HAPPILY EVER AFTER discussion

Some readers prefer their 'Romances' to be on the cleaner side, with little or no profanity, intimate details and graphic violence. 

While to others, it doesn't make a great deal of difference whether the books are gruesome or pleasant, ...naughty or decent. 

Anyway, I thought that it might be interesting to discuss how much profanity, intimate details and graphic violence influence our reading decisions. 

For me, it makes no difference whatsoever, I really don't mind profanity or graphic sex scenes in a romance novel.

I found that with a chick lit book recently. It was quite a long book by Marian Keyes. I'd never read anything by her before. I was enjoying the book, it was well written, and had well developed characters that I was interested in. Then toward the end, one character reveals they have cancer, one attempts suicide, and another recounts a past rape. Who wants to read three pages describing a rape, two pages describing a graphic suicide, and another couple pages describing cancer symptoms? I try to avoid cancer books to begin with, so I'm always disappointed when I'm surprised that I'm reading one again. This was just all so over the top, it felt like a contrived attempt at a tear jerker. I don't mind a tear jerker once in awhile, but I prefer them to be meaningful. You know a true story, maybe. I don't like it when a light fluffy chick lit book tries to twist itself into a tear jerker. I feel like I've wasted my time, and I feel like I was tricked.

I really rarely read full-on erotica. I am turned off by that. I am not a prude, and not opposed to sex scenes, even steamier ones, but I like a romance story to have more substance than the main "thing" in the book being people having sex in various ways.

For me I stopped reading romances with bedroom scenes when I was still in my twenties, because I either found them eye-rolling or ROTFL ridiculous, or the descriptions just too crude/vulgar so the mood was killed.

I prefer strong physical attraction and knee weakening kisses, but can't stand a romance where the couple is constantly thinking of bedding each other. That is nothing but sex, and nothing romantic about it.

Also find it ridiculous if as soon as they meet they are thinking of marriage, too desperate for my tastes.

I prefer the romance to grow gradually.

If the bedroom scenes were written really well and tastefully, I could handle it, but never found such a book! Supposedly the most popular sex scene authors are Regency writers, and I prefer Contemporary and/or western romances

I will not tolerate pervasive profanity, especially 'F' bombs and religious swears, or crude/vulgar sexual talk.

IMO authors who use the F-word & C-word and rhymes w/
witch word, repeatedly, show a lack of imagination. Or
are pandering to readers or trying to add to the word count.

Sex scenes are fine, but not pages and pages. Some of these
scenes are so wooden or repetitious, I skip over them. I wish
more sex scenes were playful. Some couples in these scenes
are actually making love!

Violence is understandable in a war or feud, but I don't want
the gory details. Authors should give a warning if the book
contains domestic violence or rape. A fav horse of the h was
gored in a medieval, to get back at the H: unnecessary.