Despite the vigorous fiction tradition of relationship tales, many people still don’t readily admit that they read and enjoy romance. Romance gets a bad rap. And that seems to be because readers separate the sex from the romance rather than seeing it as an integrated feature. Sex is natural and human (also genie, vampire, shapeshifter, and wolfish….if you’re a paranormal reader).

Admittedly, I was a little stymied when it came to writing my first sex scene.  Who puts what where and exactly when? I’d been writing for years and enjoy exploring setting, scene, and character through layers of narrative that are accented by description and emotion and dialogue.  Isn’t describing sex just a part of that?  Yes.  Once I realized that, it came. [pun intended]  The romances I’ve written have all been rated 3 flames [you can see more about the heat index below].

I made a choice based on what I like to read.  A fade-to-black love scene can be very powerful, but I prefer to learn more about the characters by how they approach one another in an intimate setting.  So I include that in my writing. At the same time, I don’t like to see right into the yawning maw of various anatomic apertures.  I’m very careful -you could even say restrained- not to describe a sex scene gratuitously.  If it doesn’t advance the story, it’s out. 

I came across an interesting statistic recently: 97% percent of the romance ebooks sold by All Romance eBooks are rated three flames or higher. The ARe heat index, which my publisher -Sapphire Blue Publishing- uses, rates the content of each ebook from 1 to 5 flames. You can check out the categories for definition. Basically, it means that sex still sells. Of course, that’s one online bookstore and their visitors obviously like it sassy. Many other online romance bookstores feature a variety of innocent escapades. The point is that if people just wanted porn pictures, they wouldn’t bother reading the whole book. There is a bodacious booty of nudey pictures on the internet that don’t require reading. Readers want more than the salacious image. They want a story.

The key in any captivating romance story is to see the sex as the salvation of the person (genie, vampire, shapeshifter, or wolf) rather than as a mere extracurricular activity. If the author is able to justify the actions of the characters as something that will alter, improve, or deepen either themselves or their relationships, then the reader will go along for the ride. Sex–whether implied or explicit–becomes necessary to the story. Because we are, after all, human.

What about you? What’s your DLR [Daily Literary Requirement] of sex in a book?  How many flames do you look for in a romance? Do you think we expose too much?