The books that catch my attention and draw me in are ones that have engaging characters either the main characters or secondary. I have to like and want to be in the company of these characters throughout the length of the book or story. Nora Roberts and LaVyrle Spencer were the first romance authors I read that pulled me in with their characters. I loved and still love the Irish Sister Trilogy Born in Fire, Born in Ice, Born in Shame. Not only did the characters pull me in, but the setting (Ireland) captivated me. With LaVyrle Spencer her characters were real with real life problems. That's the type of historical and contemporary books I like to write.
An intriguing plot will also draw me in. I just purchased a book because an excerpt that was posted on Facebook had the character traveling to an area near me where I've been. I wanted to see just how much of this area would be used in the book and it helped that the title was The Archaeologist and the Spirit Catchers by Randy Brown. Yes, the spirits piqued my attention. I wondered if it would be Native American spirits or... So far it doesn't appear to be Native American spirits but the characters have kept me reading. They are unique in their heritage of "discovering trapped spirits and setting them free".
The other thing that will keep me reading a book is learning something. A different culture, a historical occurrence, or a good mystery that I want to discover how it is solved.
What I don't care for in a book are flat characters or over the top characters. If they are paranormal I still want to see the humanity in them or a sense of humor. Something that makes me think of them as personable. I also and this is just my opinion- I don't like alpha main characters. I think it comes from being pushed around by my father who wanted to prove he was alpha. I don't like that in a hero. But again, it is my preference. Others LOVE them.
My other stop reading flag is if I encounter more than three instances of wrong facts. Calling the withers on a horse the fetlock, the wrong Indian tribe or anything that I know is wrong. The instance of using shoot for chute in a contemporary western. Those little things will cause me to not finish reading the book and not trust another book from the same author. Typos if there are only a few in the whole book don't bother me. If there are more than two per chapter, I get annoyed that they didn't make sure it was their best effort and will stop reading.
That's about all I can think of that for my likes and dislikes when I read a book.
Book 2, Love Me Anyway, of the Tumbling Creek Ranch series is available by pre-order and will release this Thursday and starting July 9th, book 1, 8 Seconds to Love, in the series will be only $0.99 for the month to celebrate the release of Love Me Anyway.
Love Me Anyway
Book 2
Tumbling Creek Ranch Series
Melanie Trask ran away from an
abusive husband and is hiding at a remote dude ranch. When she and the ranch
owner can no longer deny their feelings, he offers to help her divorce her
husband. But she has one more secret she hasn’t revealed…
Brett Wallis has fallen hard for the
quiet, competent woman who landed at his ranch when he needed help. But will he
be able to choose between Melanie or the ranch when he discovers the truth
behind her secrecy?
Book1
Tumbling Creek Ranch series
Lacey Wallis has put blood, sweat,
and tears into her dream of making it to the National Finals Rodeo and isn’t
about to let an injury stop her. However, she didn’t expect the ER nurse to be
the man she had a crush on years ago, or to discover that crush hadn’t been
one-sided.
Jared McIntyre lived through loving
and the death of one thrill-seeking woman, and wasn’t about to let that happen
again. Especially not to Lacey. But that would mean he’d have to allow himself
to love again.
Which will it be, a life-long dream,
or the love of a lifetime?
Universal book link: https://www.books2read.com/u/b5M1Ep
Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 32 novels, 8 novellas, and numerous anthologies of murder mystery and western romance. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters.This is what Romance Junkies has to say about the Tumbling Creek Ranch series: “There are twists and turns to the story with a nice flow and a depth to the characters. The vivid scenic descriptions made me feel like I was there… I hope to return to Tumbling Creek Ranch over and over again.”
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5 comments:
Nice post, Paty. I also want well-developed characters when I'm reading.
You hit on most of my likes and dislikes, too, Paty. And your books contain my 'likes' and avoid my 'dislikes', which is why I'm a fangirl! Great new series!
I also loved the Irish Sister Trilogy. Actually, I know it as the Irish Born trilogy but I do think all the protagonists were women and sisters. Two others of her trilogies that has stayed with me is the Dream Trilogy and the Key Trilogy. Nora has always been amazing with characters. I stopped reading her in the early 1990's just because I never had time to read anything that was fiction (unless it was a short story). Now I've missed out on probably 100 books. :)
Your books also have great characters which is why I love them so much. I agree that characters can carry a book even when other things fall down. However, it's best when it all works together.
Thank you Patty. I recently read one of yours that was in the anthology with Stephs. I plan on collecting a lot more.
Randy
Great post , Paty! I concur with your dislikes! Nora Roberts is one of my favorite authors. The Irish Born series is excellent. She has a more recent series with some paranormal called "The Dark Witch", I believe, another excellent series.
I love your books too. I can always tell you do extensive research.
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