A New Book

I do a lot of reading. My taste spans many different genres but yesterday I bought a book, the 17th in that series. I have read them all but this one is Cross Breed by Lora Leigh. It is fantasy romance with genetically modified ‘breeds’ of differing kinds. Naturally I read it, all 300 some odd pages. The sex is a bit more descriptive than I need, but the world building is fantastic.

When I read for fun, escape, entertainment, and joy, I want a story I can sink into. I want fascinating world building, imagination capturing, and characters I can relate to. Too much description leaves me skipping pages, but dialog I am always willing to dive into. If there is sex, I can enjoy that, but not if it becomes either unbelievable or distateful.

Stories should move along, but not at such a pace I am left wondering how this happened or what did I miss? Action is welcome, but not without internal and external dialog. Half of my joy in reading is getting to know what a character is thinking.

Everyone finds different things necessary to make a great story. What are some of your requirements?