Spice versus No Spice
Okay, so I know this is a very HOT topic… for a lot of reasons.
Here’s my take on it. You can take it or leave it.
As many of you know, I write “no spice romance”. What does that mean? Basically that if you ever pick up ANY of my books or stories, there will never be any explicit sex scenes. I will never move on this. No matter how much money or how great a contract a publishing company may offer me.
Spice (more explicit sex scenes) is VERY common among romance. Personally, it makes it very difficult for me to find a book that I find comfortable reading. Why? I’m getting to that. It seems that nowadays when you enter a bookstore or a library the romance section is lined with books upon books that clearly have spice in it. Whether it’s in the half-naked person on the cover or an innocent cover the likelihood that a romance book has spice is over 75% (unless it’s under Christian fiction).
Okay, so what’s the problem?
The problem is that - call me a naive innocent romantic - I have never believed that romance is about sex. Ever. Yet, it seems that our world has amounted romance with sex. Why? Because we have lost the meaning of love. And with that, we have lost the meaning of marriage. I don’t know if you remember, but fairy tales and even classic Disney movies ended with the couple getting married. That was the happily-ever-after. It signified commitment, true love, belief in the other’s good, romance, and trust that they would care for each other for eternity.
Okay, but those are children’s stories. Adults can handle spicier content and they shouldn’t be ashamed of it, right?
I have a lot to say about the first sentence, since I thesis-ed on fairy tales ;), but I will focus on the spice portion, for now.
Adults become de-sensitized by reading spice content. On top of that, it makes you look at the world and others with this kind of mentality. How do I know this?
Because when I first started reading romance as a teen, I ran into a lot of books that had this. Part of me felt like this was wrong. So I would skim over it, but some of those words, the language that the characters would use, it stayed with me. I felt icky inside and with this feeling of wrongness. But I kept picking up these books telling myself that it was fine if I skipped over it. Why? Because I felt like cheesy Christian fiction was boring and I hated reading books that I didn’t feel truly gave me a satisfactory romance ending or had a good plot.
So, what if these stories are boring and I really want a satisfying romance? Then look for these stories - they’re out there! It may take some time, but they’re out there! I found a couple of authors over Kindle Vella where I ABSOLUTELY loved their stories and they had no spice. Reading them left me feeling satisfied and believing in true love. Trust me, those were NOT boring.
When it comes to my writing, I like to incorporate romance that makes sense for the story. For example, right now I am writing a book that has a lot to do with sexual trauma. The couple is also married by the end of the book. It makes sense to have a scene that shows them overcoming their struggles. Yes, it’s NOT explicit because it doesn’t have to be. Readers will be warned when it’s coming up and I include warnings at the beginning of my books. I know that there are some people that are very sensitive and there are others who will think that there wasn’t enough. In my opinion, I think my book has a very satisfying ending without explicit details.
Above all, I think true love is pure, it is good, it cares, and puts the other person first. When I see language in romance books that has purely to do with pleasure and self-satisfaction. I can’t see it as true love.
So, that’s my take on spice. I will never write it. And if you feel uncomfortable with it, but still love romance, then you should never feel forced to read it because there are good books out there!
*Email me if you would like some book recommendations :)