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* Characters that I could re-read over and over and over again. Even if I knew it by heart, or just read it a week before, I'm the kind of reader who enjoys diving back into a familiar story sometimes more than trying a new book or author.

* No stupid, bitchy heroines. Clueless can be fun, snarky is awesome, but there needs to be a solid reason, and it can't be all the freaking time. She has to get over it at some point. I started a book last month by a pretty famous romance author who was new to me. I'd read great things about her books, and the Goodreads and Amazon rankings for this particular book were spectacular. The plot and trope hit a couple of my favorite buttons--hot, alpha cop. Slightly out-there heroine. But. The heroine. I just couldn't. She was so unlikable from the very first page. A Look. I get making the hero work for it a little. And I can understand building up walls over a lifetime and using bitchiness as a defense mechanism that the hero has to work to get past. I can understand suffering a trauma or experience that hardened their exterior and left them bitter. But, Jesus, explain that to your reader. Let them understand. Make us want to see the patient hero tackle her defenses one by one. Otherwise, this is not a "cute" trait. It doesn't make her a firecracker or strong. And just like the TSTL heroine who deliberately puts herself in dangerous situations without listening to the people who tell her not to, that there are safer solutions, this just makes me think the hero has an undiscovered masochistic side. (Again, I'm totally chill with that if so, but for the love of God, explain that.)

*As for the hero, alpha is definitely a great, big HELL YES for me. Command the space, be commanding in the bedroom (or kitchen, or bathroom, or on the stairs), but he has to have a heart. Even if it's reluctantly there (cough cough, Dallas, cough). He can be an ass, even, but it needs to be for a good reason, and he needs to have a soft spot for his heroine.

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