I read two books in a series this week and realized that I didn’t like the second book because it was too much like the first one. Both books are romances with the basic plot involving members of the same mafia falling in love with women. My issue isn’t that the general plot was the same. As a general concept, there are thousands of books with this plot. A quick search on Amazon yields over 20,000 results. My issue lies more in the details of the books.
Similarities Between Books
To understand the point, let’s compare the books side by side. In both books, a member of the mafia holds the female main character (FMC) against her will. Both men are part of the same mafia group and have similar personalities. The FMCs both have young children and similar personalities. The male main character (MMC) is obsessed with the FMC becoming pregnant. Both women have not had sex in a long time, which makes them desire the men’s advances. Both women give in to their physical desires while questioning if they should stay with the men. The FMCs end up as hostages of their previous partners.
Differences Between Books
There are minor differences in the stories. In one story, the FMC is married and her husband gives her and the children to the mafia to pay off a debt. In the other, the FMC dates a member of a rival mafia and kidnapped by mistake. One FMC has two children, while the other has one. These differences are not significant enough to make the plot different from one book to the next. This led me to feel like I was reading the same story twice. Worse, the first story was good, while the second felt like a younger and less polished sibling pretending to be a part of the older kids and failing.
Conclusion
Because the books were so similar, I spent more time noticing small things that I wouldn’t notice in fresh story. Small grammar and punctuation errors stood out because I didn’t have to invest in the story. It’s like when you reread a book and notice more of the flaws because you don’t have to pay as close attention to the story. If I wanted to read the same story again, I would reread the first book. After reading the second book, I was done with the series. There are 5 more books I won’t read because they are likely to be the same story I’ve already read twice.