There are some issues that are so prevalent in most romances that sometimes I want to scream:
GET A THESAURUS!
-FRISSON: defined by Merriam-Webster as a pleasurably intense stimulation of the feelings. This word is seriously overused. Other words you can use that would work just as well while preventing your novel from being like everyone else's: arousal, buzz; jolt, shock
GET REAL!
-If you are staring at someone across the room, and the only light is provided by candles, there is NO WAY you can tell what color that person's eyes are, or if they are "darkening" with anticipation or pleasure or whatever.
-Size matters. If someone is sitting on your lap, unless that person is 3 feet tall, it will be VERY uncomfortable for that person's head to be "tucked" under your chin. Only toddlers can do that. Also, have you ever stood next to a person who is 6'4"? If you are 5 feet tall, and petite, there is no way that you can reach their chin with your mouth even if you are standing on your tiptoes. These kinds of issues stop me in my tracks and make me say (sometimes out loud), "that's impossible!" While sometimes you have to suspend reality to get into a book, authors need to get real about physical compatibility.
-Not everyone knows French! If you are using phrases in another language, have the decency to use a footnote or appendix, or have the characters provide the definition in dialogue. Without explanation, reader comprehension is reduced. I speak 3 languages and know many French phrases, but still have trouble with some books. Having to constantly look up a word so that I understand the sentence greatly reduces the enjoyability of the book. Who wants to have a French-English dictionary next to them at all times while reading a Regency romance? Not me.
GET SOME CREATIVITY!
-This is a major issue with love scenes, especially when written by the same author. Does everyone kiss or make love the same way? No! Ways of showing affection and describing passion should vary between characters.
-Who licks their lips "unconsciously" so often while they are staring at someone?! I've never seen anyone actually stick the "little tip of their tongue" out and lick their lips unless they were purposefully trying to be seductive. Moistening your lips is most often achieved through tucking your lips into your mouth to meet your tongue.
GET A BETTER EDITOR!
Some mistakes are absolutely unforgivable.
-using the wrong name for a character
-mixing up pronouns (if you can't tell who is a he and who is a she, you've got MAJOR problems with your book)
-grammar errors like using their instead of there, to instead of too
-spelling errors like quite instead of quiet, instead in place of intent
-punctuation errors like not using commas, forgetting periods or quotations, using an apostrophe to make a possessive instead of keeping the word a plural
Other issues are just annoying.
-having too much narration of a character's thoughts in the middle of dialogue between two characters. It causes the reader forgets the dialogue. I've seen cases where there were 3 pages of narration in the middle of a one character's question and the other's answer. It is so unnecessary and ruins the book for me. For Pete's sake, finish one dialogue Q&A before the narration expounds on the characters' thoughts.
-Repetitive narration! UGH! If narration has already described how someone thinks or a chain of events in detail, don't repeat it again! Give the audience some credit for remembering what a character is like. In cases where narration is repeated, it seems as if the character is ruminating or fretting over the issue that has already been addressed. VERY annoying, and it makes the characters unlikable. If the character is meant to fret or ruminate, then comment about that in narration saying something like, "she couldn't help thinking back to [insert topic] again," but please don't resolve an issue and then 2 chapters later have the same character go through the same fretting again to come to the same conclusion.
A good editor - or in some cases, ANY editor - will catch these and other problems and make the book readable. There are some books that I have simply put down without finishing because the editing was so bad that the potentially enjoyable book was completely enraging. I've actually written to authors before about this issue. Heck, I'd be willing to give any book a read-through for free and give my comments.
This is just the beginning of my pet peeve list. I will add to it as I encounter issues.
