[AnnaM]

OK, the reviewer who trashed my first book (gave the first one star review on Unbroken Hearts) actually decided to read the second book in the series, (Untamed Hearts).

Guess what?

She gave it a 5 STAR review.

Seriously. You can't make this stuff up.

 

[JRainey]

That is strange. I, personally, would not buy the second book in a series if I gave the first book 1 star, and I think most people probably wouldn't. But hey, at least they liked it!

 

[AnnaM]

That is strange. I, personally, would not buy the second book in a series if I gave the first book 1 star, and I think most people probably wouldn't. But hey, at least they liked it!

The funny thing about this is that most readers give more praise to the first book, and I've always felt the two are the same quality. I love both stories. A major difference is the heat level between the two, and I suspect this reviewer is judging on that angle heavily. The couple in book 1 has sex shortly before marriage (gasp), and in book 2 they do not. While this is a minor difference for me (and it fits the story and characters, the sex is not gratuitous), I suppose it could be offensive to some readers. I REALLY hope she doesn't read the third book, as I expect, based on her moral high ground criteria, it would get a one-star review.

 

[jimbronyaur]

Hey, at least it's an honest reader, right?  For me, sometimes when I start a series... I have to finish it.  Even if it's bad.  So maybe that particular reader didn't care for the beginning BUT BUT BUT you did something right to make that reader pick up book two AND there must be something that reader took from one to two that allowed them to enjoy book two!

Congrats on the 5 star review... and that's an awesome thing to see... honest readers who are willing to follow a series out.

 

[AnnaM]

Hey, at least it's an honest reader, right? For me, sometimes when I start a series... I have to finish it. Even if it's bad. So maybe that particular reader didn't care for the beginning BUT BUT BUT you did something right to make that reader pick up book two AND there must be something that reader took from one to two that allowed them to enjoy book two!

Congrats on the 5 star review... and that's an awesome thing to see... honest readers who are willing to follow a series out.

I was also surprised she picked up the second book. Reading between the lines, what I think I "did right" for that reader was "no sex before marriage" in the second book (note her focus on the "high moral values" in the comment for book 2).

I don't advertise the series as "Christian" or "sweet" romances. Also, the blurb for book 1 explicitly states that there is sex in the book. That should be a clue to those who want to avoid it in their reading picks.

OK, let's see what rating she gives the third book in the series . . . this is kinda fun. I'm learning something about reader expectations. I'm betting on another 1-star rating for the 3rd book, as the strong heroine initiates sex with the hero (but it is a brief scene), and no, they aren't married yet.

 

[AnnetteL]

Yeah--you'd think the blurb would have been a clue.

I'm still shaking my head over the 1 to 5 star thing. How can ANY writer change that much over the course of two books?!

 

[Ryne Billings]

I had to look at the reviews after hearing this.

1 star review:

the story was boring. the hero was boring. when he saw sarah he did not visit his dead fiance's grave. i did not like the heroine because she was willing to fall for the worse without trying anything else.

5 star review:

this one is better than the previous one. the hero and the heroine are better. they are strong and they had high moral values. i loved both of them.

Interesting, I suppose.

 

[MichelleStimpson]

Maybe she was having a bad day when she wrote that first one 
Reviewers are people, too!

 

[Mel Comley]

It is strange but it also happened to me. Can't work some people out.