TEST
According to the author’s website, Change Partners is summarized thusly:
“At 48, accountant Patrick Sarkisian has almost given up on finding the love of his life. A ballroom competition was the last place he would have thought of looking. But 44-year-old Dmitri Vasko is out on the floor, and then they’re in the hotel bar talking about possibilities. Over the next fifteen years the one thing that doesn’t change is their conviction that they couldn’t possibly be more in love.”
I quote the website here because I honestly couldn’t have figured out what this book was truly about if I had to do it on my own – because past the two of them meeting at the ballroom competition, it mystified me.
I adore books about dancing, performances, romance between people not in their twenties, male/male romance – so this one seemed like a full homerun for me and I am so sad to report that it wasn’t. I found the writing stilted, the characters bland, and also never quite believed they were as in love as I kept being told they were. Plot events kept happening, but it read a bit like a chronology of someone’s life, rather than an emotional arc of a narrative.
I only give outright Fs to books that offend me – things I hope that no one ever reads – so this is far from that. However, I can’t recommend Change Partners on any level – mostly because I’m still not quite sure what I read. For some reason, this thing was just Not For Me.
If it’s For You and you loved it, please come find me! There’s only one rating on Goodreads and it’s about as charitable as mine, so if this ticks your boxes, I’d love to know what I’m missing!
Buy it at: Amazon
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Grade: D
Book Type: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 17/11/20
Publication Date: 08/2020
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
Voracious reader, with a preference for sassy romances and happily ever afters. In a relationship with coffee, seeing whiskey on the side.
Related Reviews
A lot of authors say they never respond to reviews and I don’t plan to make a habit of it, but wanted to say thanks for this one. I knew it was risky requesting a review for a book that is not a conventional romance.
You’re exactly right: Change Partners is a chronology of a relationship, and the reason I wrote it is because those two characters, their relationship, and their businesses are such important infrastructure in The L.A. Stories. I needed to write it, in fact, to solidify the architecture. An argument could be made that I should have simply stored it away in the Building Materials section. :-)
The truth is, there has seemed to be very little downside to publishing anything once I’m reasonably happy with it. A D is kind of a downside! It’s going to affect not only this particular book but every other book. So I have to consider whether I should unpublish it now, and perhaps revisit Dmitri and Patrick in a different way, one that focuses on the love story, as most of my other books do.
The great thing about that is I love these guys, so writing a new version of their romance would be a pleasure. Thanks again to Kristen and Marian for taking the time with this one, these are all useful comments even if they sting a little.
“A D is kind of a downside! It’s going to affect not only this particular book but every other book.”
Maybe, maybe not. Negative reviews can actually give more legitimacy in some cases than positive reviews- especially for self-published authors. Positive reviews, in contrast, often give the impression of, “Ugh, is this the author’s cousin’s wife or something?”
“So I have to consider whether I should unpublish it now, and perhaps revisit Dmitri and Patrick in a different way, one that focuses on the love story, as most of my other books do.”
That’s certainly up to you, but it’s not a path I’d necessarily take. AAR has really astute readers with extremely high standards. But a lot of readers are not nearly as particular as long as they feel entertained. Just look at how some of the books AAR has rated at C- grades and lower have gushing reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.
“…these are all useful comments even if they sting a little.”
Our egos as writers never seem to get any smaller, do they? I think most of us will always have soft cores.
Hang in there, Alexandra!
Thanks Nan! My concern here is the takeaway that two people were not entertained by this book, which is going to color other people’s expectations about everything with my name on it. Writing these things interests and entertains me, but I don’t want to write in a vacuum … so I think I have some work to do with these characters. :-)
Could I also just chime in here and say one thing – well, two, the first of which is to say thank you for your very gracious attitude in the face of criticism. The other is to highlight your comment:
I knew it was risky requesting a review for a book that is not a conventional romance.
The words “conventional romance” are the key ones there. We sometimes review books and say “this book is being marketed as genre romance, but it isn’t one, which is one of the reasons I was dissatisfied with it.” (Or words to that effect – expectations raised were not fulfilled). Perhaps there’s an audience out there for this title – just not in Romancelandia?
“Perhaps there’s an audience out there for this title – just not in Romancelandia?”
Considering there are over 7 billion people in the world, I’m sure there’s a market/audience for pretty much everything. This should be regarded with great encouragement!
One of the cowardly reasons why I ultimately pursued erotica instead of romance writing is because erotica is really the one genre where almost anything goes as long as the reader gets off. Someone on Reddit said, “We’re the punk rockers of the writing world.” True that. Also, works in the erotica genre are rarely reviewed unless they’re a) extremely mainstream or b) extremely bad. And by “extremely bad,” I mean there are so many typos and anachronisms that the reader is too utterly distracted by the poor quality to get immersed in the naughtiness of the story. Believe me, there are some badly written erotica pieces out there that people devour like yummy junk food.
Romance, in contrast, isn’t the hack work people outside the field often think it is. When I sniffed it out as a potential source of “easy money,” I was sorely mistaken as to the genre’s quality, readers expectations, and importance of tropes. One of the many things I’ve learned is that romance readers often have some of the highest standards for storytelling quality- certainly as evidenced on AAR and similar review sites. If it weren’t for my initially mercenary pursuits, I probably never would have known that- or have become a romance reader myself. :)
…..”that romance readers often have some of the highest standards for storytelling quality- certainly as evidenced on AAR and similar review sites”…..
Such an interesting set of comments here. Nan de Plume, as usual, you show much insight and quality interpretation here which is valuable and always worth reading. And if only editors understood that romance readers are not silly school girls reading them for titillation behind the equivalent of the bike shed, and that we often are far more highly educated than the editors themselves, perhaps they would offer us what we want to read. (I live in hope that is sadly diminishing.)
As for negative reviews, they are in of themselves valuable to the potential reader. I always read them first when considering whether to spend my money and they often tell me that I should read a book that others have dismissed without thought or consideration. When I wrote regular reviews on Amazon, believe me, the one star reviews were the hardest to write, took a long time and required justification by example. I was always conscious that I might hurt an author’s feelings but hoped to make constructive criticism especially when you could see potential in the writer. I stopped reviewing at Amazon ages ago when they stopped taking it seriously and allowed in the fan girls and the one-line crap that in no way are “reviews”. Too bad as I enjoyed reviewing when I had time but it wasn’t worth offering sincere and (hopefully) justified criticism when it was apparent that the one-liners were becoming the standard.
That last part is why I very rarely review at Amazon either. I see many publicists request people review ARCs at Amazon because it’s important for the AUTHORS to increase visibility and sales – but that’s not who reviews are for.
Exactly!!
“Nan de Plume, as usual, you show much insight and quality interpretation here which is valuable and always worth reading.”
Why, Elaine S, are you trying to make an erotica author blush? :-) Thank you!
“And if only editors understood that romance readers are not silly school girls reading them for titillation behind the equivalent of the bike shed, and that we often are far more highly educated than the editors themselves, perhaps they would offer us what we want to read.”
While I’m sure there are plenty of readers who pursue romance for titillation behind the proverbial bike shed, I think there’s much to be said about the continued need for variety and improvement of the genre’s offerings. In some ways, it’s moving in that direction- particularly among self-published and small press work. Even traditional publishers like Harlequin are just starting to take a few more chances. But on that same token, deviating too much from the standard “serving girl marries the Duke” formula equals financial risk. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy really. Dukes = money, so publishers keep producing more of the same. Likewise, romance readers keep buying dukes, because that makes up a big chunk of what the publishers are selling.
And, of course, there are lots of readers who want that comforting duke story over and over again. I’m just not one of them. I often joke that I will read a Regency romance in spite of the setting and time period rather than because of it.
Continuing with sales figures shaping the stories that get published, this is one of the reasons why you don’t see nearly as much F/F as M/M or F/M romance. True, part of it is because the largely straight female readership of romance tends to prefer at least one male in the story (just a generalization, of course), but it’s also because F/F is a tough niche market to make sales in. There’s a demand out there, but it’s not nearly big enough monetarily for a lot of writers and publishers to pursue. Therefore, you end up with far fewer choices than with M/M or M/F. That’s also probably true of HR that takes place outside of Regency England with non-titled characters. There’s definitely a demand for it, but the demand isn’t nearly big enough for a publishing company to justify pursuing it heavily. What a pity for readers like us who are getting tired of the deluge of sameness…
As for the editors, I have been shocked lately at how many traditionally published books (romances included) are littered with glaring typos. In a way, I get it. Production times are way down because of wonky sales algorithms that favor new work. This creates a treadmill culture of authors and publishing houses constantly having to pump out work. Unfortunately, I think this kind of speed racing encourages lower quality production and less variation on tried and true (or tired and not so true) formulas.
“I live in hope that is sadly diminishing.” Aw, don’t give up yet, Elaine S. There’s always got to be hope. :-)
Alexandra – I’m so glad to know it’s part of a larger architecture you have in your brain and just because something didn’t work for me doesn’t mean it won’t work for other people! I’m fairly picky because I will never get to read what I want to read in terms of time.
There is never enough romance in the world and if these two lads have your heart, they’ll have other people’s, too. Thank you for being gracious to my thoughts – I understand the bravery it takes to put yourself out there in the way that you have. Please don’t let my tastes dissuade you from chasing your joy.
After reading the excerpt on Amazon, I think I see what you mean. Patrick and Dmitri meet, and that part is good. Then Dmitri writes to him; Patrick writes back. The texts of the letters are summarized, and the letters are friendly.
Then they meet again at a dance. Their encounter lasts four paragraphs, and Patrick says how much he’s longed to stand close to Dmitri. Then they meet again at another dance, and Dmitri mentions that he reads for relaxation. The rest of their conversation is mostly summarized, and it lasts four paragraphs as well.
Then it’s a month after their first meeting, and the excerpt says “Patrick freely admitted to stalking the dancer“, though I’m not sure why he’s so infatuated, because all their interactions, while pleasant, have been brief and largely superficial. Also, to me, stalking implies that the other person doesn’t want to see or meet you. And there hasn’t been one jot of conflict between Patrick and Dmitri so far. The two of them are perfectly in synch with each other. I only read the start of the excerpt, and already I feel I’m in the last chapter.
I kept going anyway, but stopped when Patrick and Dmitri meet in a hotel room and have sex. They go straight from their first kiss to sex, and while this can work with chemistry between the characters, there was none for me. Prior to this scene, Patrick thinks, “Their four conversations – all in public – had felt more like stages of a job interview than dates. Or they would have, if not for the way they looked at each other.” Sorry, this isn’t enough to make me buy the sudden leap from pleasant chit-chat to not just sex, but mutual confessions of love in the post-coital afterglow.
Since the couple have met, fallen in love, and had ecstatic sex, with nothing to keep them apart, there was no reason for me to keep reading, and I stopped here.