Have you ever been given a book which was marketed as a thriller, but it looked rather sketchy? You looked askance at it, but still said, “Thank you,” and stuck it on the pile of books to read some rainy day?  

Well this writer did that with Bad Attitude by Sherrilyn Kenyon and yes, before you ask I should have been warned by the title right then, but I was taught never to look a gift horse in the mouth. Lesson to self: Look the gift horse in the mouth after the party’s over and head over to a Half-Priced bookstore or some other used bookseller, because romance books in fiction/thriller clothing will come back to haunt you.

Romance books do not sit quietly in their section of the bookstore or library; they market themselves as thrillers, mysteries, historical fiction, and even sci-fi/fantasy. The unsuspecting shopper picks up some unassuming novel and buys it without realizing that they have unwittingly bought a bodice ripper.

One lesson learned, being on the New York Times Bestseller list doesn’t mean anything, except people don’t have the greatest taste in books anymore than they do in TV.

The most important lesson learned by this now wiser author is not only to check the book you were given for clues that it might be a romance, but if you skip this step don’t leave random books where others can discover this to your chagrin.

People will use this against you and read key sections out, things I will leave to my readers’ fertile imagination. These interesting phrases will turn you red with embarrassment and leave you cussing yourself out for ever accepting the book. At least read the back cover, that’s all I ask.

Would-be gift-givers out there, just because it’s not in the romance section doesn’t mean that it’s not a bodice ripper, it’s just in hiding. Don’t believe me? Just open up any book by Nicolas Sparks (in the fiction section).

Of course if you like romance, ignore the advice listed above and check out Bad Attitude and Agent Steele, code name: Angel of Death.