard no: religious MCs, religious trauma, rom-coms, cheesy, sickly sweet romance, kids, single fathers.

I've already read all books by Alessandra Hazard, Flash Rip by Keira Andrews, Empty Net by Avon Gale