Exceptions to my romance novel rules

’ve been pretty vocal about things I can’t tolerate in romance novels and tropes I never want to see again. But I will admit that there are just some authors who so darned good that I can forgive nearly anything. And this post is all about a few of my favorite exceptions.

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Stalkers

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: there’s nothing romantic about stalking someone. It was creepy and weird when Edward broke into Bella’s house and watched her sleep, and still millions of readers thought it was just so, so romantic. Blech! But, that said…

I have read 3 books where the heroes did exhibit stalker tendencies, and the romance still worked for me:

Why did these work for me when most others would have epically bombed? They were so well-written and engaging with unique, fascinating characters that I totally accepted the stalking without batting an eye. #SorryNotSorry

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Billionaires/Millionaires

I’m sooooooo over the whole billionaire/millionaire thing! Romancelandia is positively littered with hot young billionaires/millionaires, and it drives me crazy! I blame Fifty Shades of Grey. In fact, I’m so over billionaires/millionaires that if I catch even a hint of billionaire/millionaire in the blurb, I don’t bother reading any further. But, that said…

There have been some exceptions to my billionaire/millionaire rule--some truly awesome characters that I thoroughly adored. Here are a few of my all-time favorite billionaire/millionaire exceptions:

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Escorts

I was almost kicked out of the Girl’s Club back in 1990—when Pretty Woman came out—for suggesting that there was nothing sexy or romantic about prostitution. I tended to avoid romance novels about escorts after that. But, that said…

There are a few escort romances that made it clear to me they were exceptions to my rule. Here are my top faves:

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Crushing dramatic deaths

Look, I don’t read romance so that I can end up emotionally devastated, curled up in the fetal position, sobbing uncontrollably. If I wanted to feel like that I’d read the news. But, that said…

These books featured crushing dramatic deaths and were so well-written and induced so many feels that I still loved them:

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Instalove

We all hate this one, right? I bet you figured this would be the one rule I wouldn’t have an exception to, didn’t you? Well...that’s true...except for this one…

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Kidnapping

Stockholm Syndrome is NOT romantic or sexy. Normally I bail on stories where the heroine is kidnapped by the hero for any reason. But, that said…

I did love these:

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Heroes who are jerks (at least at first)

I have a HUGE preference for nice guy heroes. I usually bail pretty quickly on the jerks of Romancelandia. Except for these guys, who I loved even though they started out as total jerks:

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What about y’all? Any exceptions you’d like to share with the class? Let’s have ‘em!