#Contemporary Romance/Erotic Romance

[petalpetal]

I know I didn’t cover them all I picked ones that could be applied to a contemporary setting since we don’t live in a fantasy world

[wiltkingart]

What queer books do you recommend?

oh honey i have a whole rec page here if you're up for anything, but i mostly read adult m/m fiction. lots of weird and old stuff with dark tones more often than not. if you want some specific titles as a flavor list, here's a few favorites! i'll link their storygraph pages so you can read their synopses too:

Fantasy: The Rifter by Ginn Hale (dark fantasy featuring a romance that spans years and time and space in decaying world with a destroyer god, and bones. so many bones. has one of the most interesting and well written story structures i've encountered. very moody and dark, hits just right).

Scifi: Body after Body by Briar Ripley Page (erotic adult scifi novella with transmasc and transfem MCs. dreamlike and grotesque, delicate and stomach churning, it's about a group of mind-wiped laborers tending genetically engineered mutant bodies.)

Historical: The Still by David Feintuch (my book series of all tiiiiiiime. it's fantasy too but mostly medieval military fiction. don't even talk to me about Rodrigo if you're not ready to be hit with a twelve page verbal essay i'm not joking, that is a threat. not a typical romance, expect heartbreak and plenty of it and to never recover.)

Horror: Hexslinger series by Gemma Files (planning a reread of this one soon to see if it still holds up but this series has stuck with me like a fly to molasses. it's a fucked up time full of desperation, Mayan gods and godessess, faggotry, blasphemy, and witchery) go with the Bound in Flesh anthology instead if you want good trans body horror, or Down by Ally Blue for deepsea suspense horror.

Contemporary: All for the Game by Nora Sakavic (you probably know about this classic but for me it still tops most everything else i've read. it's got sports, mafia drama, and trauma). for something a little different (but still traumatic) try Mo Du / Silent Reading by Priest (dark mystery set in China that follows several disturbing cases and the psychology behind them + romance between a detective and a rich pretty boy)

but yeah i talk about books a lot on my personal/main blog @wiltking (in lieu of updating my actual rec pages these days, it seems) if you ever want more real time recs! i'm a book guy. i like books a normal amount :)

[netherfeildren]

Vic! I must ask - do you have any erotic romance and/or erotica book recommendations?

LITEROTICA!!!!!!!! my favorite! I am finally finally getting to this, apologies for the delay. I'm not doing blurbs or anything and just going to list them, but I'll include a ⭐️ if they're a favorite. This is a mix of erotica and romance, and don't forget to check trigger warnings carefully for all books!

I'll also mark C for contemporary, HR for historical romance and F for fantasy just for ease of perusing.

In no particular order:

The Crossfire Series, Sylvia Day, C, ⭐️

Scounders of St. James series, Lorraine Heath, HR

Travises series, Lisa Kleypas, C

Little Birds, Anaïs Nin, C, ⭐️

Rules for the Reckless series, Meredith Duran, HR

The Duke of Shadows, Meredith Duran, HR

Bellamy Creek series, Melanie Harlow, C

Things We Never Got Over, Lucy Score, C, ⭐️

A Spy in the House of Love, Anaïs Nin, C, ⭐️

Cloverleigh Farms series, Melanie Harlow, C

The Pale Court duology, Liv Zander, F

Master of Salt & Bones, Keri Lake, CF

Of Flesh & Bone series, Harper L. Woods, F

Promises and Pomegranates, Sav R. Miller, C

The Made series, Danielle Lori, C, ⭐️

At Your Pleasure, Meredith Duran, HR

The Dressmakers series, Loretta Chase, HR

Scandal & Scoundrel series, Sarah Maclean, HR

Victorian Rebels series, Kerrigan Byrne, HR

Wicked Becomes You, Meredith Duran

The Ravenels series, Lisa Kleypas, HR, ⭐️

The Hathaways series, Lisa Kleypas, HR, ⭐️

After We Fall series, Melanie Harlow, C

Anti-Heroes in Love duology, Giana Darling, C

Dark Deam Duet duology, Giana Darling, C

Lord of Scoundrels, Loretta Chase, HR, ⭐️

Love By Numbers, Sarah Maclean, HR,

Girl Meets Duke series,Tessa Dare, HR

Castles Ever After series, Tessa Dare, HR

It Happened One Summer, Tessa Bailey, C, ⭐️

A Wicked Kind of Husband, Mia Vincy, HR, ⭐️

Playing with Monsters series, Amelia Hutchins, CF, ⭐️

Legacy of the Nine Realms series, Amelia Hutchins, CF

Aspect and Anchor series, Ruby Dixon

Wallflowers series, Lisa Kleypas, HR, ⭐️

The Gilded Age Heiresses series, Harper St. George

Dark Arts series, Bec McMaster, F, ⭐️

Markham Hall series, Sierra Simone, HR, ⭐️

Priest, Sierra Simone, C

The Villain, L.J. Shen

Delta of Venus, Anaïs Nin, C, ⭐️

[paexie]

Hey sorry can I ask what erotic romance schlock u like? need more recs! Particularly looking for audiobook recs. not schlock but I love m.c. beaton romance novels if you're into regency! Sorry i'm being a coward and staying anon Love your works! have a great one!

You are ok, anon! My asks are open for anything.

Listen, you are talking to a garbage eater. A real "all tropes no brains" seeker. What I call popcorn books. Tasty and easily consumable, but not nutritious.

Contemporary M/M romance - Roommate by Sarina Bowen is a sweet story of two dudes trying to get by. It's what every good bakery AU is. This one is double narrated, but not difficult to follow.

Sci-fi M/F romance - Choosing Theo by Victoria Aveline is the first in series that has a surprising amount of decent world building. I'm a sucker for a brooding x sunshine relationship dynamic.

Contemporary M/M romance - Say You'll Be Nine by Lucy Lennox. Big quiet man and chatty man fake a relationship for sponsorship money. It's heartfelt and cute. A rare demi/greysexual mention. It's hard to not love Nine. Would re-listen any time.

I've listened to many but these are the ones I would go back to.

[mercurytrinemoon]

Let's talk about sex, Venus and Mars

As Venus and Mars are separating from a conjunction, let's remind everyone that Venus stands for romance, pleasures, seduction and sex, while Mars... not necessarily.

And that's all that should be said, period, but if you want receipts, then read along.

Venus and Mars traditionally

Taking it back to tradition, Vettius Valens (2nd CE) assigns Venus to desire and erotic love as well as "the parts of intercourse" (which was also translated to "the union of the sexual organs"). He linked Mars to intercourse, adultery and all forms of violent behaviours, including those specifically targeting women. He also states that Mars rules genitals.

Abu Ma'Shar (9th CE) desribed Venus as "a multitude of sexual intercourse of diverse kinds" as well as "the sons of fornication". I think the line "she rejoices with every thing and seeks every thing and is eager for it" is also crucial here as it outlines Venus as passionate and excited - traits, which currently would be linked with Mars. And when it comes to the malefic, Ma'Shar assigns it to adultery and "foulness of sexual intercourse". So with both scholars we do have some association between Mars and sex but mostly in a negative malefic sense.

Contemporary astrologers, who aren't necessarily following strictly modern astrology still agree with this notion. Richard Tarnas in his research gives a similar affiliation:

"Venus: the principle of desire, love, (…); the impulse and capacity to attract and be attracted, to love and be loved, (…) sensous pleasure."

His Mars delineation highlights the forceful motion of the planet: "the principle of energetic force, harm, violence".

Traditional scholars seen Mars as either purely malefic or one that had to exhibit bravery and assertiveness when under attact. That harsh nature expressed itself in all kinds of acts of violence and not as the give and take. Mars is cutting, severing, disputes and disruption after all. It's filthy. In modern astrology it's most commonly linked with anger. And you guys want to put sex next to all of that? Yikes.

Venus, on the other hand, is all responsible for senses, pleasure, romance and bodily matters. This is why it rejoices in the 5th house of pleasure, procreation and sex.

Mythology and gods

If we go back to the myth of Inanna, the Sumerian preceder of Venus, she was associated with sex and fertility and when captive in the underworld, people would be made not to procreate. Then in the later millenia, the planet now known as Venus was named after and associated with her Greek counterpart Aphrodite, who was linked with love, lust, pleasure, passion, procreation, desire, sex and fertility. Venus, as her Roman version, ruled over the same things (Romans copied Greeks with their mythology pretty much word-for-word; Aphrodite was first and then Romans came up with the name Venus).

For comparison, both Mars and Ares are seen as the gods of war with the latter one having purely destructive and destabilizing nature (Mars seemed to be more into stability but still military-focused).

You can argue that Mars as a planet symbolizes how we pursue and posess and what our energy levels are, which can extend to libido. So loosely, yes, in that sense as a secondary association, we can include Mars as well in certain contexts. I can see how Mars can rule intercourse in itself as it connects to blood flow and a form of exertion. BUT it's always been Venus in the first place on how we seduce, how we romance, what we find hot and what our erotic nature is. Making love is her forte, no matter if fuzzy feelings are present or not.

Taking that into consideration, I'd still give Mars like 5% of importance here. To quote Meredith Froemke, it's like a multilayer cake, meaning all of your chart will have some say in the topic (just like with everything else). And as yin and yang, Venus and Mars will compliment each other, just because they naturally balance things out in all matters. And as the myth said, Venus and Mars found themselves in a fiery hot affair while the goddess was married to Vulcan. So hot everyone was talking about it.

Modern times

Symbolically, currently Mars is linked with sex and has been for a while now and it is probably thanks to the masculinisation of pleasure and how the importance of men's sexual experience somehow outweighted woman's in the society's eyes. In astrology, it's hard for me to find and pinpoint exactly who was the first one to assign sex directly to Mars, at the same time depriving Venus of that role.

According to Alan Leo (18th-19th CE), who was the precursor of modern astrology, "the symbol of Mars will therefore represent to us Desire, Force and Energy." This sums up its energy in a cohesive way - Mars seizes and is willing to take the necessary steps to achieve the goal in a rather selfish manner. You can connect this with every aspect of life basically, sex included, but it is still yet not highlighted as purely that. He also compared both planets:

"In contradistinction to Mars, who is the planet of discord, typifying the animal, Venus represents the human soul, and until we feel the sweet influence of Venus in our lives, we shall go on seeking fresh experience upon the cross of life. Venus is love, while Mars is passion; Venus peace, Mars strife. (…) These two planets in themselves are helpful to the other."

Stephen Arroyo, a modern psychological astrologer, made the gender-based distinguishment (which wasn't present in older texts) but seemed to take a somewhat middle ground at the same time when it comes to the topic:

"Venus represents an inflow and outflow of energy and its placement in the various elements is expressed as the give and take of love, affection and sensual pleasure with others. (…) Venus shows how a woman receives and gives of herself in love and sex. Usually more of a sexual indicator for women than it is for men. (…) Venus is also related to a man's ideals about love, sex and relationships, however, Mars is much more a symbol of sexual energy in men. In women, though, Venus and Mars energies are both important components of the sexual nature, and they combine and are usually more inseparable than is the case in most men."

When speaking of Mars, he quickly mentions: "For a man, Mars shows how he projects himself forcefully, assertively and sexually. It indicates how he gives of his power in a sexual relationship".

So judging by what I've gathered, I'm guessing things started shifting with the rise of psychological astrology and the more "energetical" approach rather than archetypal. That meant with women everything is filtered through Venus and with men, with Mars. It further translated into "well a man has the upper hand and has to express his *cough*toxic*cough* masculinity during the act and be macho, so oBviOuSly it has to be linked with a masculine forceful and assertive Mars duhhh" and therefore "Venus=woman=submissive=not into sex=only into affection" bullshit that I don't dig.

Up to that point, and certainly in traditional and medieval texts, it was consistent to directly relate Venus to all the things I've listed in the beginning, while Mars to severing, aggression and conquer and if linked to sexual matters, it is not viewed in a positive light as it is the planet of violation and acts that would be looked down on. And we should stick to that.

Sources: "Hellenistic Astrology. The study of fate and fortune" Chris Brennan "The Great Introduction to the Science of the Judgments of the Stars" Abu Ma'Shar "Cosmos and psyche. Intimations of a new world view" Richard Tarnas "Astrology for all" Alan Leo "Chart interpretation handbook. Guidelines for understanding the essentials of the birth chart" Stephen Arroyo

[wonder-worker]

[Agnès Sorel] has been paired with her cousin Antoinette de Maignelais in a binary relationship that flatters the former at the latter’s expense.

-Tracy Adams, "Queens, Regents, Mistresses: Reflections on Extracting Elite Women’s Stories from Medieval and Early Modern French Narrative Sources"

Different from her nineteenth-century historians, contemporary chroniclers write little that is positive about Agnès Sorel, except that she was beautiful. They are still less enthusiastic about Antoinette de Maignelais. Antoinette’s reputation worsens in seventeenth-century historical romances, where she becomes Agnès’s dark and envious double, sometimes responsible for Agnès’s death. Following Antoinette into the nineteenth century, we find nothing good about her in histories of that period, either, where she is typically depicted as motivated by the desire for wealth. […] Even some recent historians read the cousins in this way. According to one, Agnès’s “replacement was greedy and cynical;” in contrast with Agnès, who had “brightened the maturity of a fragile and tormented man, raising him above himself, Antoinette lowered him to the level of a lustful old man whose excesses outraged his entourage.”

The difference in the reputations, or afterlives, of the cousins is striking. Several factors can explain the discrepancy. The first, as I have noted, is that Antoinette later became the mistress of Duke François II. Breton chroniclers did not describe Antoinette favorably, and the relationship undoubtedly diminished her prestige, suggesting that she was motivated by greed rather than love. In contrast, Agnès died at the height of her glory, adored by the king. Another factor is the Melun diptych, commissioned from painter Jean Fouquet by one of the executors of Agnès’s will and royal favorite Etienne Chevalier, whom we have just seen with Antoinette and the king at the chateau of Ville Dieu. This gorgeous Virgin with child depicted on the left panel of the diptych is said to bear the facial features of Agnès. The image has left an enduring impression of Agnès as both pure and erotic. No image at all memorializes Antoinette, much less a fabulous one like the Melun Virgin. Still another is that Charles VII never married Agnès to anyone, which might suggest a particularly deep affection; in the eyes of historians over the years, the “double” adultery of Antoinette and the king has been regarded as the more sinful of the two relationships.

In addition to these factors, as I have noted, the king fathered none of Antoinette’s children: two of her sons, Artus and Antoine, were fathered by André de Villequier, and two sons and two daughters by Duke François II of Brittany. The king recognized his three daughters by Agnès, and all were handsomely married. This matters because Agnès’s daughters and their families took the lead in shepherding Agnès’s positive image into future generations.

...The Agnès/Antoinette binary, like its Marie/Eve counterpart, allowed the role of the royal mistress to be conceived of positively, anchoring the role in its positive guise to Agnès while pushing negative associations onto Antoinette. For the long-term effect of the binary I return to the narrative of the French royal mistress as it emerged in the nineteenth century, when Agnès and Antoinette became the two essential faces of the role: Agnès as the ideal that justifies or hides Antoinette, the political reality, or, put slightly differently, Agnès as the loving mistress persona giving cover to Antoinette, the political actor. Agnès and Antoinette, beautiful muse versus greedy opportunist, combined, offer a perfect standard for distinguishing the good mistress from the bad and promoting the good. For this reason, Antoinette’s role might be considered a sort of supplément to the role of royal mistress as realized by Agnès, who was typically assumed to have been little interested in politics. Antoinette might be seen as the active element required to complete the role; the cousins together add up to the French royal mistress of the later type.

[johannestevans]

No stress to answer but now that you’ve completed powder and feathers, what are your other novel projects in the works?

So, what I do with my serials is I publish them chapter by chapter, readable for free on WorldAnvil and Ao3, and also on Medium, and when they're finish I re-edit them and publish them as eBooks and later on, paperbacks!

My current main serials are:

Rescue Dogs - This is an introspective fantasy serial set in the crime town of Lashton. It's M/M, but it's not a romance, more of a coming to terms with / trauma digestion - Valorous King was a knight of the realm and a child hero, and now he's been cut loose from that life and is basically coming to terms with it and trying to have his own personality again.

An Uncommon Betrothal - This is a period romance set in the 1920s between a disabled gentleman and his butler, the two of them set up and betrothed, in a way, by a shared uncle figure. Lots of sex, lots of banter!

Little Devils - This is a contemporary fantasy about a young woman building a career as an inspector of magical objects and a sort of magical pest controller, with a feature on her friendship with a crotchety old antiques dealer - Hamish MacKinnon, who's offscreen in PnF.

There's also Two Scientists (wholly erotica, lots of eggpreg and cumflation and monster sex and gay gangbangs), Lashton Sounds (crime fantasy about the autistic bastard Gellert Osgodby trying to juggle work and crime disputes), Prophet's Cry (contemporary erotic romance, this one is on the backburner), and Letters from Ganymede (also on the backburner, Victorian gothic horror with Hellenic worshipers).

[mermaidsirennikita]

Hey any recs on best friend's brother and brother's best friend? I looked but I couldn't find any on your blog

Yep! I do.

Brother's Best Friend:

The Duke in Question by Amalie Howard. Historical. In this one, the hero is a retired spy and the heroine is kind of getting active in that sphere; they end up in this cat and mouse situation before working together, and along the way he fucks her against a tree, only to be SO. DISMAYED. When he looks at a handkerchief she used to clean up after and realizes there's a TEENY bit o blood, and he's like "*GASP* I TOOK YOUR MAIDENHEAD????" and she's all "omg dude it's literally not a big deal shut the fuck up"

The Rake's Guide to Seduction by Caroline Linden. Historical. Hero realized he was falling for his best friend's sister right before she got engaged; six years later, she's a depressed widow and he's a dissolute rake, and they reunite at a house party... thrown by her brother. Who does walk in on them doing something pretty UNCHILL at one point.

Goddess of the Hunt by Tessa Dare. Historical. This is one where the heroine is obsessed with one of her brother's OTHER friends, so the brother is like can you please pretend to court my sister to distract her, and she catches on and is like PLEASE PRETEND TO COURT ME SO I CAN MAKE HIM JEALOUS, but then they end up having sex and have to get married lol. This is one of the funniest usages of the scenario to me because the brother is like lmao dude I know you aren't actually fucking my sister, you don't have to marry her and the best friend is like "bro... I do...." and he's all "haha no you don't" and it's like ".... no bro... I really do..." and it's basically this scene in a historical romance:

The Earl I Ruined by Scarlett Peckham. Historical. A favorite of mine! The hero has been in love with his best friend's little sister for years, but she's kind of a brat and ruins his life by spreading a rumor that he likes to get spanked (he's a politician so it matters)... And now she's trying to make up for it by getting fake-engaged to him. What she doesn't know is that he's actually the one who likes to do the spanking :D

Every Yours, Annabelle by Elisa Braden. Historical. In this one, the heroine was infatuated with her brother's best friend, but was involved in a total accident that left him with permanent mobility issues. Anyway, years later they end up back in each other's orbit again when he starts looking for a wife, and...well... shit hits the fan in the best way.

In Which Margo Halifax Earns Her Shocking Reputation by Alexandra Vasti. Historical. The heroine is a wild woman, and ends up on a roadtrip to stop her twin sister from marrying the wrong man... and alongside her is her brother's best friend, who's long been in love with her. Oh, and he's a virgin.

Sinner by Sierra Simone. Contemporary erotic romance. Sean Bell is a slutty slutty businessman who's sent in to convince a convent to let his company buy this building without issue. Their representative, however, is a novice named Zenny... His best friend's little sister. Zenny's about to become a nun but wants to experience sex before she gives up earthly pleasures (it's not just horny it's a very thoughtful decision) and... she enlists Sean to do it. CLASSIC best friend's brother book. And then... lol...

Saint by Sierra Simone. Contemporary erotic romance. The next book in the series. Because in Sinner, Sean walks in on a situation and realizes that Zenny's older brother Elijah, his best friend, is fucking SEAN'S little brother Aiden!!! This book is a few years later. Aiden left Elijah really abruplty to become a monk, and is shaken when years later Elijah returns with his fiancee to do a journalism thing, and ultimately he and Aiden end up on an international wine tour.... And SHIT. HITS. THE. FAN. MORE SO. (This counts as brother's best friend sorry.)

Best Friend's Brother:

Scoundrel of My Heart by Lorraine Heath. Historical. The heroine enlists her best friend's annoying brother to help her catch the attention of a duke... Only to fall for the brother. Just after they kiss, however, his family loses EVERYTHING. Fast-forward a year (or two?) and the heroine is engaged to the duke... Only to crash back into the hero's world. It's sooooo angsty and I fucking LOVE IT. I LOVE IT.

The Wrong Marquess by Vivienne Lorret. Historical. The heroine actually makes a new friend, and that friend's brother is super suspicious of her and haaates her lol. Except he actually wants her, he realizes. So badly that he wants to lick the bowl after she finishes her ice cream. It's such a fun book, the heroine is waiting around for her childhood friend to propose, the hero is STARVING.

Her Prodigal Passion by Grace Callaway. Historical. The heroine is in love with her friend's brother, a total dissolute rake... And then they share a Moment when he's too drunk (and possibly high) to remember. A long while later, they're back in conflict, and, well‚ we end up needing a marriage of convenience.... Also there's a sexy phrenology scene, which kills me.

The Viscount Always Knocks Twice by Grace Callaway. Historical. The heroine is a hoyden~ with a platonic male friend... and she hates his stodgy older brother so much. And he hates her. Except he actualyl wants to defile her. Excellent!

The Next Best Fling by Gabriella Gamez. Contemporary. OH YES. This is recent. The heroine is pining for her male best friend, and after he announces his engagement she finds his brother drunkenly rehearsing his own love confession for the bride??? And so she's like oohhhhh no, and ends up in a fake relationship with him that turns into a real situationship... So fun, so good.