Why some books should have an expiration date

My reading habits have changed in the last year. I'm now reading less "literature" and more romance. No don't get me wrong I have read romances regularly since about 1993, but for many years I read romances in between other books. I was keeping up with my favorite authors but seldom experimented. Now it's as if I've reawakened to the genre and have realized that I missed some damn good books. For example, I've read almost NO paranormals. So to make up for lost time I've been trying new-to-me authors.

I recently started, then skimmed, Stephanie Laurens, Devil's Bride and boy if any book needs an expiration date it's this one. The plot, in brief: A new governess, Honoria, meets "Devil" Cynster over the dead body of his cousin. Devil quickly realizes that she is the woman for him. She balks for several chapters, but finally succumbs. Yet the book is drawn out for many more pages to solve the not-so-mysterious murder of the cousin.

The characters are stereotypical -- she is a bluestocking and he is a dangerous rake. She refuses to marry because of her totally unrealistic goal to explore Africa. I lost all respect for Honoria for either a) having such an ridiculous goal which she is postponing for no good reason or b) giving up her dream for a man. Devil is only a little better but still too domineering for my (2009) tastes. The mystery plot is laughable, plus the book is way too long considering the events the book covers. This makes the plotting seem very loose with way too much unnecessary detail.

The thing is I don't know how I would have reacted to this book if I'd read it within a couple of years of publication. I might have found it refreshing that the heroine, not the hero, needed to be pursuaded to marry. I might have like the bluestocking character. However 10 years later this was a bore. I would say it expired in the year 2000.

Reading this made me realize how much the romance genre has grown. There are some really great, fresh books being published today. Authors such as Judith James, Julie James, Kresley Cole, Meredith Duran and Tessa Dare are taking the genre into the future. I have just begun to explore paranormals and I know I have many new authors to discover. This experience has also made me realize that I should try to keep up with books as they are published, not let them languish on my shelves. I'll enjoy them more.