What's With All The Sensual/Sex Scenes?

I'm curious.

I'd be reading a book, following the plot, enjoying the story, when out of nowhere there is an "unnecessarily intimate" scene. One moment the character is being interrogated, the next some random lady is in the room and already groping him.  Or a detective is searching for a highly suspicious individual when he decides to spend the rest of the chapter in a strip club.  

Or my favorite, the character is plotting the end of the world, he is losing his mind at the realization of what he has done, he is almost repentant of his deeds, aaaand he has sex with his boss...

Uhm, what?

Where did that come from?

How does that further the plot, at all?

I wish authors would just understand that if I wanted to read something like that, I'd read erotic fiction.  Teen fiction or suspense novels are not the same as erotic fiction.  I want the story, not some illustration of the character's sexual dysfunctions (unless it somehow contributes to the main story).  Alright?  Thanks.

The Prophet by Michael Koryta

Amazon called it an "unstoppably suspenseful tale."  Uhm, epic fail, Amazon.  I almost fell asleep reading, and that's with a cup of Starbucks coffee.  Does it get better after the first 10 chapters?

Road Trip!

If you've been wondering why I haven't been tweeting as often as usually, it's because I'm on a crazy awesome road trip to Arizona!  Here are some pics to prove it :)

it was a 30+ hour trip.. I don't even know for sure, I slept through most of it.

a park dedicated to saguaros :P

started a new writing project while traveling.  Ahh, the beauty of a portable iPad!

my husband & i :) and the Grand Canyon

one majestic view

don't wanna fall over, y'know.

i believe this was Utah..

just had to take a pic of this one

Best Book of the Month - UnWholly

I'm going to conclude every month with a 'Best Book of the Month' post.  I think the best book I've read in August was...

"UnWholly" by Neal Shusterman.  Hands down, no competition, best book that I've reviewed here on Fiction and Frappe last month.  

If you're interested in more books like this, check out "Lockdown: Escape from Furnace" by Alexander Gordon Smith.  It's not exactly new fiction, so I didn't review it here, but I was reading it around the same time I read "UnWholly" and they are very similar -- and both are very good.