That cover is gorgeous, but the red on black gives me Twilight saga flashbacks…

I think despite the grading system, each of us here grades a little bit differently from the others. I sometimes wonder if I am too generous in my grading but I think that’s partly a reflection of the fact that I stop reading a lot of books too early to review them.

Love that cover, though.

As for using the personal library as guide posts thing, like I said, that was in the beginning when I first joined DA, before I’d written any reviews, and Jane was working on seeing if anyone would be willing to send traditional fantasy and YA along with the paranormals and crossovers (mostly UFs at the time) for me to read and review. Now I have the reviews I’ve written here at DA to use as well.

I couldn’t use the books in my personal library as guide posts because for the most part, if I hadn’t thought those books were above average, I wouldn’t have kept them.

But when I started reviewing for DA I had to stop using that grading system because there was already another grading system in place here. At that time, we had a review grade explanation posted (it is no longer posted as such but I quoted it in an opinion piece I wrote a while back, so I can reproduce it). The grading system went like this:

A: I loved it and would cry if someone took it from my library. I would need lots of chocolate to get over its loss.
B: It's good and I would buy it again, given the chance.
C: Eh. Not bad but I probably would never read it again.
D: I want my money back.
F: I want my money back and repayment for the time wasted reading it.

After I graded a few books based on that system I started using those books as guide posts the way you use the ones in your library. It’s never been easy to assign a grade though. That’s my least favorite part of reviewing. As you say, there are so many elements that can come into play in a book. Sometimes a book will be really strong in one area and weak in another, and it is hard to know how to balance the grade to reflect that.

Speaking for myself, it's the B, B-, C+, and C grades I have the hardest time assigning because it's usually these grades where I bring the check and balance system into play. The extreme grades (As, Ds & Fs) are the easiest to assign.

I totally understand this, because it’s *exactly* the same when I’m judging entries in a contest (GH, Rita, or even smaller chapter-sponsored contests). The extremes–highest and lowest possible scores–are totally easy. But anything in between?! And even worse when it’s a contest requiring you to write comments explaining your scores! I anguish over those “middle score” comments. Especially because sometimes it really isn’t anything specific–no ‘craft’ issues or technical issues, just that I didn’t click with the characters or it didn’t catch/hold my interest. How do you explain that?!

So I can only imagine how hard it is to write a review–especially a critical one (and by that I don’t mean ‘bad’–I just mean ‘not gushing’!).

But one thing I really like about DA (and why, as a reader, it’s probably my #1 go-to place for reviews) is that you all do a really excellent job explaining exactly why a book works for you, or conversely, why it didn’t.

As for the grade, it’s so subjective. I personally have a very hard time assigning grades. Before joining Dear Author, I never used grades or ratings and simply wrote reviews along the lines of what you see above. But since Dear Author does have a grading system, the first thing I did was look at my bookshelf and started assigning grades to the books in my library. So at its most basic level, my personal grading system is based on simple gut checks against the guide posts certain novels in my personal library represent.

Where it gets tricky is when I bring in the checks and balances — does Element A bump the grade up, does Element B knock the grade down. If I’m conflicted and struggle with assigning a grade, does Element A which I loved make up for, and possibly outweigh, Element B which I was not so enthused about? Or does Element C drive me so completely crazy it negates everything else? Of course, that’s where reader bias comes in.

It’s tough. Speaking for myself, it’s the B, B-, C+, and C grades I have the hardest time assigning because it’s usually these grades where I bring the check and balance system into play. The extreme grades (As, Ds & Fs) are the easiest to assign. Everything in between, however, takes more thought and pondering for me. FWIW, a C grade from me isn’t a “bad” grade. It’s average. I know that’s not what authors want to hear because they don’t want to be average; they want to be great. But I see so many people call C reviews “bad” reviews and for many reviewers, myself included, that’s not the case at all.

But seriously, after the train wreck that occurred here the other day with Dr. S’s review, it’s always appreciated when authors are gracious in their responses to reviews. That sort of behavior makes me more likely to give the author’s next book a try. (And now that I know the next book features Lord Wallingford, I’ll certainly keep my eye out for it next year! LOL)

I can see Jia's side in her decision to grade it as she did, and I welcome her thoughts and am pleased with the professional way it was written.

What a wonderful response. I’m very intrigued by the premise of this book.

Sonomalass, thanks for trying out Addicted! It is a happily ever after, but after a fe tears and trials between Anais and Linsay Hope you like it. As for responding to a ‘c’ review, I’m okay with it. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I wish it was a desert Island keeper for her, but she said what she didn’t like about the book in a thoughtful, ariticulate manner, and truth be known, she had every right to feel misled by the blurb. When I first saw the blurb, I felt it was misleading as well, especially in regards to Anais and the other man. I was wordered what readers would think
I can see Jia’s side in her decision to grade it as she did, and I welcome her thoughts and am pleased with the professional way it was written. There was no bashing, just thoughtful ideas of what didn’t work for her. Perhaps I can hope that she’ll be bowled over by Lord Wallingford’s book, ‘Sinful’ when it comes next year! lol!

Best wishes and happy reading!

Seriously, I would think that labeling a book a romance tells us that the relationship is the focus, and that there’s a happy ending. Erotic is an added label to indicate explicit sex. So if I see a book billed as an “erotic novel” rather than an “erotic romance,” I figure that there’s not a main couple whose relationship develops over the course of the book, or that the ending is unhappy. Especially from a known romance publisher.

I am looking forward to reading this book — I fell in love with the cover the first time I saw it, and although I didn’t buy it right away, I find myself pulled back to it every time I’m in the bookstore. Now that I’m sure it’s a romance, and not a sexy book that will end unhappily and depress me, I’ll give in to its temptation.

Nice reveiw, Jia. You make it easy for me to decide that this is a book I want to read, because you explain clearly how it did and didn’t work for you.

Oh, and Ms Featherstone? Nice example of how to respond graciously to a C review. Classy.

As for those emails you received regarding the existence of an HEA, that’s definitely telling. Even in this thread, a couple commenters mentioned that they were interested but hadn’t picked it up because they were uncertain and assumed it was more erotica than romance. It’s another face to the marketing issue — like when publishers were marketing urban fantasies as romance for a while (although I guess they still do), even when those series ended with the heroine killing the hero.

So, I’m just going to jump in here, as a reader of romance and erotic romance. Personally, I’m just as confused as Jia is about what constitutes erotica, erotic romance, romance with erotic elements etc… I’ve read books that I have thought, ‘hmm, that’s in the romance section?’ because it was so explicit and with little romance, and then I have read books, much like Addicted, where I thought, ‘it’s not so erotic’. I even had a bookseller email to tell me that she had read Addicted, loved it and was moving it out of erotica and into romance because she felt it was more romance and that the romance readers would probably like it. And, I think she’s right. I’ve never considered myself an erotica writer, but that’s where I’ve been published. It always confounds me! lol!
I guess what it comes down to is that erotic, and eroticsm is different for each person, and that’s what makes it so darn difficult to peg and nail down into one line. I’ve been burned before by books where I thought the romance would prevail, only to find out it was straight erotica. I’m a romance person, I like those sappy HEA’s! To make matters worse, you can’t always judge a book’s content by the cover. I’ve read some really kinky erotica by accident because I’ve been misled by the romancey cover and a blurb that hints atlove and romance (but blurbs and covers are an entirely different post!)

As an interesting tidbit, I had dozens of emails from interested readers asking two questions (they all asked these questions, in fact!) They were a)is this a romance and b) does it end happily. All who emailed were very interested in the book, but not interested in investing time, money and emotions in a book that was not romance and would not end well. I found that very telling. Even though each Spice book has the ‘Erotic Novel’ printed on the cover, there are still readers out there who wish to have romance and the HEA along with their sex. I think it’s this cross genre melding that has readers skittish about buying something they know they aren’t going to like, or buying something they think they want only to find out its not.
As traditional publishers make new lines and blend old ones, I think the confusion will continue to grow.

It's fine to cover such a wide range but if that's the case, can readers then be criticized for having incorrect expectations for a book?

Nope, I don’t think they can. I think it *is* hard to know what you’re going to get. I kinda feel like these days, though, it’s hard to know what to expect from *any* line. I remember reading Patience by Lisa Valdez (which I enjoyed!), and being surprised that it was published under a ‘historical romance’ line rather than an erotic line. Some of the Berkley/NAL Heat books have an HEA with more traditional romance storylines, some don’t. I remember once Kate Duffy describing the Brava line as books “with a lot of really hot sex in them” and I guess that’s what I’ve always thought about Spice, too–and most of the other ‘erotic’ imprints of traditional romance publishers. But yeah, it does seem that the “really hot sex” might come with a traditional romance, or it might come with multiple partners, kinky stuff, and no real HEA–and I can definitely understand how that might be a problem for some readers.