Pet Peeve #234

I just finished reading a trilogy of romances by Kathy Love, and I finally put my finger on why I was a bit irritated by them. The story was great, I liked the humour, the plot, and the characters, but there was something a bit off about the dialogue. It's because the author did not use many contractions at all while writing the dialogue. Now, I don't know if this was the author or the editor who decided that her characters don't say "I'm" or I've" or "haven't", but it is weird to read dialogue that is completely lacking in those small idioms.