The first three books in Châteaux and Shadows each have one sex scene. In the Honorable Officer, it starts out OK, then goes all bad for the poor heroine. The sex after that is much better for her, because the hero's not a cruel person, but it's hinted at and mostly happens behind closed doors.
The Chevalier doesn't go into too much detail, either. He's recovering from an injury, she's nursing him back to health. His fever breaks. She helps him take a sponge bath. And... yeah.
Henri et Marcel, the upcoming novella, (HERE ARE ALL THE LINKS) has some kissing, some thinking about sex, some cuddling, some arousal, then no sex scenes at all. It's not just because it's a book about two gay men, but also because it's about a couple that's been together for ten years already and one is in constant pain from back problems, then the other gets beat up. But even then, I didn't include the sex scene near the end when the problems are all resolved (I mean, Henri's still in pain, but it's better and relief is in sight), and I just had them sitting around languorously the next morning when the nephew showed up.
Sorry.
I mean, sorry to everyone who wants blistering hot sex. Sorry for the reviewers who have said about my books that the romance was OK, though when it got to the sex, there wasn't enough.
Also sorry to those who want their books completely "clean". I mean, besides that I have some anger directed at that word, since many people seem to think all sex (and kissing and anything more than hand-holding) is "dirty". Because a normal part of the majority of romantic relationships is dirty. Besides all that, I have no problem at all with romance novels with no sex, as long as there is attraction and love. But don't tell me I'm dirty, OK?
Maybe I'm not the right person to write M/M romance.
Especially the sex.
I kind of struggle with this thing of straight women writing and reading male/male erotic romance. I haven't even read many M/M novels. I have nothing against the tories and do read them and even find some of them hot, but I mostly read them for the emotional satisfaction. I know for dang sure that I'm not the expert on how gay men get jiggy with it, so I don't actually know how to write it. Do not even try to call me a homophobe, OK? Because I'm not. I'm just not all that excited by watching men have sex with each other.
Heck, I struggle with staring at the hot, waxed chests on the covers of romance novels because I realize these guys are almost young enough to be my children. Dude, I'm old. And I like hair on a guy's chest and think massive muscles are intimidating.
I don't even read for the sex scenes in romance most of the time. I don't necessarily skim it all and I really enjoy it, but sometimes, it feels like the author got to a point in the story and decided it was time for Tab A and Slot B. There's one author in particular whom I do enjoy, but whose long-running series has plot and attraction for about 100 pages, then there are 300 pages of sex scenes, interspersed with some halfhearted continuation and conclusion of the plot. I'd rather go back and read the earliest books in the series, which spend a lot more time getting on with it than getting it on.
I'm not even an expert on hetero sex. I can imagine a lot of things and have read a lot of things. I won't discuss my own sex life, though.
I've been mulling over the reviews I've had on review blogs, some of which say the books are not romance-y enough. And yet the books are centered on the love stories and have positive endings, which is your basic definition of a romance novel. I guess someday, I'll do an experiment and publish them all as historical fiction with romantic elements and see if I get a different response?
On the other hand, the Contemporary New Adult stuff I'm writing now is much, much sexier. There's even a gay couple and yes, I've written a couple gay sex scenes now, though the books are still in early stages and need to be edited, so I'm probably going to back off on the detail. And yet, they're focused on a group of friends, those each of these first two books has a central character(s).
My mom's going to have to cover her eyes.
Or not, as long as she doesn't tell me what she thought about it.
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