What are your red flags?

[meeera]

Originally Posted by Jen_Smith

Anything where the heroine gets pregnant by accident, set after the 1960s. Contraception, ladies

... has a significant failure rate, even with perfect use of highly effective types.

[BearMountainBooks]

Probably completely unfair, but I don't like books where the main is a reporter (and just happened to have put one down for this *egregious* sin. :>)

Spelling or grammar problems in the blurb, although spacing issues won't get an automatic no. (Spacing: meaning two paragraphs are together or even a missing space. I know there are problems with the entry on this sort of thing.)

I pretty much avoid zombies. I am not a fan of vamps as the main romance angle. Dead guys don't interest me. Guys who drink blood really don't interest me.

So and so "just wants to be normal." I get the whole "fit in" thing especially with YA books, but the truth is, we all want to be special, not normal. So the whole trope of "gosh, if only I weren't a witch. Gosh, I sure wish I didn't see ghosts all the time." And so on. Give me a break. For all I know ghosts are as boring as my neighbors, but it still seems like it might be interesting to chat with a few. Any time Mark Twain has some time on his hands, he's free to stop on over.

Anything that says "adult content, graphic content, torture scenes, explicit just about anything."

Originally Posted by meeera

... has a significant failure rate, even with perfect use of highly effective types.

But a significantly higher success rate than not bothering at all.

[BearMountainBooks]

Oh, I see more from the other lists. I hate love triangles. Loathe. Despise. Look, how many of us are lucky enough to know one or two great looking people who like us??? And who are actual upstanding citizens we want to know???

Maybe it's me but I can't remember being surrounded or chased by 95 men who can barely keep from drooling over me. I'm pretty sure I'd be annoyed if that happened and I'd also have to assume that I had won the lottery and no one had told me yet.

Okay, so it isn't just the love triangles (those are bad enough), it's the fact that Miss Plain Jane suddenly finds herself the center of attention for every male in the book. And every male in the book is Hollywood good-looking material. We aren't all Sookie. Thankfully.

(Same holds for books where the main guy has to fend off gorgeous women all day.)

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

Oh, I see more from the other lists. I hate love triangles. Loathe. Despise.

Yeah, I'll pass on those as well.

I can't stand it when the person in the middle does all the whinging and hand wringing over which one they'll chose.

If they were really in love with one of their suitors, they'd know it. If they aren't really in love with one, they shouldn't chose either. Call it lust and bed hopping, and quit trying to make it noble by pretending it's love.

And quit stringing them along as well. Make it clear that it's just bed hoping. I find it horribly cruel to lead people on.

And Death Stories. There are a lot of times I get behind the main character and I don't want to have them killed off at the end. Sometimes, I don't really care about the characters, but when I do I want a HEA ending. Or at least have them survive it all. I avoid them like the plague in fanfic, don't like them in Pro fic either, although I can't say you see much of it there.

Maybe 'cause I'm good at avoiding them.

[Xanthe]

Originally Posted by Joykins

Well, there goes any historical set in England from the Saxon invasion (or should that be English Reformation?) on? I love those Anglo-Saxon names like Ethelred the Unready.

I was thinking more of contemporary fiction, you know, where Sue Johnson's ex-lover Brad Smith comes back into town, causing friction between her and her jealous fiance, Tom Watson. In the meantime, unbeknownst to Tom, she's trying to keep her attraction to the local police chief, Jim Shepherd, from his notice. To add to her stress level her mother, Edith Johnson has just been placed in a nursing home run by Dr. Mark Smith, her childhood crush (and yes, Brad and Mark are brothers).

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Xanthe

I was thinking more of contemporary fiction, you know, where Sue Johnson's ex-lover Brad Smith comes back into town, causing friction between her and her jealous fiance, Tom Watson. In the meantime, unbeknownst to Tom, she's trying to keep her attraction to the local police chief, Jim Shepherd, from his notice. To add to her stress level her mother, Edith Johnson has just been placed in a nursing home run by Dr. Mark Smith, her childhood crush (and yes, Brad and Mark are brothers).

I was just getting interested. Way to leave a guy hanging!

[Apache]

Apache

[LovesMacs]

Originally Posted by Apache

Apache

Step 1 for literary success: do not put red flag on front or back cover.

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by Jen_Smith

Christian fiction is a red flag for me (except for novels based on Biblical history, which is a bit of a hobby. And, of course, doesn't count as Christian because most of them are Old Testament).

Actually, that's a very good point, especially as I made a big deal about Christian fiction a few posts ago. I'm actually very interested in novels where the bible has been the inspiration for the story.

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

If you're a fan of fantasy at all, try George Bryan Polivka's Trophy Chase Trilogy. This coming from someone who does not--in any way--consider himself a Christian. They were recommended to me based on someone's enjoyment alone (or at least I think so). I didn't find out until later that they were published by a "Christian" publishing house.

Unfortunately not available as an ebook but I clicked on the "I would like..." link for all three books. Thanks for the recommendation. I'm not so much into traditional fantasies these days, but that doesn't mean I don't partake from time to time.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by caleb72

Unfortunately not available as an ebook but I clicked on the "I would like..." link for all three books. Thanks for the recommendation. I'm not so much into traditional fantasies these days, but that doesn't mean I don't partake from time to time.

Sorry, I never even thought to check if they were available as ebooks.

[Kai Winters]

No synopsis...even a brief one...is a red flag for me. I, as others have said, don't want to read about the author's cat...I really don't care unless I like the book but the author spends more time with that damn cat than writing the next book in the series...it's the cat's fault.

Books containing less and less words but the price keeps going up...mainly by big name authors. I'm no longer buying their books.

Books that waste too many words trying to come across as a college course trying to "educate" me. I'm reading a damn syfy...hehehe...book...IT'S FREAKIN' SYFY...imaginary...stop the dissertations on light speed mechanics that go on for an entire chapter...I want to read and immerse myself in the "fiction" that is the story not made up crap...just going for more words to charge more in my opinion.
I'll add the Grantville Gazette to this. There are fewer and fewer stories. The stories are getting shorter and shorter. They add treatises on religion, warfare, weaponry, etc. that go on and on but to me are boring but they still charge an arm and a leg. I'm about done with the GG...too bad...I have every one, including the latest, which I read in an afternoon, what a rip off but they still charge the same.

I don't mind the occasional spelling error and/or grammar "oops" but when sentences are repeated, too many words are incorrectly spelled, etc. I wonder if the publisher cares about the quality of the book they are offering and/or promoting.

[CWatkinsNash]

This morning I came across one with 12 double-spaced single-line pull-quotes from reviews. (Do I win today's hyphen award?) Underneath all those was the actual description.

But it was free, and the description itself was actually of good quality. So I got it anyway.

[Xanthe]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I was just getting interested. Way to leave a guy hanging!

Well, not to leave a guy hanging :

Dr. Mark Smith, who has a secret gambling addiction, is deeply in debt to the local mob boss, Lefty Jones. As his debt increases, he begins to embezzle the funds of the nursing home. Head nurse Jane Walker, who has been in love with Dr. Smith for years, has been covering up for him, but new nurse Patty Hall has become suspicious of the recent cut-backs in care and has voiced her suspicions to reporter Bill Stone. Unfortunately for Patty, she also mentioned her suspicions to Nurse Jane who quickly contacts Lefty. Lefty decides to sent his henchman, Joe James, to encourage Patty to "forget"....