Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Sex vs. Sensuality

A student undergoing a word-association test was asked why a snowstorm put him in mind of sex. He replied frankly: "Because everything does." ~Honor Tracy

In my latest WIP, my heroine has serious issues with intimacy, both physical and emotional. The poor hero will have to take everything VERY slow with her... thus leading to my question for all of you:

Would you continue to read a romance where the relationship isn't consummated until the very end? Do you think that a high level of sexual tension without "the act" is enough for you? In this era of erotica, I'm curious as to your feelings on this.

I have no intentions of this being a "sweet" romance. There will be sexual tension and I imagine that the book will be full of what would basically be foreplay... but it would be terribly out of character for my heroine to engage in premarital sex because of her background.

What think you? Is no sex okay if the book is still sensual? What do you require in your romance reading in regards to the physical aspects of the story?

4 comments:

Ceri Hebert said...

Personally I prefer romance over sex in a book, if I had to pick one or the other. I don't see a problem with waiting til the end of the story for them to consumate their relationship as long as the tension is there. That being said, none of my 3 finished manuscripts have my characters waiting LOL, but the scenes go from pretty steamy in the first to not too descriptive in the 3rd.

I have a hard time writing erotica (although you couldn't tell from one of my wips which is pretty, um, hot). In fact the one I'm working on now (a fantasy) may be pretty hot, but the other one I'm working on (a contemporary) may go in the opposite direction.

Did that help? Probably not. LOL

aohucit-any oranges held united cause irritability troubles.

MJFredrick said...

I'm with Ceri - romance over sex.

Marianne Arkins said...

I can't help but think that, in some circumstances, a simple touch can be more erotic that intercourse -- and that's what I'm going to try for in this book.

Glad to see I'm not alone. Anyone else have their .02?

Judy said...

Hi... I'm with the consensus so far. I much prefer romance over sex... as a matter of fact, there have been times I've put down a book because there is too much sex too early and too much detail. I like the idea of tension though... and a lot of time the more the actual sexual act is put off, the more tension there is.

My .02 worth :-)