Discerning Reader or Jaded Jezebel?

I bought my first Ellora's Cave book back in February 2003. I remember that rush and thrill of buying a naughty book online. With the exception of the guy I live with I didn't tell any one. Of course, I was hooked. It wasn't long before I found other online erotic book stores and tested them all with purchases. I even found independent writers who were selling their books on their individual websites. I was the proverbial kid in a candy store.

In that time I've seen the erotic romance genre grow. There are innumerable sites out there now...lots of books to chose from and the naughty books finally made it into print in a big way. I can even buy them at the local book store.

These edgier romances with more explicit language and sex were thrilling for me and frankly quite liberating. Much like the Whitman's sampler of chocolates there was a wide range of romantic erotic literature out there and I was too curious not to sample all sorts of bits. Like the chocolates, some were devoured and had me wishing for just one more bite. Some were poked or nibbled and put back in the box.

I used to know what day each line released its new books and anxiously looked forward to see what came out. Now, three and a half years later I visited all my favorite online sites this week and pretty much rolled my eyes at the releases.

Is it me or is there just a glut of same old, same old? Beyond that do you find we've moved into the ridiculous with some plots? I often feel this way with print books as well. Every once in a while the publishing world seems to go through a particularly intense period of trying to capitalize on the popularity of one genre. The result being too many books, not very well written, on a worn out theme. Worse when a publisher thinks the readers are too stupid to realize what is happening. There are so many books out there, why do we readers keep buying books we are pretty sure we aren't going to like? I know I do...probably half my book purchases any more are books I'm hoping will be better than I believe they will be. Sad, but true.

Recently my sanity has been saved by an almost exclusive return to print romance. I can't remember when I've had so many good reads in a short period of time as I have the last two months. Very satisfying.

However, after taking a look at the EC releases today I wondered who had changed more? Is it me? Am I a more discerning reader or a more jaded one? Are my favorite online erotic romance bookstores just starved for new writers with many of the most popular authors now writing for print?

What's it been like for you? Oh, and if you have any recs, please don't hesitate to share.