BOOK COMMUNITEA: YET TO BE TITLED [CC]

[@elsiemae4]

As someone who works in the medical field, a PT sleeping with their patient is a HIPPA/ethics violation and can get your license stripped, but no romance author seems to show the actual fallout for that. Also the review bombing just shows that people don’t have good media literacy and it was an accident. It sucks all the way around, but it doesn’t sound/look intentional.

[@casuallybrady]

I also work in health care and was coming to comment the same thing.

[@meganlilyflower]

I do think this is what the forbidden romance label is about

[@effy_reads]

Came to the comments for this because I guess I didn't realise that folks didn't realise a healthcare professional/patient romance is very, very taboo.

[@c.e.higgins2609]

HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) is about providers not selling or sharing your information without your consent. PT sleeping with a patient is an ethical violation not a HIPAA one.

[@PGT860]

I think if they'd just used the word "power dynamic" instead of forbidden love none of this would have happened but the people complaining really should be able to understand what they meant with forbidden love, anyways

[@MoJordanReads]

I hope Tessa Bailey does a bad boy athlete series... 1) Golf 2) Pickleball 3) Ultimate frisbee 4) Ping pong 5) Squash

[@shawnlee220]

They could be secret assassins or something 😂

[@JessOwens]

💀💀

[@dorothynguyencavell9084]

And the ultimate bad boy: badminton

[@leaf111]

6) croquet

[@kalka1l]

@@dorothynguyencavell9084 💀You mean Bad(boy)Minton? I will see myself out.

[@GamenRead]

“Touch her and die golfer” is giving Tiger Woods during his mental health crisis

[@JessOwens]

🫢

[@dobetterwithchristian4472]

I had this thought. Also Happy Gilmore. Not real, but definitely an idiot with a golf club.

[@heathermalmal9943]

“Which seems highly unlikely because Goodreads has one employee.” FACTS. 😂😂😂 9:22

[@Clovermine]

Nothing says bad boy like tan golf pants and a dandelion yellow polo. I feel like with tropes I just need the main vibe. Like I don't need 8-10. If you want to trope market, keep it simple. This is a friends to lovers. That's it. I don't need to know every plot beat.

[@inklingofadream]

Yes! Tropes and summary get treated as mutually exclusive, when the solution is both. Do a good summary, if the main trope isn't clear for some reason, or a big draw won't be apparent from the summary (there's only one bed comes to mind), then you get like. Three at most, in the majority of cases. Maybe you can sell people on bad boy golfer in a summary, but pulling things out as basically bullet points makes it look like a total non sequitur.

[@OpenCoverBooks]

Also kind of feel like Tropes work best when applied by the readers? Publishers tell us the Genre, we tell you if it hit the Tropes or not 🤣

[@sheramelton3583]

I know it seems weird, but it HAS been done successfully. I mean, look at characters like Logan Echolls in Veronica Mars. He was definitely a bad boy but was super rich and dressed very preppy. Or some of the characters in The OC.

[@JessOwens]

YES

[@notstlouise]

[original comment] i follow the person that posted the fake page, lol. she is literally just a funny woman that occasionally posts something satirical about the discourse du jour, she wasn't trying to trick people into thinking it was a real page [edit 02/14] for context: she barely has 3k followers, the post was not meant to leave a very specific group of people that would get that it was satirical

[@NoOrdinaryScholar]

This reminds me of the saying that the internet is a context vacuum. And the real issue is more the reactionary behavior of people lashing out about the excerpt and supposedly review bombing rather than doing any kind of check to see what was going on. And suing her feels a little reactionary act too.

[@beautifulenigma1724]

I would 100% buy the book if she wrote a whole story around that page 😂 I was cackling at that. It's too bad I don't ever get on twitter, because she sounds fun and hilarious (hopefully this doesn't post twice since I have issues posting comments on here all the time)

[@imaginary_oranges]

I'm GUESSING some of the drama from the first one comes from "THIS IS NOT REAL" coming across as "this can't be real (but actually is)" and there's a misunderstanding there? But lawsuits? Naw.

[@danaslitlist1]

Same! When I say the “this is not for real” I immediately went: oh no that’s not clear enough….

[@violettefemme21]

I agree. I feel like the wording could have led to misunderstandings. Which is unfortunate… but lawsuit territory?? No way.

[@eviesmith6761]

The emoji too

[@JessOwens]

Ohh, I didn't think of it like that!

[@marymik7372]

yes that was my first interpretation! especially because of the crying emoji

[@letranger4461]

“Bad boy golfer” Here’s what that evokes in my mind in order: 1.) Racist remarks 2.) infidelity 3.) being a dick to people working at golf courses Two of which I associate with golf because of vague memories of the news obsessing over Tiger Woods (idk all the details and idc about golf enough to learn). The third is from local news stories about people at golf courses. Not compelling traits for a romantic lead

[@JulEnglefaris]

"yet to be titled" Tropes, Dopes, and Nopes

[@mplbooks]

I actually wrote a blog post about the "tropefication of book marketing." The short version is that, due to needing to capture people's interest quickly, arrow charts and boiling books down to their tropes makes it fast and easy to grab potential readers. But now agents and publishers only want books they can boil down to tropes so they can market them on TikTok or whatever. Deeper, richer stories with complex themes that cannot easily be encapsulated need not apply. Meanwhile, I don't understand review bombing a book because of a fake excerpt? Did I miss something there? If someone wrote a parody excerpt of one of my books, I'd laugh so hard and love that they put in the effort. But I wouldn't be happy with review bombs falling just cuz of that? I don't get it.

[@OpenCoverBooks]

It's become so trendy that it no longer helps if marketing pushes a book this way! Especially if it's Tropes that came from one Genre ("Bad Boy Touch Her and Die" from Fantasy) slapped onto another ("Golf Romance")

[@sdrawkcabemdaer5]

I think you stated that first part perfectly, and I also hate it. I used to read a lot of romance but these days I can't really get myself excited to read anything because it feels like we keep getting the same handful of stories over and over (at least from trad pub). I'm sure there are great books going under the radar but with everything driven by algorithms it's so hard to find anything outside the mainstream 😩

[@mushroomc0re]

The excerpt is funny and so obviously fake. I saw it on tumblr and immediately knew it was either fake or the entire book was a satire. No reasonable person would think that's from a serious novel

[@sfs825]

True, but these days you just never know 😅

[@mushroomc0re]

@@sfs825 honestly the fake except reads less serious than a chuck tingle novel lol

[@sfs825]

@@mushroomc0re riiight?! That’s what I’m saying lol

[@eviesmith6761]

Yeah you’d think, but there are some goodreads reviews still out there acting like it’s real.

[@froot2114]

it's been 3 months and god, i wish you were right.

[@kbird6208]

I don't know romance tropes that well so at first I thought maybe touch her and die meant she was poisonous, like a tropical frog or something 😂

[@kittyflumpin]

lmao like "Rappaccini's Daughter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne

[@asmrbookishness]

My thought also. 😅

[@OpenCoverBooks]

Okay but what if the Bad Boy Golfer and the Cat DadPhysical Therapist got together THERE'S what the people want! 🤣

[@JessOwens]

Now we're cooking with grease

[@monster-enthusiast]

As a bad boy aficionado, I can confidently say you cannot be a bad boy and a golfer at the same time.

[@ourabouras]

The ridiculous BookTok girlies calling for lawsuits in this case are the same ones saying you can’t rate a book below 3⭐️ All their lives they were told they were smart, special, and kind and now they can’t handle even a whiff of a critical review, or in this case a hilarious roasting😂😂😂 And the answer to ‘touch her and you die’+ ‘bad boy golfer’= Tiger Woods

[@vecarter569]

I was thinking Tiger as well...especially being chased on Thanksgiving Day by his golf-club wielding angry wife...when she found out about his affairs with MANY women. So he qualifies with this trope.

[@dobetterwithchristian4472]

I had that thought. Recognized one of those authors, and woof.

[@micky1390]

i deal with golfers a lot at my job and they’re definitely jerks. so i suppose i could see maybe that they’d say touch her and die, but they wouldn’t be able to follow through.

[@JessOwens]

😂😂

[@jakestroll6518]

What are you saying? Dude will get his goons to handle you while he finishes off his martini. Gentrified jerk is the most dangerous jerk.

[@kbird6208]

I dunno, have YOU been run over by a golf cart before?

[@mysticheathentarot]

hahah, someone on Instagram had mentioned the "touch her and die" tropes should stay in dark romances or darkish romances where the character is morally grey. Tim that works in accounting and has no wrap record of any kind of being someone to be afraid of, wouldn't even kill a fly, doesn' show anywhere in the book he is not the one to be played with ..does not need to be a touch her and die book. I feel contemporary novels need to switch the touch her and die to touch her and fight or something that sounds better. Touch her and die needs to be left to morally grey characters and not every day regular civilian characters. I get what you mean about advertising tropes, it's the same as authors who have basically the entire trigger list as there content warning. Like I love kinky but I don't need every kink in the bdsm world in a book just 2-4 is fine.

[@aliciagrice140]

Give this woman an Oscar! Your dramatic readings are the best😂😂😂!

[@anix670]

Agree! The chemo-mummy part was just...🤌

[@taylorgayhart9497]

15:52 i’m dying at this part, because I actually dated a golfer and I can guarantee you none of them have “touch her and die” energy!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@thebookaura]

I really hope that the forbidden romance ballet PT story goes exactly like that except because as a former ballerina I can tell you that if my dad busted in saying he knew that I was using my theragun like that.....id have to just go ahead and lay down.

[@SinfullySarahBookish]

All I could think about was the old school Orbit gum commercials, “you lint-licker” 🤣

[@sfs825]

Pickle you, kumquat!!

[@JessOwens]

cootie queen!

[@roseappleberry]

17:20 girl EXACTLY! i was like whats he being a bad boy about? co2 emissions? treatment of staff? workplace s* harrassment?

[@marcyglover7424]

I need a whole channel of you doing dramatic readings. Laughing so hard I’m crying. Love your channel.

[@juditkovacse]

I'm not a romance girlie and have not heard the trope name 'touch her and die' until today. And for a few minutes I was waiting for an explanation, because the only one I could think of was that this lady was supposed to be poisonous. And I was confused as to why, and how this would work in a contemporary setting.

[@RiaxaraCo]

The dramatic reading had me DYING 😭

[@jillianem1653]

‘This is not real’ and ‘this is not for real’ read very differently to me. It’s not clear from the OP that her attachments were fake

[@effy_reads]

With regards to "touch her and die" being present in contemporary romances, I have definitely seen it be a thing but it is more dark romances like mafia romances. The Twisted series by Ana Huang has a couple of books / characters with that energy.

[@CatApocalypse]

I agree about book marketing!! I'd much rather know the basic plot synopsis at least, than get a list of themes or tropes. Tropes are fine, but it almost makes it sound like they're leaning on the tropes to make up for a mid plot sometimes...

[@HuckleberryCyn]

Tessa Bailey’s book is giving Happy Gilmore fanfic energy

[@c.e.higgins2609]

Theodora Taylor published a book called, 7 Figure Fiction: How to Use Universal Fantasy to Sell your Books to Anyone. She talks about the 'butter' in books that bring flavor. The little things or aspects readers want. In romance; one bed, Touch her and die, makeover scene, etc. Each genre has their own Universal Fantasy elements. She suggests you add it in your books and use it to market to readers. This is probably why you're seeing so much marketing about it. Hope that helps! ❤

[@The_cauldronkeeper]

Therapist/client relations is where the forbidden romance trope is coming into play. That PT would absolutely be losing his license.

[@pettyella6607]

i thought that too, but forbidden weird¿ i would expect it to be taboo not forbidden

[@PistachioGold]

Your enactment 😂😂😂 the way you couldnt keep it together 🤣🤣 I love this discussion about trope promo a lot. I think another youtuber once mentioned how back in the day tiktok didnt allow for longer videos, so they used a lot of tags and tropes to talk about books. Possibly it's done like this to be more attention grabbing - like they think people won't read a paragraph synopsis on socials.

[@danaslitlist1]

100% agree with the tropes so much. Like I remember when it was just me and other reviewers using the arrows pointing to tropes as a little graphic for a review! Now seeing it being used by actual publishers and them taking it to the extreme where the stories aren’t even good (or if they get the tropes wrong LMAO).

[@len.caro9]

Outing myself as an idiot but until this video I 100% thought "touch her and die" literally meant the love interest couldn't touch her or he would drop dead. Lots of we-can't-touch, pining, Pushing Daisies-type stuff. Apparently that was wrong. Whoops? Anyway great video I too am confused by the tropes people seem to throw together.

[@jennifertrimble5214]

Badboy golfer sounds like a description of Stifler from American Pie lol

[@RovingReader]

I agree with you on all the things! Why do people make drama out of NOTHING! 🤦‍♀️

[@MetallicGlitterPagan]

I dated a pro golfer once..the “bad boy golfer” thing is legit. Drugs, parties, sex, the whole 9 yards. It’s a whole thing that no one talks about ever. But yeah the pro golf world is like rock star lifestyle.

[@exomake_mehorololo]

Actually makes sense. Too much money and snobby people

[@uzumaki3755]

When you started laughing before you even read the excerpt, I had to stop and put my tea down so I wouldn't spill it on myself!

[@whyaleichia]

Yeah that first book makes me super uncomfy. All I can think about is the huge gymnastics sexual abuse case with the Americans women’s team. It’s at least giving grooming. Maybe they address that in the book, but with an age gap less than 5 years shy of illegal…bombastic side eye for sure.

[@kbird6208]

Yeah, there's definitely some questions there.

[@agandmc1081]

I really despise the trope marketing but it is the in thing. Touch her and yeet is basically the bad boy who is overprotective of the FMC. So glad I came across your videos. I love how real and funny you are. ❤

[@kshil9713]

Thank you for taking the time to talk about Palestine and also Sudan and the Congo

[@saiabokor]

That ballerina extract was so hilarious 😂 🇵🇸❤️

[@savannah4439]

I think it’s a forbidden romance bc it’s a PT’s relationship with his patient, which is considered unethical and is usually at the very least against institutional policy…also fwiw I probably would’ve believed the fake leaked excerpt bc the caption comes across as facetious. The capitalization and 😭 emoji makes it seem sarcastic in a “this is unbelievable (bc it’s so bad)” way, and not a literal “this is not a real excerpt” way. I can definitely see why people would be upset enough at that to suggest a lawsuit (idk if there’s any legal ground to stand on there though). I mean, it literally has a “review copy” watermark on it, which tells me it is intended by the creator for an average person like me who has never seen an ARC to take it seriously. Context matters. It wouldn’t be a problem if it were the same words on a non-watermarked page presented with a caption like “this book, probably” or “somebody get me a book deal, stat!” etc. To me, it’s apparent that the post was meant to trick people into believing it was real, which at the very least flirts with libel

[@brittywithbooks]

No tea no shade , I’m saying this from of love. And in my little corner in booktok but I think booktok kind of ruin the whole tropes in books instead of having an actual plot and now authors and publishers feel doing the tropes help with buying books ( I am I’m NOT in marketing so I don’t know how marketing works in publishing)

[@dixieAQHA]

This is my favorite Communi-tea yet! So many valid points and your dramatic reading was AMAZING! 😂❤

[@JessOwens]

I thank you 😌

[@raquelh7682]

Jess stop laughing your laugh is so contagious 😂

[@JessOwens]

😂😂😂😂

[@erika_337]

"Yet to be titled" besties, we are here !!!

[@KatieColson]

‘Uploaded 24 seconds ago’ Me: I’m late!

[@jenn_co1809]

I’m guessing people have already told you Katie, but the female MC in fangirl down has type 1 diabetes.

[@KatieColson]

@@jenn_co1809 omg I had NO idea! Thank you so freaking much!!

[@JessOwens]

😂😂

[@ryujesslylafifnat8352]

How is it forbidden??? The age gap was me in my first relationship? Of is it because doctor patient forbidden? Is it a HIPPA law issue???

[@MikaylaKennedy]

The problem is there's plenty of instances where people are using "this is not for real" to mean "they cannot be serious." (and as someone who regularly shit-posted on twitter, they more than likely knew they were doing that. They're building in an out by saying "i meant it literally" when there's a common cultural/colloquial reading of the words.) It was presented as a real excerpt to the average reader (common reading of the text (not literal), posting it as a page marked review copy, the effort put into making it look real, etc) and although it's ridiculous, books have been published like this in the indie space. Many people, including myself, took it at face value because I have seen bad romance books like this. If it affected sales they could absolutely be sued for defamation. That may be hard to prove, so I doubt they would actually go through with it, especially because it's not released. It seems the only way to prove that would be to use cancelled pre-orders as proof. Regardless, it's a messed up thing to do.

[@NateReadsDiversely]

I am also frequently chastised by finding things funny that I probably shouldn't 🤣 I feel your pain

[@JessOwens]

ooops!

[@thisisavivistanaccount7866]

idk about having legal standing but I doubt a random twitter user and an indie author have the money to do a lawsuit. I can see the confusion, bc sometimes people use a caption differently on twitter/X, but i feel once you started reading it was deeply unserious and if you thought it was real…you need MEDIA LITERACY. I can’t comment on bad boy golfer bc i would never pick that up. Golf is boring to me in all aspects

[@see_emmy_and_jack_read3569]

Not the Theragun and Pickleball 😂🤣😂🤣 Give me a well written synopsis over "trope tags" any day 🤓

[@danielleolivia4545]

Jess i love you + thank you so much for the dramatic reading!! 😂 that made my day

[@BookedPanda]

Your dramatic readings are the best 🤣

[@anaerobic]

I've been complaining about the "tropification" to my friends for a while. My best comparison is that it's giving pornhub categories. They're making this stuff to fulfill a need, not to create literature. Which is fine, but like, tacky.

[@bitski777]

"Goodreads has one employee" 💀

[@JessOwens]

you can't convince me otherwise

[@ezool18]

i think the forbidden romance aspect comes from the occupations of the two characters. im not in the medical field, but i can imagine it being some sort of violation to date a patient of theirs. as for the review bombing, i might?? know why people assumed the fake excerpt was real. the OP's tweet could be misconstrued as "this is so unserious"/"are you kidding me" kind of tone (implying the page is real), as opposed to stating clearly "this is fake page" or something. and i say this bc how i came across this whole situation was actually from screenshots on Tumblr, and someone in the thread said "someone read the sample for this, and, um... balleraggot..." and shared the fake page. so whoever that was, they misinterpreted the OP's tweet thinking it was real, and then spread the misinformation (either believing it to actually be real, or purposely wanting to stir the pot) either way, review bombing is never the solution to anything, and i hope the author's sales/career doesn't get heavily impacted by this mess 😥

[@dmmorrow20]

I remember this and watched folks melt DOWN. I just enjoyed myself 😂😂😂

[@Galaxia7]

I totally agree that romance books (including romantasy) are more about tropes than the story nowadays. I was thinking the same time recently, thank you for voicing it in this video! It's kinda sad that published books have become more and more like fanfiction. Fanfictions are good, but they're not the same! Fanfiction and books are two very different categories of writing works and sometimes they shouldn't overlap.

[@VariousAndSundryBee]

I’m kind of over trope marketing. Saying “x media meets x media” works better for me most of the time because it’s specific and usually already implies tropes. Tropes don’t really tell me anything about tone

[@greysonkeller5418]

Just what i needed, a dramatic enacting by you 😂😂, so good!!!

[@knightdragon7640]

I think for the “forbidden romance” aspect is a therapist dating a client. Even a physical therapist I think that is a major breach and will result in being fired. That’s my guess on that

[@oongleyoo]

tbh when i saw the post i thought "this is not for real" was op commenting on the excerpt and saying like "this is so unserious" but then i read the excerpt and used some critical thinking skills and realized. authors taking things too far per usual, and no one on the internet understands how a lawsuit works. "sue them to hell and back" girl the judge would laugh in your face edit: also, thanks for continuing to share and speak out about palestine, the congo , and sudan.

[@Evelyn_Okay]

I'm a writer and I think trying to sell by tropes is cheap and lazy bc it's just a copy/paste from someone else's story. And it limits creativity. Just IMAGINE if publishers tried to sell The Hunger Games by tropes

[@dobetterwithchristian4472]

That excerpt reading was hilarious. I had to fight cackling at my desk. 😂

[@melamoris6728]

I think the forbidden romance in the first book might be because he's a PT and it looks like she's his patient so I think that might technically be unethical for them to be together.

[@knightdragon7640]

I think the golf book came from one specific TikTok I saw, which was a women who said “Date a golfer! You can get your little golf hat your little golf drink and your cute golf outfit and get 8 hours of uninterrupted reading time!” And in the background a guy walks up and starts asking her what she’s doing as the video cuts and I think Bailey took that and ran a little too far especially with the “bad boy”

[@availandco]

Just choked on my Golden Grahams during your dramatic reading session 🫠

[@ignaciorlimon1]

Depends on what an attorney says, sometimes a boiler plate statement isn't enough to insulate someone from copyright or trademark infringement. As for the forbidden love, I don't think the author understands it's not so much as forbidden as it is completely unethical. Doing the horizontal tango or having a relationship with your patient is considered unethical and a breach of contract. Regardless if the patient sues or not the healthcare system is with its right to terminate the doctor, while the governing medical board is within its right to revoke their license to practice medicine. The doctor would also be dropped from their malpractice insurance.

[@missmishka8379]

I may have to read that golfer romance to see if it's just Happy Gilmore fanfiction. Bad boy golfer? Happy immediately comes to mind. Touch her & die? "That's MY puck! Don't you ever touch MY puck!" energy from the hockey scene in the beginning of the movie. But even Happy got knocked out by Bob Barker, so, no, even in fiction, NO ONE takes the idea of a bad boy golfer seriously. Outside of that spot on comment about assault allegations. All said & done, I have to go rewatch Happy Gilmore now.

[@peggyoneil2123]

Jess, you are amazing. 😂😂😂 Personally, for the first one, i think that it was obvious that it was a satire. I also didn't think about the patient/therapist relationship at first and was wondering what the 'forbidden' part could be like OP seemed to. Based on others' comments, I can see how the "not real" part could be read another way. But a lawsuit is an overreaction. First, it's funny as hell. Second, we can ask if things are true or not, again based on comments, it seems the OP gave some push back that it was obviously satire BUT saying something in a way that can be read as not nice doesnt mean the answer didnt clear up the confusion. To address the 'OP was trying to make it seem real', uh, yes and no. Idk if anyone else had to do this in middle school but making the satire seem leaked would be like the english or history paper were the teacher added an art element so everyone used papyrus font, burnt the edges, and dipped the page in coffee.

[@rach_storm-007]

i'm so glad i found your channel!! this is the 3rd video of yours (and i haven't even finished yet) that i've watched in a row and i can't stop laughing!! your interpretative reading was pure gold! 😂😂😂😂😂 And seriously? Bad-boy golfer?? 😂😂😂😂😂

[@Manoirlatelier]

I hardly ever comment but your impression was hilarious i need more of that😭😭 on god i bet that shit is better than the actual book that's comming out

[@JessOwens]

😎

[@TI3RU]

every time I put on sunscreen now I think of u reminding us to do so 🥰

[@EmilyOlivieri]

I just had a recent read ruined for me by trope selling. It was labeled as an enemies to lovers, which is fine, but there was a romance with another character before the “enemies” got together which just felt pointless when I knew they weren’t going to end up together 🙄 I don’t usually look for trope when buying but this book had it printed as part of the blurb 😬

[@jeans4108]

Now I kinda want a romance with a bad boy pickleball player 😂

[@katiec8844]

“…unless they just eat peaches together” 😂😂😂 I’M DYING OWENSSSSSS. I need you to subject yourself to torture and read it for us. Plzzzzz

[@katiec8844]

Also, on a serious note, I love your info at the end! You’re a beautiful human.

[@olivethunderbird]

The MMC was just three tropes in a trench coat the whole time 😂

[@thedarkhorse9218]

Jess, you are hilarious and brightened my morning with that hilarious fake excerpt reading! 🤣 Be well!!

[@rosef.3741]

I think the book (fangirl down) is out ? I havent read it yet but tbh i am curious about it. Because as a black girl who grew up going to prep school that had a high ranking golf team, and who also was a member of local country club almost my entire life and played golf from time to time (my dad loved golf) i can confirm bad boy golfers absolutely do exist. Like they are good and focused when they are on the green but when they arent playing golf.....lots goes on. And because being serious about golf takes a certain income level , the lifestyle is just different. Plus alot of golf men were frat boys in college.

[@eli-he9nz]

this is so not the point, but she legitimately looks like his daughter in the art for that first book. like, that is a full grown adult man and his child

[@meganmclaughlin538]

Those authors getting up in arms about a clearly satirical post are something else. Like yes a PT getting with a patient would be considered a forbidden romance but like… I don’t understand why people review bomb period.

[@hannahduncan4223]

It's forbidden because he could lose his license for dating a patient

[@JulEnglefaris]

Is it necessarily the authors fault if the publishers are marketing the books this way?

[@Kay-wp8xf]

BAD BOY GOLFER I'M DECEASED-

[@tony_starch]

That dramatic reading was fantastic, I’m sick rn and I was dying laughing at it.

[@leoloveslit]

Contemporary Touch her and die works in 3 situations: 1) non-deadbeat dad holding his baby girl for the first time 2) keanu reeves seeking vengeance for dead pet 3) Phil Dunphy

[@JessOwens]

😆 excellent examples

[@writerbyday]

I feel everyone got mad at a parody that was made clear - it was a parody 😅. The parody was because it was labeled “forbidden romance” and it was clearly going off the usual trope.

[@alyrica0505]

I adore the graphics that have the tropes/elements of the book. I was wondering why I had been seeing less of these lately but if there is criticism on X it makes sense.

[@ChrissyTinaT]

I definitely agree on the describing a book by tropes. Give me a synopsis anyday over a list of tropes. I want an idea of what to expect. As for the first story, real or fake I'm still in disbelief someone actually wrote that even if it was for a review bomb. For the second one, I feel like the author missed out on so many good golf puns they could've gone with instead of tropes. It's definitely not a hole in one for me, it definitely needs more to get me invested, but I might keep an eye on it.

[@amandazee3706]

Tropes on steroids--it's ridiculous. Thanks for keeping us informed, Jess.

[@cellotag]

The "sued to hell and back" comment just reminds me of Anne Rice's tirade against fanfiction. This is obviously a different situation, but I wonder how that particular person feels about fanworks being created. That Tessa Bailey one just sounds toxic all around - but I say this as someone who's not typically a contemporary romance reader/has not read a Tessa Bailey, so someone correct me if her books aren't like that. ETA about plot -- yes! Give me plot! I'll figure out the tropes later!

[@hanasheik]

Jess, thank youuuuu for posting this an hour before my work break. You saved me from boredom (and possibly falling asleep) haha

[@honey_bee1905]

Hot take, I don't see how a straight romance story can have "forbidden love". Him being her PT doesn't make it forbidden, just morally wrong. So I wouldn't classify that as "forbidden love".

[@jakestroll6518]

Isn’t Romeo and Juliet the granddaddy of forbidden love?

[@KnittingKelsey]

While I agree on the morality front, I think anything that would get one or both of them fired could count as forbidden (but I'm not reading it). Edit: Though obviously it's not on the same level .

[@d.e.williams5178]

It's not just immoral but something he could lose his license for. It's the same as a mental health therapist dating a patient. And there are a lot of forbidden straight romances.

[@dania7989]

there can be forbidden love but yeah in this case it's just a violation of numerous safety laws lmfao

[@a.r.e.j.1693]

"Just morally wrong". That's... literally forbidden love. What exactly do you think it means?

[@marlenesophia7096]

I needed that 😂 - more interpretative reading please 🙏!

[@dessieb145]

Thank you for your advocacy and speaking out ! ❤

[@CuriousMujer]

Hilarious, just what I needed. 🤣🤣🤣

[@joyahawkrose3984]

The person should have been more explicit that it was fake, because the way the worded it sounded like sarcasm

[@aphemeron]

Literally this. I feel like a lot of people are acting like that caption "this is NOT real 😭" isn't common internet slang for expressing disbelief/some outrage. That's how most people online use that phrase - not as a way to literally say "this is not real, I made it up".

[@taylorlmoore]

That Tessa Bailey book is giving Happy Gilmore self-insert fanfic 💀