As a criticism of your criticism, wanting subtext does not make you a "snob". People read for all different reasons and wanting to hear a deeper story is a valid one. Quite a few readers here and everywhere else would agree with you.

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>All the sex gets a bit heavy-handed and detracts from the book after a
while. It starts to feel less like a spicy romance thriller and more
like cheap erotica for horny women.

You really hit the nail on the head. In defense of Hoover, she intimately knows her market.