That seems to be a really common issue. I think it may be just that it's so rare - the first time I tried one, it utterly wigged e out, but I recently read Blue-Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas without any problems at all. Which is, incidentally, quite good.

It annoys me, also. I can't think of any examples at the moment, though.

I've heard a lot of romance readers complain about it, but I don't mind it and really never notice it. One of the reasons I love reading is to get into the head of someone else completely different, and first person narrative is an effective way to do that. I don't notice or mind it one way or the other, but you're definitely not alone in your opinion!

he doesn't read romances [that i know about anyway ;) ], but first person seriously irritates DH.

it doesn't bother me.  actually, i barely even notice it.  i gave Grimspace by Ann Aguirre to DH to read since i enjoyed it, and when he started commenting about it being in first person, i kind of went "oh really?".  due to that i've started to notice it a bit more - but it might take me halfway through the book before i'll think "oh, this is first person".

though i couldn't tell you how many of the books i've read the first ten pages of in a store and crossed off my list were written in first person.  i wouldn't be surprised to discover badly done first person was one of the types of things that puts me off a book within a short time - but not because i specifically noticed and thought that.

I also have never really cared for first-person books and generally avoid them, but I do like Katie MacAlister's FP books.  Maybe it's because I like the story and her humor. 

If I recall, Outlander is in first person, isn't it?  It's been such a long time since I read it.  Usually I think I am going to hate first person but then the author draws you in and you forget you are reading it that way.  The Twilight Series is first person and they say the author is going to write Edward's version also.

I especially don't like first person in romance novels because I also like to know what is going on in the other persons head.  I don't mind it so much in other genres.

I think, with me anyway, it depends on the book...Janet Evanovich wirtes a lot of her books in first person and it doesn't bother me a bit. Lisa Kleypas wrote in first person with both Blue-Eyed Devil and Sugar Daddy and I was fine with them. But I've read others that completely drove me up the wall!

What I REALLY hate is First-Person, Present Tense...like "I sit in the chair and read the newspaper while I wait for so and so to come back." I think that is the absolute worst!

I like books in first person. Particularly series in first person. I think it's a touch more realistic and adds a bit more suspense and mystery to not know what's going on in everyone else's head. Kim Harrison's The Hallows series (character Rachel Morgen), Laurell K Hamilton's Anita Blake, Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse, Patricia Briggs's Mercy Thompson, and Carrie Vaughn's Kitty Norville are all characters I read in first-person and I really enjoy those books. I think a good author can write in first-person and still give us in-depth supporting characters and let us get to know them they way we would get to know a person in real life, who's heads we cannot truely get into either.

I don't think first person bothers me at all, but I do know I usually really enjoy romance novels written from the male perspective.

For me it entirely depends on the tone of the book and the genre.

Unless it's romance, first-person doesn't bother me a bit.  Some of my favorite fantasy books are written in first person, like the Dresden Files among others.

As for romance, generally I don't like it.  However, I only HATE it  and therefore can't read it if the voice is particulary chatty.  Enough talk just tell me what happened already!

It doesn't bother me in mystery type books or non-genre specific books. Like I love the Stephanie Plum books and the Sookie Stackhouse books which are both in first person.  But in straight romance I don't care for it at all.  I also want the hero's perspective and the story can feel a little one sided.  It also depends on how it's done.  If it seems like it's written as a report than I don't care for it at all. If it's the heroine casually narrating what's happening to her than it's all right.

Yeah, other than the sex scenes being weird, I don't care so much for the one-sided perspective.  I like knowing what's going on in the hero's head a little.  I was so into Victoria Holt when I was a young teen though, and as I recall, it was all pretty much first person, and I thought it was great at the time.  I even remember looking at books in the library and putting them back if they weren't first person.  Of course, if anyone was ever into Victoria Holt, they'll know she had a knack for it.  Not knowing what the hero was thinking fit into the story so well with a lot of the old gothic novels, IMO.

Oh - and I forgot to say, I felt a little clumsy with it at the beginning of Outlander, but I got into the story so quickly, I barely noticed it at all after a while.

I actually like first person narrative a lot, because it is so rare. But then i've only read one writer (Joan Wolf) who did a good job at it in my opinion. I didn't know Sugar Daddy and Blue Eyed Devil are in first person - good to know. :D

To me, it doesn't really matter if the book is written in first person, as long as its good. 

Ellen, I read Grimspace too! It was so engrossing and just plain kick-a** that I read it in one day!

Kim Harrison's The Hallows series (character Rachel Morgen), Laurell K Hamilton's Anita Blake, Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse, Patricia Briggs's Mercy Thompson, and Carrie Vaughn's Kitty Norville are all characters I read in first-person and I really enjoy those books.

just call me oblivious.  or really into the story.  :)  i read all of those, and i couldn't have told you they were in first person.

Caroline, i believe it!  Grimspace is an easy one to get in to.  when i was on vacation at the end of April, i was running out of books and so made sure to look at the FOL shelves of a couple of libraries we went past.  i'd already bought that one new and had it at home, but i needed something to read so i picked it up a second time for $1.  too bad that copy was unpostable (water damage).  [and i gave DH that copy to read, rather than my brand new copy that's on my keeper shelf.  he's harder on books than i am!]  i'm looking forward to the second one.

Hey, I was going to mention the present tense thing too!  It usually just doesn't work for me.  But then a few months ago I was going to mail off a book in the present tense without reading it, read the first couple pages just because it was there, and ended up sitting down and reading the whole thing in one gulp.  My hard & fast rules coming back to bite me again.  :P  It wasn't a romance, but if you're interested in teen issues books Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson was every bit as good as the reviews said it was, in spite of the tense thing.

I've never been bothered by first person narratives, but since I started frequenting book sites I see posts about it a lot, so I guess it's fairly normal.  I've read that some authors find first person much easier to write, but it makes others crazy.  I don't care as long as it fits the story!

And I knew I wanted to read Grimspace!

I usually avoid books written in first person. If I pick up a book in the library or bookstore and find that it's written in first person 9 times out of 10 I'll put it back, especially if it's a new author to me. I will give the book a try if I don't make the discovery until I begin reading it.

Doesn't bother me at all.

For me, I was okay with Lisa Kleypas and Janet Evanovich. However, it bugged the heck out of me when I read Katie MacAllister and I don't understand why :)