It isn't one's cup of tea, but is another's cup of coffee.

You may remember that a while back, I wrote a post about my failures as a writer, and The German's Guilty Pleasure was my poster child. Since I wrote that post, readers have more than proven me wrong, so I'm here to own up to it, and share a couple of reviews and ideas about the dreaded V-card and the idea of self-love as we approach V-Day. I'll refresh your memories with the blurb (The book is now permafree as well)

Hot Miami nights.

Lust.

Temptation.

His guilty pleasure.

German CEO Lars Jäger is ready to start an American sexual revolution. His business is sex wrapped up in a vibrating bow, but no one is buying. When the stunningly beautiful Serenity Matthews signs on as his marketing director, he knows she will turn his business around as quickly as she turned his head. Serenity is the forbidden fruit, and Lars can’t stop himself from taking a bite … consequences be damned.

The German's Guilty Pleasure

This is a new review I found on the book from Shannon:
If you’ve followed me for a bit you already know I have a bit of a thang for romance novels, a guilty pleasure if you will. It’s likely one of the reasons you’ll find some steamy scenes in the books I write, if I’m being honest.

So, in keeping with Valentine’s Day, of course I had to sneak in some sexy reads this weekend. And this one was the perfect quick read to get things started!

I have a long way to go in terms of Katie’s backlist, but so far? This one’s my fave, which is super interesting because Mettner herself told me a while back that I’d love it, so…looks like she was right!

I loved the chemistry between the main MCs, the dual narratives and the LGBTQ inclusion. And can I just say that it was a breath of fresh air to read a positive take on females in the sensual aid (sex toy) industry? We. Needed. This.

My only very minor qualm was the whole V-card situation with our heroine…I kind of outwardly hate the virgin trope, BUT, Mettner approached it in just the right way. It wasn’t overdone like Fifty Shades (which is major barf city IMO). So, extra kudos to Mettner for keeping me engaged in a trope I don’t normally go for! *insert high five here*

Also, I must say that while I’ve never had one, I suddenly have a hankering for German pizza! *saunters off to Pinterest in search of recipe* Oh, and a Serenity™️, please and thanks. ?

via GIPHY

Someone else who 'got' the point of the book! Yes! Wait...the V-trope? It took me a second to remember just how much romance readers truly hate the virgin trope. I often see people raging about the trope on IG and other social medias and all I can think is, 'who hurt you?' and then I remembered. It was a series of books that shan't be named but involved some gray areas... Moving on. Sometimes the heroine being a virgin has nothing to do with a trope and everything to do with *gasp* the plot! I bolded that because it's important. I have three or four books where the heroine is a virgin. In fact, when I wrote my first virgin way back in 2016, I had no idea the hatred that existed for them.  (Calling Kupid. I would list all of my books with virgins but I honestly can't remember them all because that was the smallest part of who the character was *shrug*. )

The German's Guilty Pleasure has a lot of 'tropes' in it. I originally wrote this book a bit tongue-in-cheek to some of the books that were getting rave reviews at the time. (two years ago) The 'lost' twin trope? Yep, it's in there! Initially to force an eye roll from the non-trope reader, but in the end, it became the reason Lars struggled with his own fears about loving someone with the very personal knowledge that he could lose them at any moment. See, I write my characters to be real people, and sometimes, real people are virgins, sleep with multiple partners, are billionaires, are living paycheck to paycheck, have lost a sibling, have a gay parent, have an absent parent, have abusive parents, are afraid to risk their reputation or job, or are simply afraid to take a chance in life. Isn't that who we all are? We're all mish mashed 'tropes' that walk around on this earth trying to connect with other mish mashed 'tropes?' If one of my characters is a virgins, it's for a reason. Full. Stop. I think Honey Blois said it best when talking to Mathias about why she was still a virgin. "It wasn't that I was saving myself for the man I was going to marry. I wasn't even saving myself. The simple truth is, I'd loved you my entire life and I wasn't interested in anyone else." Mathias, on the other hand, had gone the exact opposite direction and used other women to try to forget about his love for Honey. Her response to his lifestyle was this, "You went one way and I went the other. That doesn't make either choice wrong. We made the choice that was right for each of us at the time." 

via GIPHY

So when I read that review talking about the V-card in such depth in regards to The German's Guilty Pleasure, my initial response was, 'but, but it had to be that way if the plot was going to work!' Then I kept reading and was like, okay, she gets it. Whew. Inroad made. Because, here's the thing about The German's Guilty Pleasure, the fact that Serenity is a virgin is quite literally the smallest part of the plot. The book is so much bigger than that. It's about self-love, literally and figuratively. It was about Lars teaching Serenity that it's okay to admit you have needs and that the one person you can count on to take care of those needs is yourself; and not just in the sexual sense. It's about learning to love yourself for who you are, whether you're 26 or 56. It's about doing things that scare you because it's the only way to grow as a person. It's about how we perceive ourselves and other people when the reality can be something else entirely.  When I wrote the line, "America, for all its wildness, has a problem talking openly about sex and self-pleasuring." I had no idea how accurate that was until I released a series about a sex toy company that spoke openly about self-pleasure and it was solid...

via GIPHY

That is what I believe this reviewer saw in the book, even as I tossed in all these tropes, some intentional and other's not, but more than anything was me telling the story of a bunch of mish mashed people trying to find love. But let's be real here. If you write romance, you can type three words and accidentally hit a trope now. I don't even worry about it anymore.

Review: 
The German’s Guilty Pleasure is a wonderful, clever, and sexy read. The characters are witty but not annoying. The setting is well written but doesn’t overpower the plot. The sexual tension is off the charts, but she didn’t overdo it! The sexual tension draws you in and keeps you turning the pages, but she didn’t employ the ‘sex just for the sake of sex’ method of writing romance.
This book isn’t erotic; it’s GREAT storytelling with a sexual edge. It’s romantic but not sappy. It’s quick-witted and down to earth in a way that makes you want to be a part of the character’s world.
I especially love that the main characters don’t fall into a mold. The billionaire romance thing has been done and done, but Katie’s approach was different. Her billionaire is hot and sexy, but also a nice guy. Lars is a guy you’d like to have a beer with. He knows he’s got it, but he doesn’t degrade people or act superior because he has it.

If you love pure trope romance, that’s sexy and smart; you’re going to love Katie Mettner’s The German’s Guilty Pleasure. 

All of that said, I had to remove The German's Guilty Pleasure from my list of failures. So much so that it is now permafree on all retailers. Will it get reviews that say this is an atrocious book and should never see the light of day? Yes. Will it get reviews like Shannon's and Dana's? I sure hope so because that gives me hope that people are reading books to learn and grow and not to stay closed minded to 'tropes' they don't 'like.' Every writer is different in how they approach those tropes, and an open mind, like Shannon's, might just change our minds about life, love, and our own internal biases and fears. That's my way of saying, it may not be one person's cup of tea, but someone else's cup of coffee.