As a reader of more than my fair share of self-published novels, I have come across a common trend that for the most part I can let pass: grammatical errors. That's not to say I'm okay if a book is riddled with issues, but the occasional hiccup doesn't faze me. Mistakes happen. And that is also not to say that it's only self-published novels that are full of errors. I've read more than a few from publishing houses that have goofs that range from small to glaring oversights.

I have a very good friend who is a romance junkie like me, but she is also a copyeditor.  We've had many discussions on this issue. How does one go about reacting to the big goofs, though? And what do you consider a small transgression, as opposed to outwardly flinching—or just putting the book down?

Everyone's tolerance level is different. My encounters with various errors cause different reactions, depending on the book. When it comes to glaring errors, I do find myself more forgiving of a new or relatively unknown author who has self-published a novel over an established author with a publisher and a copyeditor. Small mistakes, like an extra “s” in a word, just make me shrug. The random apostrophe is a hiccup found frequently too. I blink and move on.

[What mistakes drive you bananas?...]

Beverly Jenkins
Destiny's Embrace
Avon / January 29, 2013 / $7.99 print & digital

Gentleman Seeks Housekeeper. Must be willing to travel.

Desperate for another life away from Philadelphia, headstrong and beautiful Mariah Cooper answers an advertisement for a housekeeper at the other end of the continent. Waiting in California is the most breathtaking—and arrogant—man she has ever met . . . and he'd like nothing better than for Mariah to go back home!

Logan Yates has run Destiny, the family ranch, since he was a boy. He doesn't need this Eastern miss his stepmother hired, though his home's chaotic state suggests otherwise. Still, he's secretly pleased that Mariah gives as good as she gets—and he must fight the urge to take her in his arms and kiss her whenever she proudly stands her ground. But when he's in danger of losing her, Logan will have to choose between pride . . . and his heart's true desire.

Mariah Cooper, the heroine of Beverly Jenkins latest historical romance, Destiny's Embrace, is a woman who has yet to truly live. She's 30 and chained to her mother's dress shop in Philadelphia. Life hasn't been easy for her; her father passed when she was a toddler, leaving her to grow up under her strict and unloving mother's thumb. Teased as a child by most of the neighborhood children for her unusual eye color and without a healthy support system at home, Mariah's optimistic approach that things will get better has served her well. That outlook on life allowed her to survive her circumstances without being browbeaten into cynicism and despair. 

[Don't worry—things are about to change...]

Jill Sorenson
Aftershock
HQN / $7.99 print, $6.79 digital / December 18, 2012

As an emergency paramedic, Lauren Boyer is dedicated and highly capable. Until an earthquake strikes, trapping her beneath the freeway with a group of strangers—including Iraq war veteran Garrett Wright…

Handsome and take-charge Garrett aids Lauren in her rescue efforts, even as the steely look in his eyes seems to hide dark secrets. When a gang of escaped convicts goes on the attack, Garrett's bravery makes him more than a courageous bystander to Lauren. If they can save the others before time runs out, maybe, just maybe, they can explore the fire igniting between them—if the truth about who he really is doesn't pull them apart forever….

In Jill Sorenson's Aftershock, after a large earthquake strikes San Diego, California, an EMT finds herself alone when her partner is killed and chaos surrounds her. While looking for other survivors, she meets a handsome man who helps her rescue others that they come across. Together they form an alliance that soon turns into something more.

[I like the sound of that...]

Lora Leigh
Secret Sins
St. Martin's Press / November 27, 2012 / $7.99 print & digital

Sheriff Archer Tobias has watched the Callahan family struggle to find peace and acceptance in the community—despite the murders that continue to haunt them. But his darkest suspicions grow worse when Anna Corbin, a member of one of the country's most influential families, becomes the next target…

Anna knows she’s in danger. She knows she’s on a trail of secrets and lies that could lead to a dead end. But no matter what, she’s determined to learn the identity of the killer—even if it’s someone she loves…

Torn between duty and desire, Sheriff Tobias cannot allow Anna to put herself in the path of a deranged murderer. But as the investigation pulls them closer together—and deeper into the nightmare—he realizes that he cannot save her from this legacy of blood and vengeance…without putting his own life on the line.

Secret Sins is the third book in Lora Leigh's Callahans series and features the erotic love story of Anna Corbin and Archer Tobias. Anna feels adrift and unwanted after a history of odd, rejecting behavior from her family for the past 15 years. She has also been in love with Archer since she was a teenager.

[And now that she's all grown up?...]

When I first started writing for this site, my initial posts shone a spotlight on multicultural romances, as I feel they’re underappreciated and overlooked in the romance genre. Even I didn’t seriously invest in reading them until a little over a year ago.  I don’t regret the tangent; if I hadn’t taken it, I would have missed some wonderful stories I now cherish written by authors not well known in the romance genre mainstream. Granted, I still read traditional historical, paranormal, contemporary, and romantic suspense books, but I’ve added variety to my heroines and heroes. Now I read novels with women of color as heroines, women who look more like me. As my excitement increased, I noticed that it wasn’t resonating with some others I know and that leads me this column.

I have several friends who are avid romance readers like I am. Through our discussions, I realized several of my friends would not read multicultural romances because, in their paraphrased words, they couldn’t identify with the lead characters, specifically the heroine. They read ménages and male/male romances, yet were uninterested or hesitant to read a book if the lead wasn’t Caucasian. I was surprised, disappointed and in some ways, a little insulted. Is it really easier to identify with a lead who shapeshifts into an animal or a being that sucks blood from other living beings or a man as long as that character is Caucasian?

[Open your mind...]

When you read a steamy romance, sometimes you come across a scene that just hits all the marks. It’s got the perfect meeting of romance, desire, and pure emotion. It’s that scene that encompasses the core of the love story in showing the physical and emotional passion of the characters toward each other. A challenge was recently issued to list my top 5 sizzling scenes. Below are my top 5, along with an honorable mention.

Feel the burn…

5. Mercury’s War by Lora Leigh (M/F): A breed with a troubled past, who has lost much of his animal instinct in order to survive, Mercury came alive when Ria hit town. When the two finally sated their mutual lust after much verbal foreplay and heavy petting, there is enough randy and rough play to almost break the bed. Their love story isn’t without bumps and it’s the twist toward the end that leads to what I see as their hottest encounter. Not necessarily because of Mercury’s primal nature showing his dominance, but the heavy emotional dialogue from both characters than lends the scene more significance in its sexiness. There are times when an author mixes raw sex and abiding love just right, and that scene between Mercury and Ria is a good example.

“She had read the reports on mating heat—the list of sensations felt, the intensity of it—and it hadn’t prepared her for this. Not this. The wildness rising inside her, crashing over her and obliterating any control she could have thought to possess. All she could do was feel.”

[Turn up the heat...]

I discovered Zena Wynn when I picked up her novel Tameka’s Smile while searching for multiracial romance books. Later, I realized it’s the fourth novel in her True Mates series, featuring shapeshifters, so I decided to read the other books in the series.

The first book, True Mates, is about Alpha shifter Alex, who has waited most of his adult life for his one true mate to appear, refusing to settle on just mating any female in the pack.He meets his true mate Kiesha in an “meet odd” way (at least for her), but that first night blossoms  into love, acceptance and understanding.

[He may shift into an animal, but he’s all man...]

As an avid romance reader, there are times when I come across a hero or heroine that I wish would be run over by a car or horse carriage (depending on the time period). I normally like this author, but in reading her books, I recently came across two  of the most unsympathetic and insufferable characters I’ve had the displeasure to read about recently.

The Darkest Heart is an older novel by Brenda Joyce. I was mostly excited to read this book because it is the story of how the parents of a hero in one of my favorite historical romances, Shozkay Savage of The Fires of Paradise, fell in love. I recommend that book wholeheartedly, but The Darkest Heart is an altogether different case.

The Darkest Heart tells the story of Jack Savage and Candice Carter set to the backdrop of the western frontier. He’s a half Native-American, wandering loner, and she’s the blonde, blue-eyed spoiled beauty of her family. I’m going to put it out there now: I hated hated HATED Candice. She wasn’t much of a heroine, making so many too-stupid-to-live decisions on top of being selfish and immature in general. She was constantly lying to cover up her stupidity, while continuing to do ridiculous and impulsive things. The hero states at the end of the book that she had grown from being selfish and impulsive, but it wasn’t in any way that I saw. I kept reading this book thinking Jack deserved better than Candice. My palm itched to reach through my Kindle to smack her. That’s not a good sign for a romance book.

[Don’t mistreat your Kindle just because you don’t like a heroine!...]

About a year ago I was chatting with a fellow romance fan. She’s new to the genre and has a more focused interest on paranormal romances, especially vampire stories. I’m more old school, in that I’ve been reading romance books for almost 30 years, starting with Rosemary Rogers’s historical novels (and other authors writing at the time) and branching out from there.

Both of us found ourselves wishing that there were more romance books out there with women who not only look like us but also date like us. See, we’re both Black women who grew up in diversity rich areas, and while we both like the mainstream romances you find in bookstores, there is something to be said for reading a story with a heroine we can identify with both physically and culturally.

[You seem familiar...]