When Authors Disappoint

One of my favorite authors is Lily Gold. She writes Why Choose romances that are sweet, poignant and spicy. She does a phenomenal job of giving you a cupcake of a book that ends up making you question everything.

Her book "Triple Duty Bodyguards" was a deep dive into internet stardom and the affect of stalking and PTSD. You'd think that a why choose would be all fluff and spice, but this book left me philosophizing about cyber bullying and parasocial interactions. The smut isn't gratuitous, although theres plenty of it. It shows tru character growth and connection between characters.

That all being said, Gold hasn't written a book in four years. According to social media and the afterward in her latest book, this was due to burnout and the pressures of writing a new book. Yes, I said new book.

Gold recently published "Highland Hideaway." I was so excited for this book, I literally took the day off work so I could read it. I was totally prepared to be wrecked in the best way possible. Only that didn't happen.

I wont go into too many details about why I did not like this book. The only think I will say is that it was three of her books slapped together with a couple of name changes. I felt like I was rereading my favorites again, but this time it left me feeling disappointed and sad.

Authors have discussed their gruesoms publishing schedules at length. Especially in the romance genre. We are a hungry bunch of readers and we devour our favorite author's work. But, and there is a big but here.

We would wait!

I would have waited another four years for Gold to put out a new, fresh book. I wish she would have taken her time and written something that made her happy rather than rush to jam previous ideas into one tome and shove it out to the public.

I think publishing companies also need to recognize that readers are patient. We will reread our favorites while we wait for new material. Yes, we're eager, but we'd rather wait than get something the author felt pressured to write.

If romance has taught me anything, it's that readers ALWAYS want an HEA. We want our favorite authors to be happy and healthy. We want them to feel like they're putting their best work out there and we want them to take the time they need to make it happen.