Keeping the Reader in the Story

I did a book reading marathon this weekend, reading six books in three days and kind of a theme that followed (in hindsight, that is) was, keeping the reader in the story...what pulls you out.

Okay, so let me say upfront that I liked all the books but there were a couple of things that pulled me out of the story.

First I read Nancy Block's Once Upon a Pirate:

Here's what got to me with this book...The heroine falls through a hole in her home onto a pirate ship. She looks up to see the pirate and he has dark (black) chest hair with a little gray.

Anything jump out at you yet? The hero on the cover of the book has ZERO chest hair. None, zip, nada. Yet in the book it's referenced a number of times and the heroine enjoys running her hands through his chest hair.

Now, I know it's not at all the author's fault but every time there was a reference to his chest hair, I flipped over to the cover. Drove me nuts and pulled me out of the story.

Other than that, it was a fun time-travel book. (Think seasick pirate. ;o) )


Next I read Linda Barrett's Reluctant Housemates.

The issue I had with this book also had to do with the cover. The heroine in the story had short hair...as short as the hero's hair. Yet on the cover, the heroine's hair is down her back. Again, not the author's fault but it was a distraction. Other than that, I absolutely loved this book, as I have all of them in this series.


Next I read Debra Clopton's And Baby Makes Five:


This was my first ever Inspirational book. I met Debra at the airport in Houston, waiting to catch our flight to Atlanta. She was a very sweet woman with a distinct accent (and as such I heard every single one of her characters with that same accent).

My "problem" with this story was that, the book starts off with a pregnant, unmarried heroine - and no explanation. It shocked me, being that it was an inspirational book. You're well into the book before it is explained that she was married but her husband, not interested in being a father, left her as soon as he found out she was pregnant. Other than that, I really liked the book. Samantha was my favorite character. :o)


After that I read Shane Bolks' Reality TV Bites:

Only complaint was a secondary character, Rory. Shane's book, The Good The Bad and the Ugly Men I've Dated was not a favorite of mine (even though it was up for a Rita this year for best first book) because Rory was soooooooooo into Star Wars and I'm so not. She would make comments that would only make sense if you were a Star Wars fan and so I didn't get a lot of that book. So, having her in this book doing the same thing annoyed the heck out of me. Thankfully she wasn't in the book much. This was a fun book to read and I enjoyed it.


Next, I read Emily McKay's Surrogate and Wife:


The heroine looks very young on the cover. In the story she's a judge...who's afraid of losing her job because she's pregnant and unmarried. I might not have been bothered at all, if she didn't have the job/profession she did. Other than that, I really liked the book. I liked the way they built the relationship. Good book.


And lastly, I read Erica Spindler's Cause for Alarm:

Only beef was I couldn't read it fast enough. I love her books!


As I said, I enjoyed all the books but sometimes little things can stand out.

So, what sort of things pull you out of the story when you're reading a book?