Summer Reading Books: Likes and Dislikes

Warning: If you don't like romance novels and/or aren't interested in what I have to say about them, I suggest coming back tomorrow.   

Yesterday, I updated you on my summer reading progress.  To date, I've read 39 books and am in the process of reading Dream Man by Linda Howard and listening to It Had to Be You by Susan Elizabeth Phillips in the car.  As I mentioned yesterday, the books are beginning to run together, so I thought, in a very (very) brief way, I would list which ones I liked, didn't like, and which ones I'm neutral on. 

Liked (the ones I loved are in bold): 

Dreaming of You

Pride and Prejudice 

Outlander

Devil in Winter

Welcome to Temptation

The Viscount Who Loved Me

Lover Awakened

Mr. Impossible

The Duke and I

Romancing Mr. Bridgerton 

Naked in Death

Dark Lover

The Secret

Lover Eternal

Devil's Bride

Sea Swept

When He Was Wicked

It Happened One Autumn

Born in Fire

Lady Sophia's Lover

Worth Any Price

Rising Tides

Born in Ice

Ransom

Slave to Sensation

Didn't Like (Didn't finish are in bold):

Lord of Scoundrels (It's been over a year since I read this and my feelings may have changed so I'm going to reread it)

Flowers From the Storm

The Serpent Prince

Morning Glory 

Something Borrowed

Neutral:

Bet Me

Slightly Dangerous

Lord Perfect

The Bride

Mr. Perfect

Then Came You 

Saving Grace

Dragon Fly in Amber

Voyager

I'm not going to go through each and every book because that would take forever.  I will however, tell you why I didn't like the ones I didn't.  

Lord of Scoundrels:  Someone told me I should turn in my romance reader card for not liking this book.  Admittedly, I didn't finish it.  In fact, I didn't make it very far in.  I couldn't even skip through to find a better scene.  This book is on everyone's top ten list of favorite romances of all time, and frankly I don't see why.  However, I may have been in bad mood when I started this book or I may have been looking for something different, so I'm willing to give it another chance. 

Flowers From the Storm: This book was just too much for me.  Too long, too much emotion, too many plot lines, just too much.  I can't handle a Quaker herione, a hero whose had a stoke and now in a mental institution, and the angst (oh the angst) associated with the herione trying to heal him and keep him from being declared legally insane.  Oh, and did I mention the math?  Too too much.  I got about a quarter of the way through this, then started skimming.  I got the gist, but I just wasn't caught up in the emotion as AAR's reviewer obviously was. 

The Serpent Prince: Honestly I don't remember what I didn't like about this book.  But I didn't because I only read about half of it before I started skimming.  I think I was bored.  There really isn't anything special about this book that sets it apart from other regencies.  I like the hero, but if I want to read about a lavishly dressed nobleman, I think I'll stick with the Duke of Villiers and Eloisa James. 

Morning Glory: I read this book years ago, but it's stuck in my head of one of the few romances I truly didn't like.  LaVyrle Spencer is incredible popular, especially among women who started reading romance in the late 80s, but this is the only book I've ever read by her.  I didn't like it, therefore, I didn't read her anymore.  I can't remember many of the details, but I remember being frustrated by the characters and found the story boring.  I like some action in my plots, and I think that this one is more character-based.  Unlike Nora Roberts, who can excel at this type of book, I found this one to be a disappointment. 

Something Borrowed: This was recommended to me by several people and I was really looking forward to it.  I'm not sure if a lot of my dislike came from listening to this book rather than reading it, but I thought that Rachel was one the wimpiest, wishy-washy, spineless characters to ever enter fiction.  (I know that's a little harsh).  Towards the end of the book, I was mentally screaming from Rachel to put on her big girl panties and deal with it.  I think at some point I may have actually yelled out loud at her while driving (it had been a long week).  All that said, I didn't turn the book off; I needed to know what happened.  It's why I'll still read Something Blue because I really need to know if Darcy gets what's coming (I doubt it).  But overall, I didn't like this one.

I'm afraid to ask if people agree with me or not.  I'm sure I stepped a few toes with Lord of Scoundrels and Flowers from the Storm.  But, I'm going to grin and bear it.  Do you agree with my lists?  What are your thoughts?