Books to read in bed: Polysexual romantic fiction

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Bronto wants to read © by gaelx, used under Creative Commons license.
I’m reading a terrible book.

Well, I’m actually reading two really good, meaty non-fiction books: Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life and The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. But neither of these books are the kind of thing you can read before falling asleep, and I really enjoy reading myself to sleep… so I needed some fluffy fiction.

In thinking about what I wanted, I recalled what a friend said at the first meeting of our book club last year. Everyone was all, “I like magical realism” “Oh, well I like suburban ennui” “Yes, well I’m into historical fiction” bla bla. And we get to Tim, and he’s all, “I like books with sex in them.”

Of course everyone had to take off their English major hats and be like “Wait wait, me too! I change my answer!” So yes: we all like books with sex in them. (And by “sex” I mean “consensual enjoyable sex,” and not just sexual assault that’s used to motivate revenge or other plot points.”)

Anyway, so I decided I wanted some light reading that had sex in it, and realized… I think this means I want to read a romance novel. But ew: romance novels? I’m not at ALL interested in the bodice ripper “big strong man, docile female” dynamic that many romance novels focus on, so I went off on a hunt for something different.

My search lead me to Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, which is exactly what it sounds like. From there, I poked around in their reviews looking for something that I was describing to myself as “intelligent feminist polysexual romantic fiction.” Despite this tiny niche of a genre, I FOUND SOMETHING!

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It’s got a terrible title (Butterfly Tattoo), but it’s a romance novel about a career woman who falls for a hunk who’s mourning his dead husband. I’m not going to say it’s super intelligent, but there are a lot of explorations of grief (so not totally brainless), the woman is smart and driven (so somewhat feminist) and the bisexual widower angle fills the polysexual checkbox, so I’mma say success!

It’s still a romance novel, which means it’s still sort of terrible in its formula and writing style. But the eBook cost $5, and it goes down easy — LIKE A BISEXUAL WIDOWER.

So now I must know, Homies: what sexy books are YOU reading in bed?

About the Author: Ariel

@findyourafterglow

Author of three editions of the Offbeat Bride book and its sequel (From Shitshow To Afterglow, the ultimate offbeat breakup book) Ariel Meadow Stallings is the publisher of all the Offbeat Empire web properties. She lives in Seattle with her son. To read her latest work, follow @arielist.

Comments on Books to read in bed: Polysexual romantic fiction

  2. There’s good & bad in every genre. I enjoy romance novels with strong smart women, of which there are plenty. I also love all of Sarah Waters novels.
    When I want erotica (versus romance) I tend to like those rewritten erotic versions of classic fairy tales.

  3. Convergence is the first book of The Blending Series by Sharon Green and even though the couples are straight it’s still pretty liberating. There’s really cool applications of magic, empowered women, men re-evaluating relationship roles, secretly tyrannical government, corruption, and some SERIOUSLY gorgeous cover art.
    I’d definitely say worth a try.

    • I read this book because I spent the better part of 2 years working at the Medieval Times as a bar wench in NJ. It gave me a few hours of hysterical laughter at the awe-full (awful) sex. If only they really knew what happened in the back rooms of the castle…. 😉

    • This is HILARIOUS!

      This goes well beyond bodice-ripper. It’s lurid. It’s over the top and I’m pretty sure the author(s) doesn’t have any actual experience with vaginas. I don’t even know what to call the genre — a crotch buster? What would you call prose that was written by a team of gay drag queens?

      And two thumbs waaaay up for managing to work both “twat” and “lady-softness” into the same scene. An erotic tour de force!

  9. Does anyone know of a book of this genre with a good ending i.e. NOT the hero and the heroine live happily ever after?

    I swear a load of books have been ruined for me by the fact one of them didn’t die when they should have, or the character chose to be in love rather than have kinky sex forever, or some other cliché.

    • I usually find that anything by Anne Rice fits this bill. She wrote a book called “Exit To Eden” under the name Ann Rampling where the two lovers agree to be in love AND stay kinky.

      There was a movie by the same name that was supposed to be based on the book but as far as I can see the two really are NOT related. The movie is touted as a “naughty comedy” and there is nothing comedic about the book.

      If you like things even more kinky, there’s the Sleeping Beauty series she wrote as A.N.Roquelaure. It has a pretty different take on “happily ever after”, I can assure you. 😉

  10. Cooking Up A Storm_ by Emma Holly…really ANYTHING contemporary fic from Emma Holly. She writes fantastic straight/bi/gay smut with excellent plot. She has a gift for balancing the plot to smut ratio perfectly for me. _Manage_ explores the dynamic between two gay/bi male lovers and their landlady. _Personal Assets_ covers family relationships and Daddy/Mommy issues. She’s written everything from murder, physics smut, BDSM, vampire/shifter romance, etc.
    Another is Angela Knight. I love her vampire stories, especially her Decker series through Red Sage’s Secrets anthologies.

  11. I have one word for you- fanfiction. Check out the Archive of Our Own. There’s a lot of great stuff out there. Then, if you want to support a truly diverse organization, look into the Organization for Transformative Works.

    • Yes! I was wondering what was taking so long and why no one had mentioned AO3 yet! Only discovered FF this year and oh myyyyy! Fave fandoms for me would be Sherlock, Doctor Who, Stargate Atlantis (helloooo freaky alien sex!) and Supernatural. There’s something in each fandom for every mood/kink/which way you swing. Also means that you never run out of stories from your favourite characters! I’d recommend sorting results by either hits or kudos to avoid some of the badly written dreck but yes! Fanfiction!
      (Also, you can download your favourites for free and keep them forever!)

  12. Holy man! I recently discovered a love for romance books too. My current favorite author is Shelly Stevens. Super funny and steamy at the same time.

  13. I’m guilty of not reading ALL of these comments, so I have no idea if they were mentioned but I am sooo happy this topic was brought up because I have a Lot of reccommendations! For literature to share with your bedmate (we made a game out of it: the reader reads aloud no matter What their partner is doing to them for as possible, and reverse) the Best American Erotica series edited by Susie Bright is Perfect. Since she left her editors position with the series, she’s edited two treasuries: ‘X’, and a horror erotica collection ‘Bitten.’ Anything by Jeaniene Frost, Jennifer Armintrout, Colette Gale, Jory Strong, and of course the one and only Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series. These are all superior authors in the ways of all things sex and they all have very ripe voices within their own genres. You won’t be disappointed!

  15. I gotta second the fanfic for diverse range of pairings and unending combination of kinks. I’m afraid i only read romance books that fall into the “so bad they’re hilariously painfully bad” category, books that use phrases like “dick attack” and “tiny stickiness”.
    God i wish you were all on Ravelry so i could point you to the greatest romance book review group ever, sigh.

      • there’s a group called the “Comedy of Error: Unintentionally Amusing Books Group”, it’s kind of a split-off from LSG that deals with mostly supernatural romance books
        they haven’t actually reviewed the book i’ve taken “dick attack” from (but if you google it you will find some dramatic readings of it!) but if you make it through the enormous Mermaid Angel Romance Novel From Hell thread i think you get a cookie

  16. I really enjoyed Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey. It is one part historical fiction, one part epic adventure, one part political thriller, one part fantasy, and 3+ parts erotica. Kinky sex, rough sex, heterosexual sex, homosexual sex sex. The few negative reviews (33 1 star reviews vs 230 five star reviews on Amazon) all complain about the female heroin being too awesome: “Oh she’s too pretty!” “Oh she’s too smart!” I think literature needs more kick-ass female heroins that have brains as well as beauty; I personally am exhausted by the sheer number of books where the female protagonist stumbles through because she is pretty.
    If your ego can handle a chick that is as bad-ass as she is beautiful and if you’re into kinky, dark (but still consensual)sex, check out Kushiel’s Dart.

    • Also the nerd series by Vicki Lewis Thompson. They are a little more toward the Harlequin romance type but since the male protagonist is always a super hot man hiding under bowties and pocket protectors, it adds a bit of humor and fun to it

  17. Late comment is late!
    I second the earlier recommendation of Sherrilyn Kenyon and also want to add Yasmine Galenorn to the list. Her books are a bit less on the sexy side (though the included sexy scenes are great) and more paranormal fantasy but her otherworld series has a poly marriage, lesbian vampires, and straight relationships. It also deals with talking about some of the more practical stuff with all of them. Not so much like a how to manual but more of a “here’s an example of this actually making sense and being written like it could actually work in the real world”.

    Additionally, Larissa Ione is awesome for sexy with strong female characters and well done plot but it’s all pretty hetero so far.

  21. I just “read” an amazing (mostly) wordless graphic novel called Chester 5000-XYV, which is available in hardcover or Kindle. It’s basically all my fantasies come to life: Victorian era, sexy android, polysexuality, etc. Short enough to read in an evening but long enough to be really engaging.

  22. ..late but still: TJ Klune writes gay romance novels that are just awesome. and hot. and funny.
    my favourite features a hornless gay unicorn, an asexual mage, an ever horny dragon and a magicians apprentice helplessly in love with a knight.
    https://www.amazon.com/Lightning-Struck-Heart-TJ-Klune/dp/163476367X/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1493759303&sr=8-5&keywords=TJ+Klune

    and also fantastic:
    https://www.amazon.com/Queen-Homo-Jock-First-Sight-ebook/dp/B01HJFD4UQ/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1493759303&sr=8-4&keywords=TJ+Klune

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