Number one on my list is that Darcy and Elizabeth definitely remain as they are in P&P and they have their wedding and will be together. I recently noticed the beginning of a story (on another site) that doesn't say it's a D&E story but does list it with alternate pairings. That is a big angst red flag to me and I would never read it because it is probably Elizabeth or Darcy with someone else and it's just not my kind of story. Is it angst for me, and it's just not a story that I would like so I would not read it. And definitely no infidelity between D&E. Lived it, had to deal with it, it's not pretty, and definitely don't want to read about it for my favorite couple. I read JAFF to enjoy myself, not get a headache.
I don't enjoy stories that give me chapter after chapter of Caroline, Wickham, Collins, or Lady Catherine or even Mr or Mrs Bennet heaping so much hate, violence and destruction on my favorite couple and then they seemingly get off scott free. If I'm reading chapter after chapter and this is what is going on, then I want some satisfaction or my angst meter is off the peg. I know that this kind of stuff happens in RL, but I don't want to read RL, I want to escape it for a while with D&E.
It's also got to be believable. I don't read modern stories, only regency ones. I love reading about that period and if it's isn't believable for that era (modern is pretty much anything goes) it's very frustrating to read. Some of my favorite authors have written what I am sure are excellent modern stories, but they are not for me, I'm afraid I'd lose interest very fast, so I wait (impatiently) for them to write their next regency.
I've even started some regency stories that have the characters and the plot so far out in left field that I suspect that the biggest reason it was written as a JAFF story was simply to get people to read it. The story has nothing to do with P&P at all. Those types of stories can send my angst meter out the roof and I have to quit reading. That's not to say that I don't enjoy Darcy as a werewolf once in a while (but again, in the regency era) but too much blood and gore just isn't for me. Not my kind of Darcy werewolf! I've read a few that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Majority of the stories I've read over the years have such different twists and turns for my favorite couple that I have read those stories more than once and enjoy them every time I read them.
I've started reading a lot of the comments sections about stories to wait and see what it is all about before I sit down to read just to see if it's a story I would enjoy. I tried purchasing a couple of books from authors I didn't know and found that I felt cheated since the story wasn't what I thought it was so I've limited my book purchases to authors I know or even stories that started out on the JAFF sites. Then I know I will enjoy them and even if they are a little angsty, I know the author and their style of writing and know that I'm going to be entertained and satisfied. Even if I've read a story on the JAFF sites, if I enjoy it, I would purchase it to support the author to let them know that I enjoyed the story so much that I wanted to add it to my collection. And between the books and my Kindle, I've got quite a collection.
I don't enjoy stories that give me chapter after chapter of Caroline, Wickham, Collins, or Lady Catherine or even Mr or Mrs Bennet heaping so much hate, violence and destruction on my favorite couple and then they seemingly get off scott free. If I'm reading chapter after chapter and this is what is going on, then I want some satisfaction or my angst meter is off the peg. I know that this kind of stuff happens in RL, but I don't want to read RL, I want to escape it for a while with D&E.
It's also got to be believable. I don't read modern stories, only regency ones. I love reading about that period and if it's isn't believable for that era (modern is pretty much anything goes) it's very frustrating to read. Some of my favorite authors have written what I am sure are excellent modern stories, but they are not for me, I'm afraid I'd lose interest very fast, so I wait (impatiently) for them to write their next regency.
I've even started some regency stories that have the characters and the plot so far out in left field that I suspect that the biggest reason it was written as a JAFF story was simply to get people to read it. The story has nothing to do with P&P at all. Those types of stories can send my angst meter out the roof and I have to quit reading. That's not to say that I don't enjoy Darcy as a werewolf once in a while (but again, in the regency era) but too much blood and gore just isn't for me. Not my kind of Darcy werewolf! I've read a few that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Majority of the stories I've read over the years have such different twists and turns for my favorite couple that I have read those stories more than once and enjoy them every time I read them.
I've started reading a lot of the comments sections about stories to wait and see what it is all about before I sit down to read just to see if it's a story I would enjoy. I tried purchasing a couple of books from authors I didn't know and found that I felt cheated since the story wasn't what I thought it was so I've limited my book purchases to authors I know or even stories that started out on the JAFF sites. Then I know I will enjoy them and even if they are a little angsty, I know the author and their style of writing and know that I'm going to be entertained and satisfied. Even if I've read a story on the JAFF sites, if I enjoy it, I would purchase it to support the author to let them know that I enjoyed the story so much that I wanted to add it to my collection. And between the books and my Kindle, I've got quite a collection.