Bah...

Triggers ahead.

Feeling out of sorts. I've read a lot of stories over the last little while and added a lot of authors to my no list. I know the main problem is hormonal imbalance, which will improve soon.

I really need to learn to ditch books sooner, but I probably won't. I keep hoping an author will redeem him/herself by the end of the book. It has happened on rare occasion.

I still dislike first person. I make exceptions but not very often.

Some characters are simply too stupid to live and watching their lives drawn out is painful. A woman dithering over a narcissist is a huge hot button. I want to take her out to protect the hero from her, pushing me to scream, "Run, Hero! Run!"

I "get" writers torture their characters, but there's a limit to my believability.

Of course, there's the little things like a character being thrown by the blast of an explosion. Retired military man turned writer stated, "Despite what the movies and Hollywood show you, if the bomb moves you, you're dead."

Or there's the near non-reaction when the heroine is violated. Of course, it didn't help having to read it without warning. Huge NO to the author. If the perp uses his fingers, it's still rape. She said, "No." The fact that she doesn't react beyond being bothered by it creeps me out. Reading the way it was written left me with the ugly feeling she didn't care for it, but it wasn't that bad, which creeps me out even more. I know she's in the hands of a killer, but she's still too unaffected by what just happened to her, especially since she'd been dating the guy... okay, I can't talk about this anymore. It's just NO!

Heroines involved with law enforcement and military heroes and being horrified when he takes someone out in the midst of a life and death situation. Really? Grow up. There are evil people in the world who take pleasure in hurting others. They are not sorry. They will not change if given the chance, because they don't see a need to change! Officers and soldiers are doing their job to protect you from those who don't give a rat's behind about your delicate sensibilities. Don't you dare condemn him when he was doing his job protecting you and civilized society. Guess what? They don't enjoy that part of their job, either, so don't be a witch and add to the weight of responsibility they carry.

Then there are the heroines who are determined to make it on their own, despite the fact they aren't trained in self-defense and they are being hunted by thugs who have already proved they have no problem with killing her at the first opportunity. Can't fix stupid, and yet there are far too many authors who think they can.

I feel better, now. I'll probably rant about this stuff again, but I really needed to empty it from my head.