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The continued rise of romance, thanks in part to TikTok, paved the way for more “spicy” books, the most popular of which are under the subgenre romantasy, a portmanteau of romance and fantasy.
Many readers are now looking for spicy scenes, with specific questions about the number of scenes and how explicit they are. In the romance genre, many authors have established “heat levels,” which include a rating and description of how much sex is involved in their books. This is to help readers understand what they are looking for in a romance book.
Every month, I read a couple of forthcoming romantasy books, and some of them have descriptive sex scenes that make me somewhat wonder if they’ve crossed the erotica line. There’s a demand for this high level of spice, whether in romance in general or romantasy in particular, as we can see from authors and publishers continue to weave it into their frontlist titles.
So, if readers crave this amount of spice in romance and/or romantasy, why not just read erotica? With all the buzz about spicy books, why is erotica not getting attention as a genre?
Before we delve into these questions, let’s go back to the basics.
Romance vs Erotica: A Refresher
Romance, regardless of the amount of sex, centers on the love story. Even without the sex, the story can stand on its own. Sex may enhance the story, but it may be optional in the plot. The most important element is the love story between the two main leads. Regardless of how graphic the sex scenes in Fifty Shades of Grey are, the book is still considered a romance.
Whereas in erotica, the emphasis is on the sex. There usually isn’t much of a plot, but there’s plenty of sex.
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Romance and erotica are not comparable genres, author Nola Saint James told me. These two genres appeal to different audiences. Readers of off-the-scale spicy romances are always hoping for a happy resolution for the protagonists. Readers of erotica also know what they want—a happy ending for themselves. The two are not mutually exclusive, but the two genres meet different reader needs, according to Saint James.
Readers looking for steamy sex scenes in romance or romantasy still value the romance aspect. They still want the act of falling in love between two characters and the quest of finding a romantic partner, not just the quantity of sex scenes that erotica provides.
“In romance, the assurance of a ‘happily ever after’ is the story’s driving force. In erotica, a happy ending occurs over and over again. The story, if there is one, serves to get the characters from one intimate encounter to another,” Saint James adds.
Jane, a Senior Communications and Marketing Manager at Kensington Publishing Corp specializing in romance, agrees. She has been working with this genre and romance authors for almost 12 years. “There are fundamental differences between erotica and romance novels, which may explain why erotica hasn’t had a resurgence. In erotica, the spice is the point. It’s titillating and exciting, but an erotica story is unburdened by having to justify the reason for the spice. Erotica can simply be a tale of people exploring their sexuality and acts of pleasure, and they are unburdened by the expectation of an HEA or happily ever after.”
There is a difference between the two genres. But why is erotica not getting enough attention when spicy romantasy books are all over the rage?
Erotica’s Ongoing Bad Reputation
The simple answer is that the stigma associated with erotica persists.
“I think for some readers, erotica can sound like a dirty word. Some readers like a bit of sweet romance, and closed-door romantic moments in their books, but the term ‘spicy’ can refer to more, whereas ‘erotica’ tends to mean graphic sex scenes, which can be a lot,” said author E.L. Johnson.
Johnson believes that for some readers, erotica has an infamous reputation. Readers may prefer spicy books over erotica because they enjoy sultry scenes but not sex scenes in general. Readers may also feel more at ease discussing books with a mix of sweet and spicy scenes with their friends and family, but admitting to reading scenes that we’d find in erotic books can take a bit more bravery, according to her.
Genevieve Nierman, Content Manager for Books at Likewise agrees and mentions that some retailers don’t even stock books labeled erotica or erotic romance because they believe they are “pornographic” or “inappropriate.” Some are shrink-wrapped, while others have only a few titles. This not only stymies discoverability, but it also contributes to the stigma that erotica is “bad” or “dirty,” according to her.
When it comes to romance and/or romantasy, the occasional sex scenes are more acceptable. That’s thanks to societal changes, Jane says. Younger people who talk about spicy books on social media may be less influenced by older sexual norms, particularly when it comes to women openly enjoying something sexy. When Fifty Shades of Grey first hit the market, most people read it behind closed doors and whispered about it in person, she told me:
“Here in New York City, you most likely would not have seen people openly reading Fifty Shades on the subway in print form. It would have most likely been read clandestinely on a Kindle. Whereas now, I see many people openly reading their spicy books out in public.”
Readers on the whole still prefer romance or romantasy to erotica. (It merits saying, however, that there’s no fantasy erotica subgenre that is an equal match for romantasy.) Reading spicy scenes allows them to experience emotions without having to perform the intimate acts themselves, serving as a substitute for exploring their own feelings, Jane adds. She believes that the extra layers in the romance novel are one of the most appealing aspects in terms of spice.
Despite the increased demand for spicy scenes, readers continue to crave the love story. That is why, for many romance readers, while they want the sex, they also want the happily ever after, which is not always guaranteed in erotica. It’s like finding a “no strings attached” sex partner, with no guarantee of romance.
At the end of the day, readers read romance and/or romantasy because they still want their happy ending.
The following comes to you from the Editorial Desk.
This week, we’re highlighting a post that had our Managing Editor Vanessa Diaz feeling a type of way. Now, even five years after it was published, Vanessa is still salty about American Dirt. Read on for an excerpt and become an All Access member to unlock the full post.
Picture it: The United States, January 2020. A book with a pretty blue and white cover is making the rounds on the bookish internet. The blue ink forms a beautiful hummingbird motif against a creamy background, a bird associated with the sun god Huitzilopochtli in Aztec mythology. Black barbed wire, at once delicate and menacing, cuts the pattern into a grid resembling an arrangement of Talavera tiles. The package is eye-catching, ostensibly Mexican in feel, and evocative of borders and the migrant experience.
The book tells the story of a bookstore owner in Acapulco, Mexico, who is forced to flee her home when a drug cartel murders everyone in her family except for her young son at a quinceañera. She and the boy are forced to become migrants and embark on a treacherous journey north to the U.S. border, evading the cartel and befriending fellow migrants along the way. The book is being lauded not just as the “it” book of the season but as the immigration story. It gets the Oprah treatment and is praised by everyone from Salma Hayek to the great Sandra Cisneros, who called it “the great novel of Las Américas.”
It’s been over five years, and this book is still the bane of my existence.
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