Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy discussion

I'd love to hear what it is about a new book that makes you want to pick it up and read it. For me, things start with the cover -- a good cover telegraphs what's to come in a way that doesn't give things away -- but then I usually scan a few pages up front and in the middle. What are you all looking for?

I always love this topic and how widely the opinions vary on them. NEVER judge a book by its cover is definitely my motto😁.

For me it's rarely just one factor, most often it's a combination - none of which really include the cover! A cover will often make me click to see if the premise draws me in (and quite often it turns me off), but is never the deciding factor as often covers are misleading or just not to my taste, and some of the most stunning covers I've ever seen are on the books that hold the least appeal to me. Also, I'm strongly attracted to certain colours and aesthetics and really turned off by others so if I were to choose books on that basis I would have missed out on some of my favs of all time, some of which have awful covers, or read some books with gorgeous covers that were just not for me.

The title, the blurb, the author and what I feel in the mood for/am desperate to get to are the factors that make me choose. And with series, most often I need to know that the series is complete and available for me to read back to back if I need to. And other than a handful of my very favourite of all of my go-to authors, I rarely read all of what they put out either.

Most books I read are ones that I've had my eye on for a while and so already know that I want to read them, or are ones that I pick up on from reviwers - and often that includes the things they don't like that really appeal to me!

I rarely consider the cover. I read the blurb and a few reviews to see if it’s interesting and then if there’s anything that will turn me off the book (too many complaints about plotting, protagonist with no real agency, abusive or controlling love interest, ambiguous consent, etc.). If it’s interesting and the reviews are good, I’ll usually give it a try

If a book looks super insightful or has super good reviews, I pick it up.

I love to immerse myself in a series. Book covers rarely motive my choice. I love recommendations from others who’s interest are close to mine. I will also pickup a book if I’ve enjoyed a writers other book. I’ve also went with a book reviews. Doesn’t it depend on how you feel, maybe an instinct 💜

If it's an indie author, I usually see a twitter post, and if if looks interesting, I'll click on it. My decision to buy the book depends on if I'm engaged in the sample chapters. My goal for next year is to read as many indie books as I can.

A unique book cover might also catch my attention. For example, paranormal romance tends to just be a sea of abs, and everything looks exactly the same. If a cover looks unique, it has a better chance of catching my attention, too. Also, if it's a captivating story about gay characters that's not erotica (a VERY rare find), I'll 9 times out of 10 read it. I really crave more of this in the PR genre. (and if it's a story about falling in love with monsters, I'm going to just swoon. I'm not big into the shifter romance, but give me sweet monsters and I'm there for it.)

Aeron wrote: "... Also, if it's a captivating story about gay characters that's not erotica (a VERY rare find)..."

Aaaaaand that is a great segue for me to pimp out my 😍😍😍 Green Creek series by TJ Klune (it's been a while!) which starts with a bang (not not a sex bang!) with this one and they are not short books! Werewolves, but give it a try and you might be surprised, especially as there is a huge found family theme running throughout the whole series.

A combination of cover and listed genres/keywords, if looking up books online.
I absolutely can't stand any spoilers, so I never ever look at blurbs/descriptions (kinda hate them. especially after I found out some authors practically give up all important details right there on the back of the book ... like why do I need to read the book now if you already summarized all of it??), or reviews (because it's so difficult to avoid reviews that don't start with summarizing the story....).
(Yes, I do often end up reading random books and then wondering how did I even end up with this in my hands ...)
But I still need a book to be a complete surprise for me.
All I really need is a list of keywords/tags about a book to pick what I like and avoid what I really dislike (see 'reverse-harem', run in the opposite direction).

While I do enjoy well-designed covers, covers are really too often very misleading, and I generally would prefer a system like a 'blind date with a book', with a blank cover and things like "paranormal romance, mystery, humor, trigger warnings: abcdefg' etc, written on it...
You know, how you'd get general tags for fanfiction that would tell you what kind of themes to expect without actually spoiling anything about story or characters? XD

If I'm buying a book in a store I'd probably get attracted by the cover first, than read first couple of pages to see if I can stand the writing quality or not.

I usually go by the title first. If it’s got a clever title, then usually it will catch my interest. From there, I’ll often read the description. I almost never read books without reading the description of them first, whether it’s a paperback or ebook. I found that the description on the back of the book really reflects the writing that it’s going to have. Sometimes a story just won’t sound interesting so I’ll leave it or other times, the description will sound choppy or have grammatical errors and I’ll know that I wouldn’t enjoy the book. Other times though, I’ll become intrigued by the description and give the book a shot.

I hate to admit this, but the cover has to catch my attention. *sigh* Yes I'm one of THOSE people. Granted, a catchy book cover =/= a good story, but in a sea of books, if it catches my eye, I will give the blurb a read. If the blurb is interesting, I will read the first couple chapters. If I'm still interested, I will buy the book.