AAR

[Charlotte McClain]

[Anne Marble]

Some of my favorite romances are those where the characters don't have sex for a long time, and when they do, it's explosive. On the other hand, when they finally do it, I want something there. I don't want it to be an afterthought. "He lay on top of her. ... He rolled over and smoked a cigarette." What?!

When the characters have sex, it should be more than "insert tab a into slot b" (or slot c in some stories ). Those are nothing better than the "slam bam thank you ma'am" scenes of old bodice rippers, only longer and usually more innovative. It's disappointing when a sex scene is boring, but I don't want to forget that it's great when writers get it right. When the sex scenes involve more than just sex but also the characters, plot, etc. Good love/sex scenes should be about more than just sex. A longer sex scene can be a better one, but it depends on the author. It's not the size that matters, it's what you do with it.

I recently listened to a recording of an RWA Workshop by Virginia Kantra, and she talked about sex and its effect on the characters. For her recent paranormal series, her characters had sex earlier on -- and she loved it because that added more conflict from the start. On the other hand, if I remember correctly, she also said that just a kiss could be the equivalent of a sex scene, depending on how it affects the characters. It's also telling that the title of her talk was Developing the Romance in Your Romance Novel -- so she was talking about the romance, not just about sex.
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[Audrey]

I'm becoming a bit of a skimmer too. I think that love scenes sometimes try to be too passionate and it never rings true to me that 30 seconds in and she's about ready to explode. Also I think the ones that seem more personal and real to me include details that aren't just he touched her there, and she touched him there, but personal details like the feelings and thoughts going through their heads or maybe how dear they think the curl laying on her neck is or whatever. Okay that sounds cheesy but I want to know why this particular couple is in love and having sex, not just read a scene that's interchangeable with a million others.

[AbiB]

[Schola]

[xina]

Reading through this thread I am trying to think of authors who do sex/love scenes beautifully, sexy and more importantly...interesting. Personally, I think Paullina Simons did well with Tatiana and Alexander in their 3 books together. That couple knows how to spice up their sex life. In their scenes...even the earlier scenes when they are younger, the attraction and caring and the complete lust is always present. Just what a love scene should be.
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[dick]

The virginal heroine's comment, in romance fiction, that sex is indescribable, is, in my thinking about the only thing romance fiction gets completely right about sex. Perhaps that's why so many readers find so many sex scenes inadequate--because all authors can do, really, is to describe the route to the moment of truth.

[Lynda X]

We are so saturated with sex on TV, in movies, in books, in fashion, in our conversations, etc. that we've become bored. Too often, sex scenes, reduced to the mechanics, lack imagination, tension, and emotional impact. What makes sex great in a romance (and in life) is its connection between people. Even erotica to be good needs a great love story; maybe that's the difference between erotica (AKA, porn) written for men who are more visually stimulated and women who fall in love with their ears. Porn movies for women needs a plot and characters; men's don't--or so I've read.

In sex scenes of books I love, often I can remember only a line or detail, not the whole scene because the love scenes were perfectly integrated with the characters and the plot. In "Morning Glory," the final consummation, delayed for months and months, takes place under less than an idyllic situation. The reader in "Windflower" has waited for hundreds of pages and then, the first time (not told in any detail, IIRC) is not that good for the heroine, but the hero is so tender and loving that, oddly enough, it adds to the joy of the novel. But these consummations are not sex scenes so much as love scenes. I want to read LOVE scenes in a romance.

Generally, I don't like novels where the couple meet and go to bed before they even know each other, but Lisa Marie Rice's heroes and heroines usually come together very quickly, and it works because of her depth of characterization. We read both the man and the woman's thoughts, so we can see why they are so powerfully attracted, plus the danger to the heroine ratchets up the speed and tension. In contrast, Stephenie Myer's vampire series has great sexual tension, but it's not until the FOURTH BOOK that the h&h finally go to bed together! This YA book is not at all graphic, but the consummation is lovely.

I suspect that the sex scenes we all gloss over are written by authors who were bored when they wrote them. It's interesting to me that usually a good new author writes great sex scenes; it's the pros who write the boring ones. I usually stop reading authors after they've written a lot: I get bored, and I think they do too.

[JaneO]

Good point, dick. I generally find that suggestion is far more erotic than finger placement. I tend to skim, especially very long scenes. (This makes Stephanie Laurens' books quite short :-).) Sometimes sex scenes are significant in the book — I think, for example, of Jo Goodman's The Price of Desire or Julia Quinn's To Sir Phillip With Love — in terms of both the plot and the character development. Too often, however, they just seem tossed in. When the protagonists have fallen madly in lust by page 5 and in bed by page 10, I close the book and pick up another.
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JaneO

[Mingqi]

i used to read the novels with the love/sex scenes- but now I end up skimming a lot of them too- unless i'm in the mood to read about them.

Like JaneO mentioned, a lot of the time it seems like the sex is just tossed in. I haven't encountered many that actually moved the story forward. Most of the time the scenes just interrupt the pace of the story so i skim/skip to get to the bantering. I sort of prefer the love/sex scenes in the last few chapters of the novel now-since by that time, the hero/heroine are coming together and things are slowing down. Though, I am fond of making-out scenes that leave the characters wanting more (but they're holding back) so I do read those. Maybe I'm just the type of person who is more fond of the chase than the actual consummation. :D

the love/sex scenes can get pretty boring since I can almost predict when the sex scene will be- oh look! hero/heroine encounters abandoned cottage/field/shed or they're all alone in the library or his/her bedroom- of course they should make the best use of it-cut the talking short and consummate their lust for each other. Maybe if they have sex at more unexpected moments and places, I would read them more thoroughly.
And a lot of sex scenes poke at some of my pet peeves: 1 the characters have sex within days after meeting each other and 2. the commenting on how INNOCENT the heroine is because you could totally tell by the way he is moving, breathing, whimpering. I'm like....right, seriously? :roll:

i don't think romances need sex but sometimes sex would be nice- you have all that sexual tension to lead to sex. It's just that 10-15 page long sex scenes are dull-especially if it happens 3-4 times throughout the book.

[Lynn M]

I tend to read the "first time" sex scenes in their entirety. Usually this is the payoff for some - hopefully - very well done sexual tension, and it's after the couple finally consummates their relationship that things change for them. I like knowing how that first time went.

But after the couple has moved past that and engage in more sex more often, I find myself skimming. At this point, it seems like any detail that is spelled out in the book is almost gratuitous. Like a publisher told the writer to put X number of sex scenes in or something and we are simply filling pages to meet a quota. Too, it seems the subsequent episodes are never as interesting as the first one. They don't change the story all that much, either.

In fact, some of my favorite writers seem to understand this. While they go to great lengths to depict the first consummation scene, the sex scenes that follow aren't necessarily depicted movement by movement. We get the gist of what's going on, and that's all we need.

[Natalie]

I don't read "kisses only" books (aside from some classics like Mary Stewart) but I definitely don't read just for sex and too much detail turn me off (I'd read romantica if I wanted it). However, I do appreciate a hot love scene especially if it's culmination of sexual tension buildup (buildup without resolution really annoys me). I also like when sex is plays a part in characterization and love scenes changes when with the changes in the couple's relationship (To Have and to Hold is a good example of that).

[Schola]

[Kass]

Um...I don't skip sex scenes, so I'd say yes, they need them even if you skip those scenes, because I don't.
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[Chris6854]

After reading all of the previous posts in this thread I'm starting to think I must just be a "sleazy" kinda gal! LOL

I WANT sex in my romances. I prefer books with AAR's "Hot" or "Burning" ratings. However, I only want to read books with a B+ or higher grade. These are the books in which the characters and their story take the forefront. If I'm not sucked in by the story and the characters I just skim the entire book, sex scenes included.

OTH, some of my favorite romances would only be considered warm....but these books feature such EXCEPTIONAL writing that I don't miss the sex. However, as many of us have lamented, amazing books like that don't come along every day. I read at least two or three books a week, but the majority of the books I've read lately are good, not GREAT.

I guess I'm in the minority, but when choosing between two books with an "A" grade, I'll take the "Hot" one over the "Warm" one every time. I never realized that I was such a pervert compared to other romance readers!