Right now I’m recovering from knee replacement surgery – so I’m spending a lot less time reading and reviewing.  Recently though I picked up three connected Shifter Romances (probably my favorite genre) that were lighthearted, fast reads – mainly because between physical therapy, doctor appointments and some serious ‘sleep off the pain’ moments, a story that’s only about an hour long is the perfect length for me at the moment.

My moment of enjoyment came crashing down early on in the second book (and no, I didn’t even open up the third) when the one thing that will cause me to Did Not Finish (DNF) a book happened.

Right in the middle of a sexy scene I’m suddenly reading a different character’s name in bed with our heroine.  WTF?  Did she somehow do a mate swap?  Cheating on her best friend with her new husband?  Tossing away her new mate for a quick lay with another man?  Nope.  Someone (glaring at the author / proofreader / editor) got the names of the two men who were prominent in this story mixed up.  That, my friend, is a deal breaker for me… a story ending in the middle, shut the book and toss it at the wall moment.  I will put up with a lot in stories, typos, grammar, plots that really make no sense whatsoever – but if you can’t keep your freaking hero’s name correct, especially in the middle of  sex scene – then I’m done.  And I most likely will not give you a second chance.

Is that harsh?  Perhaps.  But this is your work being put out there for the reading public… it’s your book baby.  Be certain that it’s treated better than mixed up main character names.

At the moment this happens, it honestly makes me mad because in that moment I’ve lost the story there is no going back for me.  But later on, like now, it also makes me sad.  Someone dropped the ball, it doesn’t matter who – but what should have been a fun experience has turned into a “I’ll never buy that author’s works again.” declaration.  Truthfully, I’m sad at what I may miss, but oh well.